Editing Mercian Regiment (section)

==History==
The regiment's formation was announced on 16 December 2004 by the then [[Secretary of Defence]] [[Geoff Hoon]] and [[Mike Jackson (British Army officer)|General Sir Mike Jackson]] as part of the restructuring of the [[British Army Infantry]] - it consisted of three regular battalions, plus a territorial battalion, and was created through the merger of three single battalion regiments.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4102013.stm|title=In detail: army restructuring plans|publisher=BBC|date=16 December 2004|access-date=24 May 2014}}</ref>

The antecedent regiments were, The 1st Battalion, [[Cheshire Regiment]], The 1st Battalion, [[Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters|Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment]] and the 1st Battalion, [[Staffordshire Regiment]]. The reserve [[West Midlands Regiment]], with elements of the [[King's and Cheshire Regiment]] and the [[East of England Regiment]] formed the 4th Battalion, Mercian Regiment.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=30 April 2016|publisher=Ministry of Defence|title=Mercian Regiment|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/23998.aspx}}</ref>

The regiment originally had 3 [[regular army]] battalions and one [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Army Reserve]] battalion, though the 3rd Battalion was disbanded, as part of the [[Future of the British Army (Army 2020)|restructuring of the British Army]],<ref name="news.sky.com">{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/story/956309/army-loses-17-major-units-in-defence-cuts|title=Army Loses 17 Major Units In Defence Cuts|publisher=Sky News|access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref> in July 2014.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=6 November 2014|title=Mercian Regiment: Final marches for disbanded battalion|work=BBC News |date=24 June 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-27988491}}</ref> It had been part of the [[7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Brigade]] based in [[Bad Fallingbostel]], Germany.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=19 November 2011 |publisher=Ministry of Defence |title=3 Mercian disbanded |url=http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/6449.aspx |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211225421/http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/6449.aspx |archive-date=11 February 2010 }}</ref> The regiment further restructured in September 2022 when the 2nd Battalion merged with the 1st Battalion.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=5 September 2022|publisher=The Mercian Regimental Charity|title=Mercian Regiment|url=https://mercianregiment.co.uk/about-us}}</ref> This happened as a result of the Integrated Review.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=5 September 2022|publisher=GOV.UK|title=Defence Secretary oral statement on the Defence Command Paper|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/defence-secretary-oral-statement-on-the-defence-command-paper}}</ref>

The regiment was deployed to Afghanistan (Herrick 6, Herrick 10, Herrick 12, Herrick 14, Herrick 15, Herrick 17 and Herrick 19) and to Iraq (Telic 11).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://british-army-units1945on.co.uk/infantry/mercian-regiment.html|title=Mercian Regiment|publisher=British Army units 1945 on|access-date=18 August 2016}}</ref>

In 2017 the regiment moved to the [[King's Division]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bowyers.com/downloads/mercianNewsletterAugust2017.pdf|title=The Mercian Regiment Newsletter August 2017|publisher=Bowyers|access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref>