MP pays tribute to county's armed forces

Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, praised the work of the county's military past and present during the Remembrance and Armed Forces debate held to mark Armistice Day . He said barely a decade had gone by over the past 150 years when the armed forced had not been called on to make huge sacrifices.

"We think, of course, of the two great wars today, but there have been other conflicts where people in my constituency have served, Korea, we think of operations in Sierra Leone, ongoing operations in the Sahel right now, and of course the distinguished service of many of our gallant members in Northern Ireland," he said.

"I would like to pay thanks to the men, and it was mostly men at that time, in the First World War, of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, over 5,000 fell in that awful war, they then amalgamated into the Light Infantry, and now the Mercian Regiment, and I pay tribute to the Mercian Regiment in Shropshire as well."

Mr Pritchard said both the military and civilian personnel based at the Army's MOD Donnington base near Telford had played a vital role in helping with the fight against the coronavirus.

"Both uniformed and civilian personnel have made a huge contribution to the Covid effort, in making sure that kit and equipment was distributed around the country and I would like to pay tribute to all those that played a part in that effort and continue to do so," he said.

Mr Pritchard said the base was home to both the 11th Signals Brigade (West Midlands) and 15th Royal Logistic Corps as well other operations which were not so well known.

"I'd also like to recognise the work of the Royal Military Police, and in particular the 174 Provost Company, a company that isn't particularly well known in the county of Shropshire but does a huge amount of work across the county and beyond," he added.

Mr Pritchard said he hoped to invite fellow MPs to join him on tour of the RAF base at Cosford once the coronavirus crisis was over, adding that it was the second largest operational RAF base in the world.

"Freedom is not free, we pay tribute to those who have fallen, and we pay tribute to those who continue to serve," he added.