Light Infantry and Mercian Volunteers

The Light Infantry and Mercian Volunteers was a short-lived infantry regiment of the British Army, in existence from 1971 to 1975.

History

The battalion was formed on the 1 April 1971, from the cadres of former Midland infantry battalions that had been reduced as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper and formation of
the much smaller TAVR. Its initial structure was:

Headquarters, at Wolseley House, Wolverhampton
A (Worcestershire Regiment) Company, at Worcester
B Company, at Stoke-on-Trent
C Company, at Wellington
D Company, at Ross-on-Wye
E Company, at Whittimere Street drill hall, Walsall

Only four years later, however, the regiment was broken up and the companies were distributed amongst other battalions. Namely: A, B, and E Companies to the 2nd Battalion, Mercian Volunteers as A, B, and D Companies respectively; C Company to 5th Battalion, The Light Infantry, as E Company; and D Company to 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry, with the same lettering.

Deputy Honorary Colonels

The regiment didn't have an Honorary Colonel as a whole, however from 1971–1972 each company maintained their own Deputy Honorary Colonel, in succession to the previous unit. These were:

A Company: Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander W.R.H. Pettigrew,
B Company: Colonel Charles J. Baines,
C & D Companies: Lieutenant-Colonel Guy M. Thorneycroft,