3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment to be scrapped

HUNDREDS of years of history were being lost today with the announcement the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment is to be axed.

The former Staffordshire Regiment will disappear in cuts to reduce the Army from 102,000 troops to 82,000 by the end of the decade – its lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.

The controversial move will break a 300-year direct link between the region and the military.

The name of the Staffordshire Regiment disappeared in 2007 when it merged with two other regiments to form The Mercians, with 3Mercian being referred to as "formerly the Staffords". Now that will go too.

A total of five infantry battalions will be axed altogether and other units merged or turned into reservists under the shake-up – the biggest structural change to the Army in more than a century.

The moves are expected to see the military split into two, with a reaction force, ready to respond to emergencies.

Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy, a recent graduate of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, said: "It is absolutely vital that a strong and named link is maintained between Staffordshire and the Army."

3Mercian returned from a tour of duty on the front line in Afghanistan last year during which one of its soldiers was shot dead while on patrol and several others were wounded. It is due to return before 2014.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond was announcing details of the cuts to the House of Commons this afternoon. It is expected around 650 posts could be lost from within the Mercian Regiment. These would be spread through the three existing battalions and those who remain from 3Mercian will migrate to the remaining two regular battalions.