MHM 151 Letters – March

This article is from Military History Matters issue 151

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The Cheshire Regiment in America

I read with interest the series on the American Revolutionary War (starting in MHM 149, December 2025/January 2026), having recently returned from a trip to Boston, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. I wanted to research whether the predecessors of my local regiment, The Mercians – formerly the Cheshire Regiment – were involved, and I was delighted at what I found.

Having taken part in the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and fought with Wolfe at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, the 22nd Regiment of Foot was transferred to the Caribbean. However, it was brought back to North America in 1775, arriving just in time for its commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie, to be killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Evacuated from Boston to Nova Scotia in March 1776, the regiment returned to New York and took part in driving the Americans from Flatbush to Brooklyn in the largest engagement in the war so far.

Over the winter of 1776 and until 1779, the regiment was based in Rhode Island, before returning to New York, where it stayed until the end of the war in 1783. It then returned to the UK. Although the County designation existed unofficially as early as 1772, in a letter dated 31 August 1782 King George III told the regiment that it would now be named the 22nd or the Cheshire Regiment – the start of a formidable military history!

Simon Yates, Crewe, Cheshire

Warsaw at war

I wish to add to the recent Cold War article (MHM 149, December 2025/January 2026 ), which mentioned the Warsaw Uprising.

Stalin held the Soviet army back fromWarsaw to allow the Nazis to destroy the Polish underground, who might have fought the Soviet takeover. The British and Americans tried to use aircraft to parachute supplies into Warsaw, but Stalin would not allow them to refuel in Soviet-held territory. So the planes had to fly non-stop, with more space for fuel and less for supplies. Check out the movie Kanał (1957), a nightmarish portrayal of the uprising.

John Lockwood, Washington, DC

In the same vein

I am a retired surgeon and much enjoyed the contribution by Dr John Beales concerning the vital contribution of blood transfusion in WWII (MHM 150, February/March 2026). He reasonably focuses on the evolution of the ABTS and the work of Lionel Whitby.

I feel the contribution of the Red Cross Transfusion Service could have been mentioned, particularly as it led to the development of the national and emergency blood transfusion services. As a brief introduction, it would have been interesting to read of the considerable challenges and pioneering efforts of early transfusion methods that evolved during WWI.

Perhaps Dr Beales might consider an article on this latter issue?

Michael Crumplin, via email

Memorial masterpieces

I could not let your poignant article on war memorials (MHM 149, December 2025/January 2026) pass without drawing attention to the Nicholson War Memorial in the unassuming town of Leek. It is surely one of the largest of its kind and also a superb architectural masterpiece with four clockfaces, which dominates the townscape in this small market town on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Nearby in the same district, at Rudyard, is one of the very few war memorials with the inclusion of the Boer War.

Steve Gower, Leek, Staffordshire