A FORMER soldier with the Dukes believes merging the regiment into a large Yorkshire one could be for the best.

Bill Swap served in the Army for 22 years - four of them with the Dukes as a physical trainer from 1975 to 1979.

Former Warrant Officer Mr Swap, who now works at Kirklees Community Safety Unit, said the loss of the Dukes' identity would be sad, but necessary.

"It is an excellent regiment with a long history and fully up to strength," he said. "But the review has to take into account the needs of the Army. The way it goes about its duties today is very different from when the Dukes formed 300 years ago. Change is for a reason, hopefully the right one."

He said one big Yorkshire regiment would create more options for the Army. For instance, bigger regiments have enough men to form companies, which are self-contained and easier to deploy than a whole regiment.

"Unfortunately, the small regiments lose their identities," he said. "Also within the Dukes, there are lots of local family connections and they would be lost. But it's been happening for years and it is not all doom and gloom.

"Anyone new joining the Army does not know the history until they have been there a while. So it could be better for them to learn the history of several regiments rather than just one."