Charles to present Afghanistan campaign medals to Midland TA heroes

Nov 26 2009 by Andy Richards, Birmingham Mail

THE Prince of Wales will today present campaign medals to Midland Territorial Army soldiers who have just returned from a tour in Afghanistan.

Troops of 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment marched from Wellington Barracks in central London to Clarence House. Charles, who is the regiment’s Colonel in Chief, will also meet Stephanie Newman, widow of 4 Mercian Colour Sergeant Phillip Newman, 36, from Coventry, who died in a road accident in Afghanistan in 2007.

The soldiers of 4 Mercian spent the summer in Helmand Province in a rare instance of an exclusively Territorial Army infantry company being deployed to Afghanistan.

They protected the airfield at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, from insurgent attack, and provided protection for bomb disposal teams and armed escorts for medical evacuation of casualties.

The headquarters of 4 Mercian are in Wolverhampton, and the battalion also has companies based in Birmingham, Widnes, Mansfield, Crewe, Shrewsbury and Burton-on-Trent, and platoons in Stockport, Stoke and Kidderminster.

FULL REPORT AND PICTURES IN TOMORROW’S MAIL