Defence cuts will see the disbandment of 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the Warwickshire County regiment.
Some may wonder what significance a regiment’s name has to the young soldiers who make up much of it.
The answer is quite simple – history. The Army makes much of the past – and the British Army has some of the proudest battle honours of any armed force in the world.
A soldier serving in Afghanistan knows he is the latest in a long line who fought conflicts including the War of Spanish Succession, The Peninsula War against Napoleon, The First and Second World Wars and Korea. It is a rash decision to throw away that history which serves as motivation to those fighting in foreign fields.
If the campaign to save the battalion, which still recruits in our city, doesn’t succeed, it will leave Birmingham without a directly affiliated regiment – a tragic end to a proud partnership. What would the Birmingham Pals make of that?
