Pre 1914 history The regiment was formed on 1 July 1881 as part of the
Childers Reforms. The
45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot (raised in 1741) and the
95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot (raised in 1823) were redesignated as the 1st and 2nd battalions of the
Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment). The
2nd Derbyshire Militia (Chatsworth Rifles),
Royal Sherwood Foresters Militia and
1st Derbyshire Militia became the 3rd, 4th and 5th battalions respectively (the 3rd and 5th Bns amalgamated in 1891). These were joined by the 1st and
2nd (Derbyshire) and the 3rd (
Robin Hood) and 4th (Nottinghamshire) Volunteer battalions. Following the amalgamation, the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters saw action in Egypt during the
Anglo-Egyptian War, and was stationed at
Malta from September 1898. Following the outbreak of the
Second Boer War in October 1899, the battalion was sent to South Africa where they arrived in December. They were stationed in the
Orange Free State and took part in fighting under General
Sir William Gatacre. From April 1900 they were part of the 21st Infantry brigade under General
Bruce Hamilton. The battalion stayed in South Africa until the end of the war, then transferred on the SS
Wakool to a new posting at
Hong Kong in September 1902. The 2nd Battalion served in
India from 1882 to 1898, and saw action in the
Sikkim Expedition 1888 and the North West Frontier campaign 1897–1898, after which they transferred to
Aden. They were stationed at Malta from February 1900 until returning home in May 1902. In October 1902, the Nottinghamshire association was made explicit, the name changing to the
Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). In 1908, the Militia and Volunteers were reorganised nationally as part of the
Haldane Reforms, with the former becoming the
Special Reserve (SR) and the latter the
Territorial Force (TF); the regiment now had two Reserve battalions and four Territorial battalions. The 2nd battalion landed at
Saint-Nazaire as part of
18th Brigade in the
6th Division in September 1914 also for service on the Western Front.
Territorial Force The 1/5th,
1/6th,
1/7th and 1/8th battalions landed in France as part of the
Sherwood Foresters Brigade in the
North Midland Division (later 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade and 46th (North Midland) Division respectively) in February 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 2nd-Line TF battalions formed on the outbreak of war, the 2/5th,
2/6th,
2/7th and 2/8th battalions, moved to Ireland as part of the
178th (2/1st Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Brigade in the
59th (2nd North Midland) Division in April 1916. The 2/5th, 2/7th and the 2/8th battalions transferred to Le Havre in February 1917 for service on the Western Front while the 2/6th battalion transferred to
Boulogne-sur-Mer in February 1917 also for service on the Western Front. In December 1936, the 46th (North Midland) Division was disbanded and its headquarters was reconstituted as
2nd Anti-Aircraft Division to control the increasing number of anti-aircraft (AA) units being created north of London. At the same time, several of its infantry battalions were converted into searchlight battalions of the
Royal Engineers (RE). The 6th and 7th Bns Sherwood Foresters were among these, becoming
40th (The Sherwood Foresters) Anti-Aircraft Battalion and
42nd (The Robin Hoods, Sherwood Foresters) AA Bn respectively, forming part of
32nd (South Midland) Anti-Aircraft Group in 2 AA Division.
Second World War After garrison service in the interwar years, the Sherwood Foresters next saw action in the
Second World War. The regiment served in the
Norwegian Campaign, the
Battle of France,
Dunkirk, the
North African and the
Italian campaigns. They also saw action in the
Far East. Nearly 27,000 men served in the regiment's 17 battalions, suffering 1,500 officers and men killed in action. The regiment won 10 battle honours and 400 decorations, including a Victoria Cross. Other battalions saw service in Italy and North Africa.
