Authors and Contributors this page: T.F. Mills
Page created 15 July 2000. Corrected and updated 21.11.2005
 
The  Sherwood Foresters
 (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)
crest and tie
 by A. Melville-Brown
United Kingdom 
  Titles & Lineage
  History
  Battle Honours
  Colours, Standards & Guidons
  Uniforms & Badges
  Colonels-in-Chief
  Colonels

  Biography & Gallantry Awards
  Traditions
  Alliances
  Associations, Forums, Re-Enactors
  Museums, Monuments, Memorials
  Bibliography
How to find information about individuals who served in this corps
 
1881.07.01 The Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment)
organised as the county regiment of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, encompassing its Militia and Volunteer infantry [see below] and uniting two regular battalions:
 
1902 The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)
1970.02.28 amalgamated with The Worcestershire Regiment, to form The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot)
The Sherwood Foresters Regiment: a History, by Stephen Mee.
The Sherwood Foresters, by Chris Baker (The British Army in the Great War).
The Sherwood Foresters, by Brad Chappell (The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918)
     
  RHQ and Depot:
    RHQ:
    45th Regimental District at Derby [1881-1905]
   
    F Group, at Strensall [1946-1948]
    Forester Brigade, at Warwick [1948-1963]
    Mercian Brigade, at Lichfield [1963-1968]
    Prince of Wales's Division at Lichfield [1968-1970]
     
  Regulars:
    1st Battalion [1881-1970]
    2nd Battalion [1881-1948, 1952-1955]
     
Militia and Special Reserve:
  3rd Battalion (Chatsworth Rifles, or 2nd Derbyshire Militia) [1881-1953]
  4th Battalion (Royal Sherwood Foresters, or Nottinghamshire Militia) [1881-1953]
  5th Battalion (1st Derbyshire Regiment of Militia) [1881-1891]
Territorials and Volunteers:
  1st Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
  2nd Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
  [3rd] 1st Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood) Volunteer Rifle Corps [1881-1908]
  4th (Nottinghamshire) Volunteer Battalion [1881-1908]
  5th (Derbyshire) Battalion [1908-1961]
  5th/8th Battalion [1961-1967]
  6th Battalion [1908-1920]
  7th (Robin Hood) Battalion [1908-1920]
  8th (Nottinghamshire) Battalion [1908-1961]
  Mercian Volunteers [1967-1970]
  The Nottinghamshire (T) Battalion [1967-1971]
  The Derbyshire (T) Battalion [1967-1971]
  The Robin Hood (T) Battalion [1967-1971]
Hostilities-Only Units (First and Second World War, including T.A. duplicates):
  2/5th Battalion [1914-1918]
  5th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1919]
  2/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion [1939-1947]
  2/6th Battalion [1914-1918]
  3/6th Battalion [1915-1916]
  2/7th (Robin Hood) Battalion [1914-1918]
  7th (Reserve) (Robin Hood) Battalion [1915-1918?]
  2/8th Battalion [1914-1918]
  3/8th Battalion [1915-1916]
  9th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
  9th Battalion [1939-1941, 1944-1947]
  10th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
  10th (Home Defence) Battalion [1939-1941]
  11th (Service) Battalion [1914-1919]
  12th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) [1914-1919]
  12th Battalion [1940-1946]
  13th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
  13th Battalion [1940-1942, 1944-1945]
  14th (Reserve) Battalion [1914-1916]
  14th Battalion [1940-1945]
  15th (Nottingham) (Service) Battalion [1915-1919]
  15th (Home Defence) Battalion [1940-1941]
  16th (Chatsworth Rifles) (Service) Battalion [1915-1918]
  16th Battalion [1942-1943]
  17th (Welbeck Rangers) (Service) Battalion [1915-1918]
  18th (Home Service) Battalion [1915-1916]
  19th (Reserve) Battalion [1915-1916]
  20th (Labour) Battalion [1916-1917]
  21st Battalion [1917-1918]
  30th Battalion [1941-1942]
  50th (Holding) Battalion [1940-1945]
  51st (Service) Battalion [1917-1920]
  52nd (Service) Battalion [1917-1920]
  53rd (Service) Battalion [1917-1919]
  70th (Young Soldiers) Battalion [1940-1942]
  1st Garrison Battalion [1915-1919]
[combined battle honours of 45th Regiment and 95th Regiment, plus:]  

Louisburg1, South Africa, 1846-71, Egypt 1882, Tirah, South Africa 1899-1902

Great War [30 battalions]:  Aisne 1914 '18, Armentières 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Hooge 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 ‘18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Ginchy, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Le Transloy, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Arras 1917 '18, Vimy 1917, Scarpe 1917 '18, Messines 1917 '18, Ypres 1917 '18, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Villers Bretonneux, Lys, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Amiens, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Courtrai, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18, Piave, Italy 1917-18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1916

Second World War:  Norway 1940, St. Omer-La Bassée, Ypres-Comines Canal, Dunkirk 1940 , North-West Europe 1940, Gazala, El Alamein, Djebel Guerba, Tamera, Medjez Plain, Tunis, North Africa 1942-43, Salerno, Volturno Crossing, Monte Camino, Anzio, Campoleone, Advance to Tiber, Gothic Line, Coriano, Cosina Canal Crossing, Monte Ceco, Italy 1943-45, Singapore Island, Malaya 1942

5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Battalions:  South Africa 1900-02

1.  awarded 1882 for service of 45th Regiment.
   
