Patrick Mercer

Patrick Mercer OBE, MP, is the elected Member of Parliament representing Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK, a constituency he has held since 2001. He previously spent 25 years as an army officer with the Sherwood Foresters, the regiment with which his father had served during World War II. During his time in the army, Patrick completed nine tours in Northern Ireland and commanded his battalion in Bosnia and Canada. Commended for gallantry in 1990, he was made a MBE in 1992, and in 1997 he received an OBE for service in Bosnia. Educated at Oxford University, this former BBC defence correspondent has had a lifelong fascination with the Crimean War and has expert knowledge of its key battles.OLDERPatrick Mercer is a serving commanding officer of Infantry with expert knowledge of the battles of the Crimean War. Has had a life-long fascination with the Crimean War since, as a boy, he gazed at a cannon brought back from Sevastopol in the centre of Ludlow. This kindled an interest in Victorian military history, especially the achievements of the individual soldiers and their individual regiments, and has culminated in a number of trips to the little visited battlefields of the Crimea. Educated at Oxford University, he now lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and son.