The Staffordshire Regiment
The facts are straightforward enough: formed in 1959 from the South 38th (King's Head pub, Lichfield) and 80th of Foot; and North 64th and 98th of Foot themselves dating back to 1705. So how, you might wonder did this otherwise unremarkable regiment of dour, business-like, grey men, come to be regarded throughout the as one of the world’s all-time elite regiments?
At last, following its amalgamation with the 22nd Battalion the Cheshires and the Woofers into the Mercian Regiment in 2006 the truth can be told. although given what follows you might still ask yourself if that was all it seemed either. Always maintaining a low- profile (despite the ruse to make it the first to convert onto Warrior in the eighties- actually a very clever feint) for those ‘in the know’, the clues were always there.
The Regiment’s unshowy, simple but effective all black facings, chevrons, stable belts etc., give an insight into the Staffords’ long-standing role in clandestine deniable operations. This practical, dual use approach to clothing is followed in the Holland Patch. This is usually attributed to the 38th of Foot’s tour in the West Indies where, due to the low key, unfussy nature of the regiment which was apparent even then, they remained in this tropical backwater for 57 years from 1707 until 1764. The climate and lack of supplies forced them to line their uniforms with 'Holland', made from sugar sacks. Even as late as 2005, the regiment’s DPM clothing had reversible linings enabling them to pass as a variety of local civilian tradesmen appropriate to the theatre at the time.
The glider badge was awarded to the South Staffordshire Regiment by King George VI in 1951. It honours the Regiment's part in the 1943 Sicily landings. It was commonly believed (a misconception that these modest men from the Midlands never did anything to correct) that the glider role fell into disuse after the war. In fact each rifle platoon’s Warrior Sergeant was in fact a supernumerary glider co- pilot. Furthermore, all barracks since 1945 have had a football pitch aligned with the prevailing wind direction, by order of Her Majesty in honour of her father’s wishes. Gliders are of course widely recognised to be the only realistic means of conducting ‘desant’ operations in the twenty-first century, given the apparently prohibitive cost of helicopters and the now obsolete option of parachute insertion. Pork scratchings sent from home proved ideal low weight, high energy rations, once deplaned and operating far from the unwieldy logistics tail required by other more glamorous regiments such as those of the Household Division, Light Division, Parachute Regiment and others too boring to mention.
The Sphinx is commonly said to commemorate the action of the 80th Foot (later the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment) for service against the French in Egypt in 1801, similarly the Dragon , the action of the 98th Foot (later the 2nd Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment) during the Opium War of 1842. However, the reality is more pragmatic, but no less exciting. Attached to each the two stone representations of these creatures at the end of the Square at Whittington Barracks is a stout steel pin, originally used to attach a bungee for use in elementary pilot training. For security reasons these fell into disuse when Whittington became home to the Depot, Prince of Wales Division in the sixties.
Finally, the Stafford Knot. Again, common mythology has it that the high degree of crime in the county in previous centuries necessitated a more cost effective way of executing criminals- three at a time. It is actually in acknowledgment of the many pubs bearing the same name throughout the regiment’s recruiting area.