Badges:
Uniform: scarlet; facings: Lincoln green; piping: Lincoln green
   
   
     
   
[none]
1881 [1st Bn:] Gen. Henry Cooper [also 79th Hldrs]
1881 [2nd Bn:] Gen. John Studholme Brownrigg, CB
188u [1st Bn:] Gen. Sir Daniel Lysons, GCB [QMG 1876-81; Constable of the Tower 1890-98]
1898.01.30 Gen. Frederick Augustus (Thesiger), 2nd Baron Chelmsford, GCB, GCVO [also 2nd Life Gds]
1900.09.27 Gen. Sir Mark Walker, VC, KCB
1902.07.19 Lt-Gen. Sir William Bellairs, KCMG, CB [also R Berkshire Regt]
1905.06.09 Gen. Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, GCB, GCMG, DSO [AG India 1901-03; Cmdr. 2 Corps 1914-15; C-in-C East Africa 1915-16; Gov. Gibraltar 1918-23]
1930.08.13 Lt-Gen. Sir William Raine Marshall, GCMG, KCB, KCSI
1935.10.29 Maj-Gen. Sir Frederick Burton Maurice, KCMG, CB
1941.01.19 Lt-Gen. Sir Wellesley Douglas Studholme Brownrigg, KCB, DSO
1946.02.08 Lt-Gen. Sir Henry Beresford Dennitts Willcox, KCIE, CB, DSO, MC
1947.11.09 Maj-Gen. Percival Napier White, CB, CBE
1958.11.09 Maj-Gen. Cecil Benfield Fairbanks, CB, CBE [also Cmdt. Nigeria Regt]
1965.11.07 Brig. James Henry Maunsell Hackett, DSO [continued 1970 in WSFR]
Victoria Crosses [Derbyshire Regiment], by Mike Chapman (VC Reference).
Victoria Crosses [Sherwood Foresters], by Mike Chapman (VC Reference).
VCs in the Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum, by Iain Stewart.
George Thougher, MM
 
Motto:
Nicknames:
Anniversaries: Badajoz (6 Apr.), Alma (20 Sept.)
Freedoms:
Marches:
Musicians:
Mascot: Ram: "Derby"
Miscellaneous Tradition Links:

The Manitoba Rangers

-1936
 
1934-1936
1936-1970
1936-1970
13th Bn, The Punjab Regiment
-1970
Sherwood Foresters Reenactment Group [WWII; California], by Darwin F. Concon.
Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum, Nottingham (Army Museums Ogilby Trust)
Newark Museum, Nottingham (official Army listing; 8th Bn Sherwood Foresters)
Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum, Nottingham (Simonides listing)
Derby Museum and Art Gallery (Derby County Council)
Regimental Memorial, Crich, by Stephen Mee.
Museums with Sherwood Foresters Exhibits, by Stephen Mee.
Regimental Journal:
  The Sherwood Foresters regimental annual. 1900-1914 ; 1920-1938.
2nd Bn: I'm Ninety-Five.
The Foresters journal.
  Maroon and green. No. 1 (7 Dec. 1945)-no. 55 (28 Feb. 1948). [Hildesheim, etc., Ger.], 1945-1948.
Full Histories:
Wylly, H. C. (Harold Carmichael). History of the 1st & 2nd Battalions, the Sherwood Foresters, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment, 1740-1914. 45th Foot, 95th Foot. [Frome : Butler & Tanner], 1929. [2 v.]
Wylly, H. C. (Harold Carmichael). Record of services of the officers of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the Sherwood Foresters, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment, 45th and 95th, 1741-1931. [s.l. : s.n.], 1931.
Barclay, C. N. (Cyril Nelson). The history of the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) 1919-1957. London : W. Clowes, 1959.
 
Short Histories:
A short history of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1925.
A short history of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1940.
A short history of The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1945.
The Sherwood Foresters : a tribute to their own regiment of which the people of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are justly proud. London : Practical Press, 1955.
The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) : a brief account of the Regiment illustrated with items in the Regimental Museum situated in Nottingham Castle. Derby : English Life Publications, 1973.
The Sherwood Foresters : (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment): a brief history. Derby : English Life Publications, 1980. ISBN: 0851011713 (sd)
 

Militia:

Cox, J. Charles. Belper Regiment - Grenadiers. Journal of Derbyshire archaeological and natural history society. vol. 12 (1890), p. 58-107. [Orderly book of Belper Local Militia, and history of its predecessor, Belper, Shottle, and Holbrook Volunteers, 1803-1808]
Lowe, A. E. Lawson (Alfred Edward Lawson). Historical record of the Royal Sherwood Foresters, or, Nottinghamshire Regiment of Militia. London : W. Mitchell, 1872.
 

