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The Honourable Artillery Company, ‘a unique and major contribution to the community’ |
Freedom honour for our oldest regiment
THEY fought on both sides of the English Civil War, have won two Victoria Crosses and lost a comrade in Afghanistan.
Now, the Honourable Artillery Company – the oldest regiment in the British Army – will be allowed to march through the streets of Islington at any time, after being granted the Freedom of the Borough at a ceremony at Islington town hall last night (Thursday).
The HAC, based at Finsbury Barracks, in City Road, join Arsenal Ladies Football Club, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and theatre school founder Anna Scher in a select band of those honoured with the Freedom of the Borough.
The town hall chamber was packed with uniformed soldiers and officers, including those about to be sent to Afghanistan, as Mayor of Islington Councillor Anna Berent presented the regiment with a scroll affirming its special place in the borough.
The HAC – a Territorial Army regiment – was founded during the reign of Henry VIII in 1537 and was based near Spitalfields. It moved to its present HQ in the 1600s.
In recent years the HAC has sent soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq, providing surveillance patrols. In 2007, trooper Jack Sadler, 21, was killed in Afghanistan when his Land-Rover drove over a landmine.
The HAC’s ceremonial duties include protecting the Lord Mayor of the City of London, providing gun salutes at the Tower of London and guards of honour for visiting heads of state.
After the July 7 bombings, the regiment’s grounds were used as a temporary mortuary.
Major Rob Quain, who has been with the regiment for nearly 30 years, said: “The regiment’s strength is about 300 and we’re all TA so we’ve all got jobs.
“We come in on Tuesday or Wednesdays and go away at weekends for military training. The role of our soldiers in Afghanistan is to find out where the enemy locations are, the routes to them and feed that information back to HQ. Others act as translators.”
He welcomed the Freedom of the Borough honour. “This shows that Islington and the mayor recognise our contribution to the borough but also the nation, in terms of providing soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
Mayor Berent said the Freedom of the Borough recognised “the unique and major contribution that the HAC has made to Islington and the community over many years and recent contributions the regiment has made to operations overseas, including Afghanistan and Iraq”. |
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