The West Midlands Regiment was a short-lived British
Territorial Army regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
from 1999 until it was re-designated as 4th Battalion, Mercian Regiment, in 2007.
History
The regiment was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of three territorial infantry
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
s: 5th Battalion,
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as the Royal Fusiliers or, simply, the Fusiliers) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st battalion, part o ...
; 5th Battalion,
The Light Infantry
The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Brigad ...
; and 3rd Battalion,
Staffordshire Regiment
The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales') (or simply "Staffords" for short) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of the South Staffordshire Reg ...
.
The regiment was composed of a headquarters company and five rifle companies, continuing to use the insignia of the regular regiments to which they were affiliated. Its initial structure was as follows:
*HQ Company, at
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
*A (Fusilier) Company, at
Sheldon Sheldon may refer to:
* Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name
Places Australia
* Sheldon, Queensland
*Sheldon Forest, New South Wales
United Kingdom
*Sheldon, Derbyshire, England
*Sheldon, Devon, England
* ...
and
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
''(from HQ and B Companies, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers)''
*
B (Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment) Company, at
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...
and
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
''(from A Company, 5th Battalion, The Light Infantry)''
*C (Staffords) Company, at
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...
''(from C Company, 3rd Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment)''
*D (Staffords) Company, at
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
''(from B Company, 3rd Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment)''
*E (Light Infantry) Company, at
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
and
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
''(from HQ and C Companies, 5th Battalion, Light Infantry)''
Structure prior to re-designation
Not long prior to re-designation of a battalion of the
Mercian Regiment
The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, which is recruited from five of the counties that formed the ancient kingdom of Mercia. Known as 'The Heart of England's Infant ...
, the regiment absorbed the companies from other regiments that were within the new regiment's recruiting area, in order to ease the re-designation process. After this, its structure was as follows:
*HQ Company, at Wolverhampton
*A (Cheshire) Company, at
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
and
Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is within ...
''(from B (Cheshire) Regiment, King's and Cheshire Regiment
The King's and Cheshire Regiment was a regiment of the British Territorial Army, with headquarters in Warrington, Cheshire.
History
The regiment was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of the 5th/8th (Volunteer) Battalion of the King's Regiment a ...
)''
*B Company, at Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent
''(from D (Cheshire) Company, King's and Cheshire Regiment)''
*C (Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment) Company, at
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...
''(from C (Stafford) Company, West Midlands Regiment; and D (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment)) Company, East of England Regiment
The East of England Regiment (EER) was the infantry unit of the Territorial Army of the East Midlands and East Anglia from 1 July 1999 to 1 April 2006. Upon the re-organisation of the infantry in 2006, the regiment became 3rd Battalion, Royal An ...
)''
*D (Staffordshire) Company, at Wolverhampton,
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...
, and Burton upon Trent
''(from D (Stafford) Company; and Platoon of B (Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment) Company)''
*F (Fusilier) Company, at
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
''(from A (Fusilier) Company)''
*L Company (Light Infantry), at Shrewsbury
''(from E (Light Infantry) Company, less Hereford Platoon to B (Shropshire Yeomanry) Squadron, Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry
The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. It served in the armoured replacement role, providing replacement tank crews for regular armoured regiments.
History
The regiment was fo ...
)''
4th Battalion, Mercian Regiment
On 1 September 2007, the regiment was re-designated as the 4th Battalion of the Mercian Regiment. It now serves as the reserve infantry battalion for
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
,
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
,
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, and
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
.
Current Structure
Its current structure is as follows:
*Headquarters Company, at Wolseley House,
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
**Rifle Platoon, at Dancox House, Worcester
**
Javelin Platoon, at Kidderminster
**
Band of the Mercian Regiment
*
B Company, at
Ubique Barracks,
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...
**Rifle Platoon, in
Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...
**Mortar Platoon, in Stockport
*C Company, at
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
**Assault Pioneer Platoon, at Mansfield
*D (Staffords) Company, at Stoke-on-Trent
**Machine Gun Platoon, at Burton upon Trent
References
{{reflist
Wolverhampton
Infantry regiments of the British Army
Military units and formations established in 1998
Military units and formations disestablished in 2007
Mercian Regiment