Soldiers face biggest fight, for Staffords
The future of the Staffords battalion hangs in the balance with an announcement due tomorrow. MARK ANDREWS talks to a former soldier determined to keep the Staffords alive
"We thought it was imp-ossible, we were looking after five roads," he says.
"There was this man in a car who was talking to one of our lads, I don't know quite what it was, but there was something that didn't look right about him."
After a brief conversation, the car drove off. Followed a few minutes later by a very loud bang.
"He had been waiting to bomb the pub, but we had stopped him," remembers Steve, who is 57.
"He was all right, he had just managed to throw the bomb away before it went off, but we had to spend the next two hours looking for him."
It is perhaps down to stories such as this which is why people such as Steve regard the Staffords as more than just a former employer.
"It's a family, just one big family," he says. Now, 27 years after the Army, Steve has a fresh battle on his hands. The battle to save the Staffords.
It looks a tall order. Tomorrow the Ministry of Defence is due to make an announcement on which regiments will be affected by cuts to the armed forces, and Steve admits the Staffords will probably be on the list.
The former Staffordshire Regiment was absorbed into the Mercians in 2007, the Staffords becoming the 3rd numbered battalion.
Steve fears the fact that it is the regiment's last numbered battalion in the regular army – 4 Mercian is a Territorial Army group – will count against it.
"They not going to get rid of the first or second battalion are they?" he says.
And the fact that the regiment is among those based in Germany, which are scheduled to relocate to the UK by 2020, probably doesn't help the case.
However, regardless of tomorrow's announcement, Steve is determined that the fight will not stop there. "If it is merged with another battalion, the next thing will be to make sure the Staffords name is kept in some form," he says. He has set up a page on the social networking site Facebook, which so far has attracted 2,700 members, and between 1,500 and 2,000 people across the West Midlands region have so far signed his petition.
"We've been collecting in Rugeley, and we will be in Walsall and Wolverhampton soon collecting signatures," he says. We have had support from as far away as Belize and Australia, the aim is to get 10,000 people signed up," he says.
The group is also seeking the support of pop star Robbie Williams - who was spotted wearing the Staffords' insignia while performing at the recent Diamond Jubilee concert, and MPs Michael Fabricant and Jeremy Lefroy.
"It's the regiment for Staffordshire and the West Midlands, and for hundreds of years this has been the best recruiting area for the armed forces.
"The Army has been recruiting from Staffordshire since the 1500s.
"When I see a parade, with all the badges, I have tears in my eyes.
"We are worth saving."
