Wootton Bassett Rocks is a music video that features over 1,000 people in a 'one-shot' take of the townsfolk singing Green Day's "Wake me up, when September ends". It begins with a young man buying a single bloom from a flower seller, then walking the length of Wootton Bassett High Street singing "Wake me up, when September ends" with the gradual addition of more voices and the towns people, who the world had so far only seen in silent mourning, showing their playful side. The shot ends in the Town Hall Cafe, behind the 300 year old pillar-stilted Town Hall, where he joins the rest of his 'family', resting the flower on the place setting beside an empty seat, it's intended occupant killed in action. A portrait of Captain Mark Hale, brother of Tracy Rogers who had the original idea for the film, hangs behind the empty seat. Captain Hale was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009.
The song was chosen because in September 2011, nearby RAF Lyneham ceased to be the point of repatriation for British soldiers killed in action. This was significant because Wootton Bassett British Legion, being in the first town the repatriation hearses passed through, turned out on the High Street to mark the passing of the hearses. From day one, they were joined by townsfolk, whose numbers increased with each repatriation until the town's name became synonymous internationally with respect and care for those putting their lives at risk on the front line.
Tracey Rogers, whose brainchild the project was, wanted to mark the end of repatriations through Royal Wootton Bassett in September 2011 "when September ends", and also to raise funds for military charities that focus on supporting bereaved families, and those that help support wounded servicemen and women.
