SOLDIERS at Hounslow Barracks competed in an It's a Knockout-style contest to celebrate the anniversary of their regiment last Friday.
Troops from the Second Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, also took part in a fancy dress competition at their base in Beavers Lane.
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was created on April 23, 1968, by the amalgamation of four regiments, including the Royal Fusiliers.
Members of the Second Battalion, who have been based in Hounslow for two years and were awarded the freedom of the borough last November, wore red and white roses behind their cap badge to celebrate St George's Day.
The day began with a traditional shot of 'gunfire', a drink of tea mixed with rum, once given to troops before a battle to boost their morale and calm their nerves.
A fancy dress competition and a series of sporting challenges followed, before a drumming parade rounded off the day.
It was all a far cry from this time last year, when the battalion was just beginning a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, from which seven soldiers never returned alive.
Army wives and children from the Youth Army Welfare Service youth club also presented two £500 cheques, one to the Fusiliers Aid Society and the other to the Forces Children's Trust.
The trust donation was accepted by Emma Suesue, whose husband Fusilier Petero 'Pat' Suesue died in Helmand last May.
The money was raised through cake sales.
