Members of a military battalion which is due to merge with another are to parade through a city centre, led by their regimental mascot - a Swaledale ram named Private Derby.The parade will take place prior to the battalion's amalgamation with the 1st Battalion on 1 September.The Mercian Regiment was established in 2007, with the merger of the Cheshire, Staffordshire and Worcester and Sherwood Foresters Regiments, and was awarded the Freedom of Derby in the same year.
This allows the regiment the right to march through the streets of the city with bayonets fixed, drums beating, and colours flying."It will be a big day for the Regiment," said commanding officer 2 Mercian, Lt Col Richard Grover."The people of Derby and the wider county have been a constant support, including being there to welcome us home from the Afghanistan conflict."Although there will no longer be a 2nd Battalion, the same bonds of comradeship will remain.