THE parade ground of the newly built Lucknow Barracks at Tidworth rang to the strains of Men Of Harlech on Tuesday, for the annual St David's Day parade of the 1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Wales, who have almost completed their return to the UK after seven years at Paderborn, in Germany.

Just under 400 soldiers from the battalion were on parade to receive the traditional leeks, which are worn in their berets.

However Taffy, the regimental mascot, an 11-year-old Windsor White goat from the Queen's herd, missed leading the parade.

"He's a little bit poorly at the moment," said Cpl Andrew Meyrick (36), who looks after him as the Goat Major.

"He got a bit of trouble with his front feet, and is being rested."

Taffy did, however, put in an appearance to have his picture taken.

The day started for the battalion with the officers and senior ranks serving the soldiers with 'gunfire', a potent mix of tea and rum, in their rooms before breakfast.

A church service and a special lunch, where the youngest soldier of each company stands on a chair and eats a leek, followed the parade.

The annual inter-company rugby sevens competition was held in the afternoon.

The regiment is best known for its stand at the small mission station at Rorke's Drift, South Africa, in 1879, during the Zulu wars.

For their actions that day, 14 men were awarded the Victoria Cross.

Capt Matt Lewis said the battalion was delighted to be in new barracks in Tidworth.

"We shall be having more of our families with us here than have ever accompanied us before, and we are only a couple of hours away from our South Wales recruiting area," he said.

However the battalion will have little time to settle in, as training has already started, even before the move from Germany is complete, for their deployment to Iraq in April, just a year since their last tour there.

1RRW will be in Iraq for six months, under command of the Bulford-based 12 (Mechanised) Brigade acting at the area Divisional reserve.