COUNTY soldiers will be marching through Worcester city centre to mark Armed Forces Day, council chiefs have revealed.
The parade on Saturday (June 25) will be conducted by the 2nd Battalion, the Mercian Regiment, which was given the freedom of the city in 2007. It will be its last parade in Worcester before the merging of the Mercian Regiment’s 1st and 2nd Battalions.
Leading the parade will be the Regimental Mascot, Private Derby XXXII, a Swaledale ram previously the mascot of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters; one of the Mercian Regiment’s antecedent regiments.
Also attending the parade will be the Band of the Mercian Regiment, the 2nd Battalion of the Mercian Regiment, and members of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Association.
The parade will set off from Cornmarket Square at 11.30am, where it will turn right into Mealcheapen Street, before heading straight onto St Swithin’s Street, and then left onto High Street.
Following this the soldiers will march left onto Pump Street and then left again onto New Street, where they will head back to Cornmarket Square for midday.
Worcester City councillor and Armed Forces champion Chris Mitchell added: “We are delighted that the Mercians will be able to join us once again in Worcester to mark Armed Forces Day and I hope that residents will turn out to show their support for our local regiment, which was given the freedom of the city in 2007.”
