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THE MERCIAN EAGLE
MERCIAN 2020 Update
By far the most important decision made in the last year is the agreement of the Regiments Proposal to change its name. Her Majesty The Queen graciously agreed to our proposal for our new Regimental title; one of a number of similar requests from across the Army which were submitted for her consideration. From this point onwards the official title of the Regiment will be:
The Mercian Regiment
(Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords)
At the battalion level the official title will be:
1st, 2nd or 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords)
When abbreviated all brackets are to be removed, with battalions referred to as:
1 MERCIAN, 2 MERCIAN and 4 MERCIAN.
The Regiment has also made some positive strides forward in determining our Regimental celebrations. The Regimental Council chose Meanee, Alma and Ferozeshah; ensuring we have chosen special times in our heritage which make us different and which we can take forward and preserve in the future. The fact that there remains other equally important occasions such as Mons and Gheluvelt which are unique in their own right, is not forgotten but rather symptomatic of the embarrassment of historical riches we, as the successor Regiment, enjoy. All of you I know are conscious that drawing the line somewhere is difficult.
These Regimental Celebrations will be as follows:
17th February – Meeanee Day 19th September – Alma Day 21st December – Ferozeshah
Battalions have been advised to involve the wider Regimental family in such celebrations, and retain these events as key milestones throughout the year.
Another significant change is that the 1st September will be celebrated as ‘Mercian Regiment Day’ each year by all members of The Mercian Regiment. The nature of the celebration will be detailed later, as HRH The Colonel in Chief is still considering the proposals presented by the Regimental Council.
As we move into implementing MERCIAN 2020, the Colonel of The Regiment and Commanding Officers recognise this as an opportunity to formalise those titles at company level, we would like to retain and remove those we would not, where perhaps the historical provenance is less than convincing. Therefore with effect 1 Sep 14, the following applied to all three battalions.
A (Grenadier) Company [Regular]/A (Fusilier) Company [Reserve] B (Malta) Company
C (Kohima) Company
D (Dragon) Company
F (Gaza) Company [Reserve] HQ Company
These important changes were very much welcomed by all members of the Regiment and as a Regiment we have been involved in their development. The new title and other policies reflects not only our origins and heritage, but also links the Regiment to our counties, the people whom we recruit from and whom ultimately we serve. We continue to enjoy humbling levels of support from our associations, our friends throughout Mercia and the public at large. I know our Colonel in Chief, HRH The Prince of Wales places great emphasis on our relationship with our people, and you will recall him saying just this when he kindly presented the Regiment with new Colours last June. We are all a product of where we have come from and our rich historical provenance and antecedent roots, combined with those all important customs
and traditions, which we are taking forward, can now continue to be part of the Regiment of today and tomorrow.
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