'Dukes have to be saved'

GOVERNMENT ministers must be persuaded they have made a mistake about axing the Dukes, the regiment's colonel said today.

Maj Gen Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter told how reduction plans had been greeted by the Army with 'incredulity'.

Urging Duke of Wellington's Regiment supporters to let their views be known, he called on the Ministry of Defence to make efforts to keep the regiment's famous name.

Sir Evelyn said: "I and many in the regiment think it is possible to preserve the identities of the famous regimental names.

"We believe the Ministry of Defence have not tried hard enough to preserve that which is so precious and so beneficial to us and the local community."

The 302-year-old Dukes have recruited heavily in Huddersfield over the years.

But plans announced by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon mean they could be amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment and the Green Howards.

Sir Evelyn's father was Commander of the First Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment in Italy.

Sir Evelyn said: "The soldiers of the Dukes have been drawn from the West Riding since the 18th century and over those years we have forged strong and enviable ties with the cities and towns of the old West Riding. We have the freedom of six towns and cities.

"Soldiers that come from the same locality, town or street bind much more closely together, go on leave together and encourage others to join.

"We are truly a family regiment and this has been our strength for many years. That is why we have been consistently up to or over establishment for 10 years.

"If we lose this link that we have jealously guarded, and move to a wider recruiting base, we will have lost that intrinsic local dimension.

"As a consequence a new regiment will have recruitment and identity difficulties that will take 20 years to resolve."

He said the name of the Dukes could now pass into oblivion by 2007-08.

Sir Evelyn said: "There is now to be a period of consultation, during which time I hope people who are interested will let their views be known to MPs or the Press."