Army seeks new recruits for reserve squadron

The announcement has been made after soldiers from the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry gathered at their base in Dudley to watch their flag lowered for the last time as part of changes being introduced by the Ministry of Defence.

As part of the ceremony the red, blue and yellow flag of the RMLY was replaced with A Squadron's own standard. However, this will soon be replaced by the green, white and yellow standard of the Royal Yeomanry, which will soon be responsible for the troops.

New badges were also revealed as part of changes as the government controversially re-structures the Territorial Army into the Army Reserve.

In future, members of A Squadron in Dudley will take on the role of a light cavalry unit providing a reconnaissance during operations as part of the Royal Yeomanry, which has its headquarters in Croydon.

Earlier this year it was feared that the centre in Vicar Street, Dudley, would close as part of the restructuring from the Territorial Army to the new Reserves force, but MP Ian Austin secured a commitment from Government ministers ensuring Dudley's Army Reserve squadron will be able to expand.

At the moment the squadron has around 60 soldiers, but commanders today revealed plans to recruit around 25 to 30 new soldiers to the unit.

Captain Andy Peters, Permanent Staff Administration Officer, says now the future for the base is secure they can begin to boost the number of recruits.

"We did have uncertainty over the base but we are staying open and we are going to expand and continue to recruit much more people," he said.

"We have about 60 soldiers here at the moment but we would like to recruit and push the number towards 100."

It comes in the week where defence ministers pledged to back the recruitment plan at the Dudley base following a question tabled by Ian Austin MP in the House of Commons.

Defence Minister Philip Dunne praised the work of A Squadron and committed to its future expansion by allowing the unit to recruit by 125 per cent of its current strength.

Mr Austin, who is MP for Dudley North, said: "Dudley's A Squadron is a credit to the unit and their community. When they were threatened by a Government shake-up last year, I worked hard together with local campaigners to raise concerns.

"I'm pleased that ministers are now recognising the squadron's brilliant work and offering support for its future expansion."

Hundreds of people had signed a petition against the RMLY being disbanded in the town including members of the Royal British Legion and Mr Austin.

But the government has continued to press ahead over the overall restructuring process.

Kidderminster's Army Reserve base still faces an uncertain future under ongoing proposals. affecting the 4 Mercian regiment.

The honour of lowering the flag was given to Cpl Dan Harper, from Rowley Regis who works full time as a recruiter for the RMLY.

The 26-year-old said: "This ceremony is a big moment for us and especially for me as I have been here nine years. It's a big honour to lower the flag of a regiment with such an important history."

After the old regiment's flag was lowered soldiers from the squadron were handed their new regiment's badges which show a double-headed crowned falcon. They replaced their old badges, which featured the red rose of Lancaster.

Major Tom Bragg, who is a plastic surgeon by day and the squadron leader at the centre in Dudley, said: "It's a sad time to be saying goodbye to the old regiment, but what is exciting, is that we are moving forward and joining a regiment that is similar to our own.

"It's a really great time to be a reservist and we have a need for more than 30,000 more people to join and we are very much looking to continue our recruiting in the are, which has made this squadron such a success in the past.

"It's at times like this that we must remember our history as a regiment and look forward to new bigger and better things."

The origin of the RMLY dates back to the Warwickshire Yeomanry formed in 1794.

From these early beginnings the regiment has grown and grown taking in other regiments and by 1999 it included the Shropshire Yeomanry, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry, Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry and Cheshire Yeomanry.

During its history troops from each of the yeomanry have fought during the Boer War in South Africa and the First World War, Second World Warm, during the Bosnian conflict and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the Great War the Warwickshire and Worcestershire Regiment, which form part of the current unit in Dudley, was called up and served in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine, taking part in the charge at Huj in 1917 - the last true cavalry charge by troops mounted on horses against guns and infantry.

At the start of the Second World War, the Warwickshire Yeomanry once again went to Palestine, taking part in the campaigns against the Vichy French and pro-axis forces in Persia.

In 1941 it was equipped with tanks and became part of the 8th Army but At El Alamein it took heavy loses and only seven of the 60 tanks survived the battle, after successfully smashing the enemy gun line.

The Warwickshire Yeomanry went on to serve in Italy and after the war in 1947 became an armoured regiment again.

The Worcestershire Yeomanry helped defend the beaches of Dunkirk before going on to be involved in the invasion of France and the airborne crossing of the Rhine during Operation Plunder in 1945.

The two regiments along with the Shropshire Yeomanry where finally amalgamated as the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry before becoming part of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry.

Another of the soldiers 34-year-old Cpl Peter Sadler from Stourbridge, works as an armed response officer with West Midlands Police, he added: "I have been in the regiment for 13 years and served with Challenger tank crews in Iraq. The reason I came here and continue to come here is the fantastic support we receive.

"To me this is my breath of fresh air from my day job. I am really looking forward to seeing what the future holds with the Royal Yeomanry."

Speaking at Defence Questions in the House of Commons this week, Mr Austin called on the Government to do more to support A Squadron.

Defence minister Philip Dunne praised squadron's work and committed to its future expansion by allowing it to expand.

A similar ceremony was also held at the regiment's other centre in Telford which may be due to close under the restructuring of the regiment under the Army 2020 plan.