On the eve of Armistice Day, the heartache and grief over young lives lost in a far away conflict were never so painfully portrayed as they were at Wootton Bassett yesterday.

A mother sobbing uncontrollably; a brother numb with grief; friends and family swarming round the hearses as they paused by the Wiltshire town’s war memorial to cover them with flowers: all that sorrow, raw and exposed under a grey sky.

As the cortege of six hearses passed through the town, the bereaved found their own way to express their grief. The family of Jimmy Major, the Guardsman who was only 18 when he was shot dead with four of his comrades by an Afghan policeman last week, all wore T-shirts bearing his picture and the words “RIP Jimmy”. The family of Corporal Steven Boote, 22, a Territorial Army volunteer in the Royal Military Police killed alongside him, held aloft posters in his memory.

Similar scenes have been played out at Wootton Bassett for months now and about 2,000 people were in the crowd yesterday. But two extraordinary things happened, both adding a political dimension to what has until now been a deeply personal event.

The first was that, even amid the outpouring of emotion, it was possible to sense support for military action in Afghanistan ebbing away. People who would once have given unquestioning support to the presence of British troops there were now prepared to say that perhaps it is time to pull out.

The second was the presence of Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader. Until yesterday there was a convention that party leaders do not join the crowd at Wootton Bassett.

Apart from the occasional appearance of the local Conservative MP, politicians have been conspicuous by their absence. That, by and large, is how the locals like it. But yesterday, for reasons best known to himself, the BNP leader made a surprise visit. Surrounded by his usual throng of burly minders, he tried to pretend there was nothing unusual about his being there.

“I am here to pay my respects, because it is the second-worst repatriation, and because tomorrow is Remembrance Day,” he said. “These lads and many before them have made the ultimate sacrifice, and I’m as entitled as anyone else to come here today.” Did it even cross his mind that he might not be welcome? “I’m very sorry if the families of these dead soldiers don’t want me to be here,” he said. “I can understand why they would think that, because if they believe all the lies about me they must think I’m a monster.” He added: “I don’t think me being here will detract from the day.”

For some, it undoubtedly did. “He should not be here,” said Ira, a 49-year-old woman who works for a charity settling refugees. “This is about families, not political leaders. He should not be anywhere near here. He is just doing it for the limelight. It takes the focus off the locals and the families.”

Tony Coombes, secretary of the Devonshire and Dorset British Legion, said: “Repatriations aren’t about politics. We’re here because some terribly brave young men went out there and we have come to share their loss with their families. I think Nick Griffin detracts from that, and he will certainly never get my vote.”

There were, however, some prepared to voice their support. After the coffins passed he was confronted by Madeleine Webb, a pensioner, who said: “I told him I don’t agree with his policies at all, but if he brought our troops home I would vote for him. And I’ve been a Tory all my life.

“The troops have got to come home. They are fighting a futile war. It’s like another Vietnam.”

Ilona Johnson was paying her respects to her friend Warrant Officer Darren Chant, 39, one of the five killed by the policeman. Did she still support the war? “At the moment it’s raw,” said Mrs Johnson, a teacher in London. “If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would have said yes, because they are doing their jobs.

“But today, I say they should not be there. Bring them back. And not like they are coming back today.”

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