Territorials/Volunteers:

De Grave, L. W. The war history of the Fifth Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters, Notts and Derby Regiment 1914-1918. Derby : Bemrose, 1930.
Housley, Cliff. First in last out : a history of the 1st/5th Territorial Battalion the Sherwood Foresters 1939-1946. [s.l.] : Printed by Jenson Press, 1995.
Hall, W. G. The green triangle : being the history of the 2/5th Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) in the Great European War, 1914-1918. Letchworth : Garden City Press, 1920.
Jamieson, W.D. 6th Bn. The Sherwood Foresters, 1914-1918. Chesterfield, 1958. Mimeograph, limited edition of 25 numbered copies.
Jamieson, W. D. ; Robinson, V. O. ; (Victor O.); Housley, C. Men of the high peak : a history of the 1/6th Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters, 1914-18. Nottingham : Miliquest, 2004. 0952964864
Brewill, Arthur William ; Smith-Dorrien, H. L., Sir. "The Robin Hoods", 1/7th, 2/7th & 3/7th Battns., Sherwood Foresters, 1914-1918. Nottingham : J. & H. Bell, 1921.
Weetman, W. C. C. The Sherwood foresters in the great war, 1914-1919, 1/8 Battalion. Nottingham, T. Forman & Sons, 1920
Oates, W. Coape. The Sherwood foresters in the great war, 1914-1919, 2/8th Battalion. Nottingham : J. & H. Bell, 1920.
Housley, Cliff. "First contact" : a history of the 8th Battalion the Sherwood Foresters, 1939-1945. Nottingham : Miliquest Publications, 1997. ISBN: 0952964805
Gerring, C. A record of the early volunteer movement and of the Notts Volunteer Regiment (The Sherwood Foresters), 1914-1919. Nottingham : Sisson & Parker, 1920.
 

Cadets:

Eltringham, G.J. Nottingham University Officers' Training Corps, 1909-1964. Nottingham : printed by Hawthornes of Nottingham Ltd., 1964.
 

First World War:

Wylly, H. C. (Harold Carmichael). The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiments) in the great war. Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1925.
Housley, Cliff. A history of the 10th Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters, 1914-1918. Sawley : Miliquest, 1999.: 0952964821
Fryer, Percy. The men from the Greenwood, being the war history of the 11th (service) Battalion Sherwood Foresters. Nottingham : Cresswell & Oaksford, 1920.
Bacon, Maurice. ; Langley, David. The blast of war : a history of Nottingham's Bantams. 15th Battalion Sherwood Foresters 1915-1919. Nottingham : Sherwood Press, 1986.: ISBN: 0948983000
Truscott, R. F. A short history of the 16th battalion the Sherwood Foresters (Chatsworth Rifles). [London? : R.F. Truscott?], 1928.
 

Second World War:

Masters, John W. A. The story of the 2nd Battalion, the Sherwood Foresters, 1939-1945. Aldershot : Gale & Polden, 1946.

Other Wars:

The 2nd Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment in Egypt 1882. London : Allen, 1914. (The Derbyshire campaign series ; no. 3)
Iggulden, H. A. The 2nd Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment in the Sikkim expedition of 1888. London : Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1900. (The Derbyshire campaign series ; no. 4)
Slessor, A. K. The 2nd Battalion, Derbyshire Regiment in Tirah. London : Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1900. (The Derbyshire campaign series ; no. 5)
Gilson, Charles. History of the 1st Batt. Sherwood foresters (Notts. and Derby regt.) in the Boer war, 1899-1902. London : Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1908.
South African war record of the 1st Battalion Sherwood Foresters, Derbyshire Regiment, 1899-1902. Hong Kong : printed by Noronha & Co., 1904.
Edmunds, Gerald James. The Irish rebellion; the 2/6th Sherwood Foresters' part in the defeat of the rebels in 1916; their early training. Chesterfield : pritned by Wilfred Edmunds Ltd., 1960.
Edmunds, Gerald James. The Irish Rebellion : the 2/6th Sherwood Foresters part in the defeat of the rebels in 1916; their early training. [new ed.] [Derby] : Derbyshire Times, 1965.

Special Topics:

Housley, Cliff.  British gallantry awards: the Sherwood Foresters 1854-1970.  Miliquest,
The Sherwood Foresters, Karachi and Hyderabad, 1929. Paris : Evrard, 1929.
Housley, Cliff. Private Derby plus other pets and mascots of the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment the Sherwood Foresters (later the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters). Nottingham : Miliquest, 1997. ISBN: 0952964813
Normanton barracks remembered : reminiscences of members of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment and of local people. [Normanton-by-Derby?] : Normanton-by-Derby Local History Group, 1997. ISBN: 0953021602 (pbk)