DURING their six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan last year, the Battalion was instrumental in establishing local governance in the town of Gereshk.

Based in the Helmand Province, it helped to provide an environment where the local population returned to their homes and established a bustling market town.

At the start of the tour, the regiment flew out as the 1st Battalion Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters.

But on September 1, a cap-badging ceremony held at Tamworth Castle saw the regiment being renamed The 2nd Battalion (Worcesters and Foresters).

As well as helping to deliver aid to remote parts of Afghanistan, soldiers from the 2nd Mercian were also involved in intense combat in the formidable Green Zone.

Here they established a dominant position, which reduced the enemy to mounting indirect attacks.

During the heavy fighting nine members of the Battalion lost their lives.

Three of the men were from Derbyshire – Drummer Thomas Wright, 21, of Ripley, Private Ben Ford, 18, of Chesterfield, and Private Brian Tunnicliffe, 33, formerly of Ilkeston.