Dozens of furious British Army veterans, families and supporters from across Staffordshire and beyond gathered at the Garden of Remembrance in Lichfield on Tuesday morning to send a message of disapproval to the UK Government as part of a region-wide protest against moves by the Ministry of Defence to disband the last remnant of the historic and heroic former Staffordshire Regiment – the 3rd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Staffords).
The government’s highly controversial plans to cut the Army from 102,000 to 82,000 personnel by 2020 – the lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars – will in the process of making so-called “efficiency savings” consign three centuries of proud Staffordshire military history and heritage to the dustbin.
Ex-servicemen from the Staffordshire Regimental Association and others were joined by friends, family and concerned citizens from Lichfield and beyond in an intense but peaceful and dignified protest including a minute’s silence and quiet contemplation before the city’s war memorial, before heading off to the nearby King’s Head pub to witness the mounting of a poppy wreath both honouring the history of the regiment and making a clear statement that the fight for Staffordshire’s military honour and heritage is far from over. A defiant card attached to the wreath says:
“Staffordshire Regimental Association. United Against Government Cuts To The Armed Forces.”
This local event, organised by the Lichfield Branch of the Staffordshire Regimental Association, was among sixty-one being held at memorials around the country, including parts of the Black Country, itself once within Staffordshire and from which the regiment still traditionally recruits, and as far afield as the Cenotaph in London.
The Staffordshire Regiment, now the 3rd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Staffords), traces its proud history back to 25th March 1705 when Colonel Luke Lillington raised a Regiment of Foot (infantry) at The King’s Head pub in Bird Street, Lichfield. This became the 38th Regiment of Foot in 1751, and was named the 1st Staffordshire Regiment in 1782.
In 1881 the South Staffordshire Regiment was formed by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot and the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot. In 1959 the regiment was amalgamated again, with the North Staffordshire Regiment, to form the Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s).
On 1st September 2007 the Staffordshire Regiment became the 3rd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Staffords), and it is now planned to disband the 3rd Battalion and subsume the officers and soldiers of 3 Mercian into 1 and 2 Mercian, which have no connection with Staffordshire, severing the centuries-old direct link between Staffordshire, the Black Country and the military forever.
The disbanding also calls into question the future of the Battalion’s much-loved ceremonial Mascot, Staffordshire Bull Terrier Lance Corporal Watchman V.
The Lichfield Branch of the Staffordshire Regimental Association can be contacted via their website.
Petitions
A number of online and paper petitions have been organised:
- The Sentinel, a Staffordshire newspaper, is running a Save our Staffords petition
- A grass-roots campaign has also been started on Facebook
You can find out more about the history of the Staffords at the Regimental Museum