| Where: | Castle Green, Nottingham with parade from the bottom of the hill just inside the Gatehouse. |
| When: | 6th April |
| Time: | 10.45 Parade, ceremony 11 am |
In 1812 British forces successfully stormed the Spanish castle and city at Badajoz on 6th April, and to mark the victory Lieutenant James MacPherson of the Nottinghamshire Regiment hoisted his scarlet jacket up the flagpole, because he couldn’t find a union flag. The battle was part of the Peninsular Wars with Napoleon Bonaparte and the town was a key location on routes to Madrid; MacPherson was one of the first soldiers to break though the defences of the French who previously held it and today his act is remembered by the raising of a red tunic on the flagpole at Castle Green in Nottingham. MacPherson’s regiment served right through the 1808-1814 campaign; it later became the Sherwood Foresters, and was subsequently amalgamated with the Worcestershires to form the Mercian Regiment in 2007. A small parade of soldiers march to Castle Green to erect a flagpole, a citation is read to the crowd and the coatee is raised before buglers play the Last Post; after a two minute silence, the soldiers march past to salute it. Similar ceremonies also take place on this day wherever the Mercian Regiment is stationed.
Helpful Hints
In 2024 it was on Saturday 6th April,back at the Castle. 2025 details are yet to be announced.
When I went in 2022, the ceremony took place inside the Castle grounds beside the Bandstand- visitors had to pay normal admission fees to enter the Castle (there was lots to see inside the building including a museum of the Regiment). In 2023 the Castle was closed but the ceremony went ahead in the Market Place instead.
Click here for the Castle webpages: https://www.nottinghamcastle.org.uk
Click here for the Mercian Regiment:https://www.facebook.com/MercianRegiment
and here:
https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/infantry/mercian-regiment/
Thanks to Adam Pode for reminding me about this one!
For a first hand account visit: https://traditionalcustomsandceremonies.wordpress.com/?s=badajoz
This year’s event took place in the Market Square due to the castle being closed.
Hi Mark
I’m really pleased to hear it went ahead- and I didn’t get anywhere this time trying to find out in advance, but I’ll put a note on the page about the alternative venue in case it should happen again. Thank you very much for letting me know!
Best wishes,
Averil