| The Mercian Regiment | |
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Cap Badge of the Mercian Regiment |
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| Active | 1 September 2007- |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Role | 1st Battalion - Light Role 2nd Battalion - Light Role 3rd Battalion - Armoured Infantry 4th Battalion - TA Reserve |
| Size | Four battalions |
| Part of | Prince of Wales' Division |
| Garrison/HQ | RHQ - Lichfield 1st Battalion - Catterick 2nd Battalion - Holywood 3rd Battalion - Fallingbostel, Germany 4th Battalion - Wolverhampton |
| Nickname | The Heart of England's Infantry |
| Motto | Stand Firm and Strike Hard |
| March | Wha Wadna Fecht for Charlie/Under the Double Eagle (Quick) Stand Firm and Strike Hard (Slow) |
| Mascot | Ram (Private Derby XXIX) |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel in Chief | HRH The Prince of Wales |
| Colonel of the Regiment |
Brigadier A. Sharpe, OBE |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash | |
| Arm Badge | Stafford Knot and Glider From Staffordshire Regiment |
| Abbreviation | MERCIAN |
The Mercian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of three existing regiments on 1 September 2007.[1]
The regiment has three regular army battalions and one Territorial Army or reserve battalion. It is called the Mercian Regiment as it generally recruits from within the territory occupied by the former Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.
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The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by the then Secretary of Defence Geoff Hoon and General Sir Mike Jackson as part of the restructuring of the British Army Infantry - it consists of three regular battalions, plus a territorial battalion, and was created through the merger of three single battalion regiments: The 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment became 1st Battalion, Mercian Regiment. The 1st Battalion, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment became the 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment became the 3rd Battalion, Mercian Regiment. The reserve West Midlands Regiment, with elements of the King's and Cheshire Regiment and the East of England Regiment formed the 4th Battalion, Mercian Regiment.[2]
The 1st Battalion is a light role battalion, part of the 4th Mechanized Brigade based at Catterick garrison in North Yorkshire, England.[3][4]
The 2nd Battalion is also a light role battalion, part of 19th Light Brigade based in Belfast Northern Ireland.[5]
The 3rd Battalion is an armoured infantry battalion, part of the 7th Armoured Brigade based in Bad Fallingbostel, Germany.[6]
The 4th Battalion is the regiment reserve Territorial Army Light Role Infantry battalion.[7]
The regiment's cap badge is a double headed Mercian Eagle with Saxon crown. This has been chosen because it forms a link to the regiment's recruiting area, which encompass a number of divergent counties that do not have traditional links, except under the ancient Kingdom of Mercia (unlike the other new regiments from Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire). It was originally intended to use the old Mercian Brigade badge worn by the Cheshire Regiment, Staffordshire Regiment, Worcestershire Regiment and Sherwood Foresters from 1958 to 1968, rather than create an amalgamated badge that would require elements from all of the antecedents. In 2005 this badge was rejected by the Army Dress Committee on the grounds that it had been the badge of a territorial unit, The Mercian Volunteers, junior to the amalgamating regiments.[8] Accordingly a slightly modified design featuring two colours of metal was adopted.[9]
Various "Golden Threads", representing the traditions of predecessor units, are incorporated in the Mercian Regiment's uniform:
Private Derby, a Derbyshire ram goat is the regimental mascot, inherited from the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.[11]
Although no list of regimental alliances has been announced as yet, due to the Mercian Regiment not forming until September 2007, using the large regiments that have formed already as examples, it can be assumed that all of the current alliances of the three individual regiments will be carried into the Mercian Regiment.
| Preceded by Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) |
Infantry Order of Precedence | Succeeded by Royal Welsh |
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