1st Battalion The 1st Battalion was serving in the
Middle Eastern theatre and fought in the
North African Campaign and the
Western Desert Campaign on the outbreak of war, and was assigned to many different brigades and divisions until late June 1942 when, fighting in
Tobruk, the battalion was captured. The few survivors of the battalion returned to the United Kingdom. In Battalion was reformed, by the redesignation of the 16th Battalion, a hostilities-only battalion. In August 1944 the new 1st Battalion was transferred to the
183rd Infantry Brigade, part of the
61st Infantry Division and in June 1945 it transferred to the
184th Infantry Brigade, again part of 61st Infantry Division.
2nd Battalion . The 2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters was serving in the
3rd Infantry Brigade, part of the
1st Infantry Division, with which the battalion would remain with throughout the war. The division was sent to France in September 1939 shortly after the outbreak of the war, joining the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The battalion remained in France until May 1940 when the
Germans invaded the
Low Countries. They took part in the short but bitter fighting and were forced to be
evacuated at Dunkirk as the BEF was in danger of being surrounded and overrun. They were evacuated to England and spent the next two years on home defence and in preparation for a
German invasion which never arrived. In early 1943 the division was sent to North Africa where it became part of the
British First Army and took part in the final stages of the
Tunisian Campaign. In January 1944, they took part in the
landings at Anzio, under command of
U.S. Fifth Army, where they suffered serious casualties in some of the fiercest fighting of the
Italian Campaign so far, and later fighting during
Operation Diadem and on the
Gothic Line. They fought in Italy until January 1945 when they were sent to
Palestine and remained there until the end of the war.
1/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion The 1/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion was a 1st-Line
Territorial Army formation originally serving with the
148th Infantry Brigade, part of the
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. However, in December 1939, the battalion was reassigned to the
25th Infantry Brigade and saw service with the BEF in France and Belgium in 1940 and being evacuated at Dunkirk. In late 1940, it was again reassigned to the
55th Infantry Brigade,
18th Infantry Division. The battalion, along with the rest of the 18th Division, was posted to Malaya to defend the peninsula and the island of Singapore against the Japanese. After
Singapore fell to the
Imperial Japanese Army, the battalion's men were among the thousands of
Prisoners of war sent to work on the infamous
Burma Railway.
42nd (Robin Hoods, Sherwood Foresters) Anti-Aircraft Battalion Similarly, in August 1940 this battalion became the
42nd (Robin Hoods, Sherwood Foresters) Searchlight Regiment, RA, serving through
The Blitz in
50th Anti-Aircraft Brigade of 2nd AA Division, covering Derby. It went to North-West Europe and served in the defence of
Antwerp against
V-1 flying bomb attacks during the winter of 1944–45.
8th Battalion The 8th (Nottinghamshire) Battalion was mobilised in the
148th Infantry Brigade alongside the 1/5th Battalion on the outbreak of war, attached to the
49th (West Riding) Division. It fought in
Norway in 1940, and then served as a garrison in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1942, the brigade was reorganised as a Training brigade.
2/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion The 2/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion was formed as a 2nd-Line duplicate of the 1/5th Battalion, raised in 1939 when the TA was doubled in size. It was renamed the 5th Battalion after the loss of the 1/5th in Malaya in February 1942. It served in the
139th Infantry Brigade, part of the
46th Infantry Division, in France (
see 9th Battalion),
Tunisia,
Italy and
Greece.
