British Army News Release Media Operations Headquarters 16 Air Assault Brigade Gryphon House, Merville Barracks, Colchester, Essex CO2 7UT Telephone: (01206) 815057/815050 Fax: (01206) 815061 Email: [email protected] Date: 17 July 2015 Reference: 20150713-23Engr-Woodbridge-MediaIO-O Woodbridge to celebrate military links Suffolk’s airborne engineers are set to parade through Woodbridge for the first time under their new name. 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment will march through Woodbridge on Wednesday 22 July to exercise its Freedom of the Town for the first time since its name was changed to reflect its role, history and ethos. The honour had been initially granted to the unit in 2006 and exercised four times under its former name of 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault). Lieutenant Colonel John Clark MBE, Commanding Officer of 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment, said: “As a Regiment, we hugely value the support we receive from the people of Woodbridge. This special day is an opportunity to bring together Woodbridge’s military and civilian communities to celebrate and strengthen the close links between us. “We are all hugely proud of our new name as 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment, which better reflects our identity and spirit, and as a result we will march through Woodbridge with an extra spring in our step.” Mayor of Woodbridge, Cllr Josh Sayles said: “Woodbridge is hugely proud to be the home of 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment and, on behalf of the Town and the Town Council, I am delighted to welcome the Regiment to assert its Freedom of Woodbridge. I urge members of the public to come out and show their support to the Regiment by lining the parade route and joining us in Elmhurst Park later to celebrate the links between the town and its airborne engineers.” army.mod.uk/pressoffice | twitter.com/armypressoffice The Freedom parade will see soldiers march through the town ‘with swords drawn, bayonets fixed, drums beating, bands playing and Colours flying’. The march sets off from Burkitt Road at noon, with the Chief Royal Engineer Lieutenant General Sir Mark Mans KCB CBE DL, taking the salute outside Shire Hall. Troops will then march along New Street, St John’s Street, turn right onto the Thoroughfare, left onto Quay Street and turn right onto Station Road. The Parade will be dismissed in the car park by the Deben Swimming Pool. After the parade, the Regiment will host veterans from the Suffolk Coastal area for lunch in Elmhurst Park. Representatives from the MoD’s Service Personnel and Veterans Agency and military charities including The Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Help 4 Heroes, Blind Veterans UK, and BLESMA The Limbless Veterans will be on hand to give advice and link veterans to support available locally. The park gates will be opened to the general public at 6pm, with a barbecue and music from The Band of The Brigade of Gurkhas. Notes to editors: 16 Air Assault Brigade is the British Army’s largest brigade with some 6,200 soldiers, combining the speed and agility of airborne and air assault troops with the potency of Apache attack helicopters. The brigade's core role is to provide the Air Assault Task Force (AATF), the British Army's rapid reaction force, which is ready to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice to conduct the full spectrum of military operations, from non-combatant evacuation operations to warfighting. The brigade is part of the Joint Helicopter Command, which brings together helicopter forces from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/16AirAssaultBrigade and Instagram at https://instagram.com/16airassaultbrigade/ for the latest news. 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment, which is based at Rock Barracks in Woodbridge, Suffolk, provides close combat engineering support to 16 Air Assault Brigade, enabling it to fight, move and live. Its sappers are trained and equipped to deploy by parachute, helicopter or fixed wing aircraft. ### army.mod.uk/pressoffice | twitter.com/armypressoffice .