Prince William visits Mercian Regiment in Salisbury

The Prince of Wales was taken in a tank to observe an attack exercise

The Prince of Wales has visited The 1st Battalion Mercian Regiment for the first time since becoming its Colonel-in-Chief.

Prince William, who was appointed to the role by the King in August, arrived at Salisbury Plain earlier.

Created in 2007, the Mercian Regiment provides the fighting element of the British Armed Forces.

During the visit, the prince was taken in a Warrior armoured fighting vehicle to observe an attack exercise.

It was the first time the prince has visited the regiment since being appointed its Colonel-in-Chief

Sgt Mark Kirton said the visit was a chance for the regiment's troops to show themselves off

Sgt Mark Kirton, who was in the vehicle with Prince William, said: "He was operating the weapons systems on the Warrior platform but he was also throwing smoke [grenades], which will cover the screen for the light roll troops to move through the wood.

"In his new role as our Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment, hopefully he realises what we do as a unit especially with the Warrior platform.

"He got very excited when all the smoke and bangs were going off!"

Prince William met service personnel from the regiment's different departments

Cpt Matthew Camp said the visit was "nerve-racking at first" but the prince made him feel at ease.

"He was interested to see how the soldiers' lives were affected by the deployments and how they can manage both their private life and professional life," he said.

The prince was appointed Colonel-in-Chief by the King in August

Cpt Camp said the visit had created a "buzz around the battalion" and everyone involved in the exercise "certainly won't forget today".

He added: "We got into a good conversation about my role. He asked about our training cycle and how we manage training the soldiers in what they do and overseas deployments."

Cpt Camp said that the Prince of Wales conducted a practice platoon attack, which is "our bread and butter".

"This involved him being in the gunner seat, driving forwards, engaging the enemy, before our dismounts got out and cleared the woodblock," he added.

The Mercian regiment was created in 2007 and has been deployed on more than 10 operational tours since

The Prince of Wales took part in an attack exercise on Salisbury Plain

The Mercian Regiment consists of service personnel recruited from the five counties that formed the ancient kingdom of Mercia; Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

The prince also received a briefing on the work the regiment has been carrying out recently, including its preparation for an operation next year that will see the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team deployed to Poland to provide a range of services including combat engineering, bridge crossing and air defence.

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