Prince Andrew presents medals at Shropshire army barracks
The Duke of York presented medals and awards to soldiers during a visit to a Shropshire army barracks.
Clive Barracks, near Market Drayton, welcomed Prince Andrew yesterday.
He presented medals to soldiers serving with The Royal Irish Regiment.
The colonel-in-chief of the regiment was also given a tour of the Foxhound, a vehicle which forms the core of the battalion’s light mechanised capability.
The Royal Irish Regiment is preparing to celebrate St Patrick’s Day this weekend with a parade and presentation of shamrocks, which are being flown in from their regimental headquarters at Palace Barracks, Northern Ireland.
1 Royal Irish, and their reservist paired battalion, 2 Royal Irish, comes under the operational command of 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales, based in Brecon, and most recently were engaged in Operation Toral in Afghanistan – supporting the NATO mission of training, assisting and advising Afghan security forces.
In 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced Clive Barracks at Tern Hill would be sold off to make way for a new development.
The barracks will close by 2022. The MoD said the site has the potential to provide land for up to 600 houses and money from the sales will be ploughed back into defence spending.
Clive Barracks opened in 1916 and has been home to the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment since 2007 when the battalion moved from Fort George, Inverness.
The barracks hit the headlines on February 20, 1989, after a pair of IRA terrorists activated two bombs within the accommodation block.
No-one was injured in the early morning bomb attack thanks to the sentry who cleared the barracks after seeing two men acting suspiciously.