Prince Charles meets Mercian soldiers preparing for Afghanistan

The soldiers, from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire), will be deploying to Afghanistan as part of 4 Mechanized Brigade, who will be replacing 11 Light Brigade in April 2010 as the lead formation of British troops in Helmand province.

Prince Charles, who is also the Earl of Chester and the Colonel-in-Chief of the Mercian Regiment, the 1st Battalion of which still recruits mainly from Cheshire and the Wirral, met over 300 of the Mercian soldiers at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Edinburgh and Patrol Base Minden on Salisbury Plain.

For the visit, the soldiers wore their oak leaves behind the cap badges on their berets in traditional honour of the royal visit, a custom that goes back to 1743.

The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Andy Hadfield, said:

"This visit is very important for us as we prepare for deployment to Afghanistan and to have HRH The Earl of Chester come and visit us is an honour, but also of great importance to the soldiers of the battalion.

"As our Colonel-in-Chief, he is very involved in the life of the battalion and the lives of our soldiers. We feel privileged that he was able to give up his time."

A spokesperson from Clarence House said:

"HRH The Prince of Wales is a huge supporter of the troops. He appreciates the commitment that our soldiers make and the impact that inevitably that commitment has on their families. He has great respect for the work that is done by our Armed Forces and he enjoys the opportunity to visit them.

"He was delighted to be able to visit Service personnel to witness their training in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan."

Private Craig Bird, aged 22, from Ellesmere Port, said:

"It's really good that HRH The Prince of Wales comes down and sees the lads training, it shows his support of the regiment and the Army as a whole.

"It was a really good visit, he asked about our role out in Afghanistan and how the training here prepares us for it."

Private Liam Varley, 31, from Elton, said:

"It's important for royalty to visit because people look up to royalty and if they see royalty taking the time to visit the troops then hopefully it will get us more support from the wider public and give them more of an insight of what we do."

Private Ricky Crawford, 21, from Blacon, said:

"It was odd meeting HRH The Prince of Wales again; last time it was on our return from Iraq for the medals parade, and now it is in preparation for Afghanistan. It is good to know that the public support us and his visit goes to show that. It really helped improve morale in the FOB on a very cold exercise."