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Top TA regiment axed: Officers claim unit was singled out for not being 'posh enough'



One of the Britain’s most successful Territorial Army regiments is to be axed months after the Government vowed to boost the number of reserve soldiers.

The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry (RMLY), a TA unit dating back to 1794, is to be sacrificed in a major shake-up of reserve forces. Half its soldiers have served in Bosnia, Iraq or Afghanistan.

But, according to a senior Yeomanry source, it is to be disbanded and replaced by a new Scottish regiment.

The disclosure is part of a review of Britain’s reserve forces expected to be announced by the Prime Minister next month. Members of the RMLY argue the move makes no sense, sends the wrong message to the TA and will cost hundreds of thousands of pounds when the Ministry of Defence is trying to save money.


Betrayed: The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry (RMLY), a TA unit dating back to 1794, is to be sacrificed in a major shake-up of reserve forces.

Senior regimental officers also claim they have been singled out for the axe for not being ‘posh enough’ because they recruit troops from ‘unglamorous’ areas such as the Black Country in the Midlands.

One senior source said it would make more military sense and cost less money to integrate the Royal Yeomanry, a sister regiment, which recruits primarily from London, with the Household Cavalry in Windsor, because both units are trained in armoured reconnaissance.

Such a move, however, is understood to have been given short shrift as it would give the impression of ‘diluting’ the elite status of the premier regiment in the British Regiment.

The role of the RMLY now is to support Challenger 2 tank regiments in times of war. In Afghanistan, the unit has been involved in a series of reconnaissance roles as well as supporting troops on operations.

It is one of the best recruited units in the UK with 372 members, led by a regular commander officer with a further 112 recruits currently going through training. The RMLY has four squadrons based in Dudley, Telford, Chester, Wigan and Hereford. When disbanded, the unit’s training equipment such as rifles, radios and vehicles will be sent to Scotland or distributed to other Yeomanry regiments in other areas of England.

Under the recent defence cuts, the Prime Minister promised to preserve the historical status of the Army and pledged that no ‘cap badges’ would be lost. But that promise seems to have been broken.

Under the defence strategy known as Future Force 2020, the regular Army will drop in size from 100,000 to 82,000 soldiers by 2015 but the number of reserves is supposed to increase.


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In theory, the new TA will be a highly capable, well-trained and properly equipped force, supporting the regulars and deploying alongside them on operations.


The ruling has provoked deep anger in the regiment, some of whom are serving in Afghanistan. A senior member told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The Regiment feels betrayed as yet another political promise, of no cap badge losses, is tossed aside.’



MP Patrick Mercer, a former Army colonel and the Tory MP for Newark, said the scrapping of the TA unit sent out a bad message at a time when the army was increasing its number of reserves

Patrick Mercer, a former Army colonel and the Tory MP for Newark, said: ‘Why is a fully recruited English regiment being sent to the wall for a political expedient rather than a military one? What sort of message does that send to the TA at a time when the Army is supposed to be increasing the number of reserves?’

An MoD spokesman said: ‘We are growing the trained strength of the Territorial Army to 30,000 by 2018. Work is ongoing to make sure we have the best possible structure and basing plan and no decisions have been made.’

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