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Royal Anglican Regiment
Posted on 13/06/2007
Loughborough Newsdesk
EX-SERVICEMAN Roy Brown will beam with pride when the Royal Anglian Regiment marches through Loughborough next week " but its a day he never imagined would happen.
The Charnwood Borough Councillor had only been serving in the Royal Leicestershire Regiment for a few months when it was re-branded as the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1964.
It proved to be a controversial decision among veterans and those serving in the ranks at the time " although that will be a distant memory on Tuesday, 19th June.
For thats when the Regiments 2nd Battalion exercises its right to march through Loughborough having been granted Freedom of Entry to the Borough by Charnwood Borough Council last September.
Cllr Brown, who joined the Army the day after his 18th birthday in May 1964, recalls the storm that blew up when the decision to merge the Royal Leicestershire Regiment with three other regional regiments was announced.
He said: "The re-badging of the regiment was a very controversial thing " a lot of members felt strongly about losing Leicestershire from the regiments name and were very upset.
"We were lucky in some respects that they kept Leicestershire in the name for a while as other regiments lost their county name straight away.
"It was a difficult decision at the time and was very sad. But its a fantastic honour for them now.
"Having been in the regiment when it was formed, it will be a proud moment for me now being a councillor of the Borough that has given them freedom of entry.
Cllr Brown has nothing but admiration for the Royal Anglians current batch of troops, who have served in Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq in the last 15 years.
"Times have changed and active service is very different now, added Cllr Brown, who served in Aden, Malta and Bahrain during his nine years service.
"Its very difficult for young people but youve got to be proud of the lads " they do a fantastic job.
"When you look back on your army days, you realise what a big part of your life it was. It was an interesting time of my life and I had good times and bad times.
"But when I look back at the old photos, there are a lot of laughs there. Im looking forward to meeting some old friends when the parade takes place.
"Its going to be a very proud moment.