9th Battalion On the outbreak of the Second World War, the 9th Battalion was in the process of formation as a duplicate of the 8th Battalion. Based at
Bulwell near
Nottingham, the battalion was commanded by
Claude Lancaster, MP, a former officer in the
Royal Horse Guards. The battalion was assigned to the
139th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 2/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion and 2/5th
Leicestershire Regiment of the
46th Infantry Division, which, like several other '2nd Line' Territorial divisions, went to join the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France for training and labour duties in April 1940. However, when the
German Army attacked and broke through the following month, 46th Division was sent into action. On 29 May, 139 Brigade joined 'Macforce' holding the canal line near
Carvin. As the 'pocket'
shrank towards Dunkirk, 46th Division was ordered inside the perimeter on 27 May. On 29 May, 9th Foresters were sent to reinforce the garrison at the fortified town of
Bergues, 9 km south of Dunkirk. The Germans were unable to enter Bergues until 2 June, and 9th Foresters was one of the last units to leave Dunkirk and be
evacuated from France. The 9th Battalion left 46th Division in December 1940, and shortly afterwards became the lorried infantry element alongside the artillery of
1st Support Group in
1st Armoured Division. However, on 1 November 1941, the battalion was converted to the armoured car role as
112th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps. In common with other infantry units transferred to the
Royal Armoured Corps, personnel would have continued to wear their Foresters cap badge on the black beret of the Royal Armoured Corps, and the regiment continued to add the parenthesis '(Foresters)' after the RAC title. Lieutenant-Colonel Lancaster remained in command during this period before returning to the House of Commons. and later became a draft-finding unit for other armoured car regiments fighting in the
Normandy Campaign. 112 RAC ceased to exist on 14 October 1944, when it reverted to the title of 9th Foresters, which was placed in suspended animation. The last entry in the War Diary notes: ::''The history of this Regiment is a pure example of the complete inefficiency of 'A' Branch at the War Office, in as much as many hundreds of officers and men have wasted valuable years of their lives training for precisely nothing.''
10th (Home Defence) Battalion The 10th (
Home Defence) Battalion was raised for home defence in 1939 and, like most other home service units, would mainly have had consisted of men with military experience who were too old or medically unfit for active service overseas, or from younger soldiers who themselves were not old enough to be
conscripted (the age for conscription being 20 at the time). The battalion was disbanded in 1941.
13th Battalion The 13th Battalion was a hostilities-only unit raised in 1940. In common with other infantry battalions transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps, the personnel of 163 RAC would have continued to wear their Foresters cap badge on the black beret of the Royal Armoured Corps. 163 RAC was stationed at
Rawalpindi under command of
267th Indian Armoured Brigade. However, there was a change of policy and, on 1 December 1944 (also reported as 1 December 1943), the regiment was re-converted to infantry, reverting to its previous title of 13th Sherwood Foresters and coming under command of
67th Indian Training Brigade.
14th Battalion The 14th Battalion was a hostilities-only unit raised in 1940 component alongside the artillery of
8th Support Group in the newly raised
8th Armoured Division. In 1942, the division went round by sea to Suez, but, on arrival in July, it was broken up and 14th Foresters were sent to join the
9th Independent Armoured Brigade, with which it fought at the
Second Battle of El Alamein under the command of
2nd New Zealand Division. In January 1943, the 14th Foresters went to join the
7th Armoured Brigade refitting in
Persia and Iraq Command. In the summer of 1943, the battalion returned to North Africa to join the
18th Infantry Brigade in the 1st Armoured Division. In February 1944, the brigade sailed to Italy and took part in the
Anzio campaign (February–May 1944) under the command of the
1st Infantry Division. In August, the brigade returned to the 1st Armoured Division and was engaged in the operations at Coriano in September. By now, the brigade's infantry battalions were badly depleted and, due to the lack of replacements in the Mediterranean, the 14th Foresters was reduced to a cadre and transferred to the non-operational
168th (London) Infantry Brigade, before being disbanded.
15th (Home Defence) Battalion The 15th Battalion was raised for Home Defence in 1940 and disbanded in 1941. On 1 January 1943 the 16th Battalion was re-designated as the 1st Battalion.
Post-war activities In 1948, the regiment became part of the Midland Brigade, known as the
Forester Brigade from 1958. In the post-war period, the 1st battalion Sherwood Foresters served in Germany,
Egypt and
Libya. In 1958, the battalion saw action in
Malaya and, in 1963, in
Cyprus. The 2nd battalion served in
Palestine and Germany.
Amalgamations In 1970, the Sherwood Foresters were amalgamated with the
Worcestershire Regiment to form the
Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot). In August 2007, as part of an ongoing series of further amalgamations, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment became the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment. ==Regimental museum==