Light Infantry and Mercian Volunteers

Light Infantry and Mercian Volunteers
Active	1971–1975
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Role	Line Infantry
Size	One Battalion
Garrison/HQ	Wolverhampton

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

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.^[1] Its initial structure was:^[2][3]

• Headquarters, at Wolseley House, Wolverhampton^[4]
• A (Worcestershire Regiment) Company, at Worcester
  (from 7th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment)
• B (5th/6th Battalion Staffordshire Regiment) Company, at Stoke-on-Trent
  (from 5th/6th Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment)
• C (King's Shropshire Light Infantry) Company, at Wellington
  (from 4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry)
• D (Herefordshire Light Infantry) Company, at Ross-on-Wye
  (from 1st Battalion, Herefordshire Light Infantry)
• E Company, at Whittimere Street drill hall, Walsall
  (newly raised)

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;^[5] and D Company to 6th Battalion, The Light Infantry,^[5] with the same lettering.^[2][3]

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, OBE, TD^[6]
• B Company: Colonel Charles J. Baines, CBE, MC, TD, DL^[7]
• C & D Companies: Lieutenant-Colonel Guy M. Thorneycroft, DL^[8]