The 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in the First World War with the

46th (North Midland) Division The 46th (North Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. E.J. Monta ...

. Later designated the 139th Infantry Brigade, the brigade also saw service with the 46th Infantry Division in the Second World War.

Origins

When Volunteer Infantry Brigades were introduced in 1888, the Volunteer Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) formed part of the North Midland Brigade, although from 1901 to 1906 they formed a separate Sherwood Foresters Brigade.''Army List'', 1888–1908 When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

in 1908, a new Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Brigade was formed, as part of the

North Midland Division The 46th (North Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, that saw service in the First World War. At the outbreak of the war, the 46th Division was commanded by Major-General Hon. E.J. Mon ...

. The brigade was composed of four Volunteer battalions of the Sherwood Foresters: the 5th (Derbyshire), 6th, 7th ( Robin Hood Rifles) and 8th.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 61–7.

First World War

King George V inspected the division on 19 February 1915, shortly before its departure for France, and gave permission for the Notts & Derby Brigade to change its title to Sherwood Foresters Brigade. (However, its 2nd Line duplicate, formed in January 1915, remained the 2/1st Notts & Derby Brigade throughout the war.) In May, when the TF formations were numbered, the brigade became 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade in the 46th (North Midland) Division. The brigade saw service with the 46th Division throughout the First World War in the trenches of the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

from 1915 to 1918.

Order of battle, First World War

* 1/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) * 1/6th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) * 1/7th (Robin Hood Rifles) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) ''(left February 1918)'' * 1/8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) * 1/4th Battalion,

Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

''(joined and left November 1915)'' * 1/3rd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

) ''(joined and left November 1915)'' * 139th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps ''(formed 16 February 1916, moved to 46th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918)'' * 139th Trench Mortar Battery ''(formed 9 March 1916)''

Between the wars

Disbanded after the war in 1919, the brigade was reformed as the 139th (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Infantry Brigade in the Territorial Army and again assigned to the 46th (North Midland) Division. However, in 1936 the division was disbanded and its HQ was redesignated

2nd Anti-Aircraft Division The 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (2nd AA Division) was an Air Defence formation of the British Army from 1935 to 1942. It controlled anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units of the Territorial Army (TA) defending the East Midlands and East Anglia ...

. The 6th and

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

Sherwood Foresters were both transferred to the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

and converted into anti-aircraft searchlight battalions. The 5th and 8th Sherwood Foresters were both transferred to the

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

. With all of its battalions posted away, the 139th Infantry Brigade was disbanded.

Second World War

The brigade number was reactivated again when the Territorial Army was doubled in size in spring and summer 1939, in order to meet the threat of Nazi Germany. The 139th Infantry Brigade, formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of 148th Infantry Brigade, was assigned to the 46th Infantry Division, which itself was formed as a duplicate of the 49th Division. The brigade saw service with the 46th Division throughout the Second World War, which began in September 1939. Sent to France with the rest of 46th Division in April 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the brigade was both poorly equipped and trained and lacked any of their signals, artillery, engineer or other support units. The division was sent, along with the 12th and 23rd divisions, to complete their training and to help construct defences and airfields. As a result, the division was battered when facing the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air su ...

during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

in May 1940 and was forced to retreat to Dunkirk had to be evacuated to England. The British Army in Italy 1944 NA18124

After being evacuated, the brigade and division spent the next few years on home defence and training to repel an expected

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) ...

which never arrived. In late 1942 the 46th Division was sent to North Africa where it became part of British First Army and saw action in the final stages of the Tunisia Campaign. The division did not see service in Sicily but landed at Salerno in September 1943 as part of the US Fifth Army during the initial invasion of Italy. The brigade saw service in Italy until late 1944, transferring to Greece to help calm the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

, and returning to Italy in April 1945 for the final offensive, but did not take part in any actual fighting.

Order of battle, Second World War

* 2/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment * 2/5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters ''(redesignated 5th Battalion on 1 March 1943)'' * 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters ''(until 28 December 1939)'' * 139th Infantry Brigade Anti-Tank Company ''(formed 17 August 1940, disbanded 10 July 1941)'' * 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry ''(from 28 December 1940)''

Commanders

* 1911–1917: Charles Tyrell Shipley * 1917–1918: George Glas Sandeman Carey * 1918–1918: Phillip Richard Wood * 1918–1919: John Harington * 1920–1924: Godfrey Davenport Goodman * 1924– : B. A. Smith * 1940–1943:

Raleigh Chichester-Constable Raleigh Charles Joseph Chichester-Constable (21 December 1890 – 26 May 1963) was an English soldier and cricketer. He played 24 matches of first-class cricket between 1919 and 1935. Early life He was born in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire; his ...

* 1943–1943: Robert Stott * 1943–1945: Allen Block

Victoria Cross recipients

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

William Henry Johnson, 1/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), Great War * Acting Lieutenant-Colonel Bernard Vann, 1/8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), Great War *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Geoffrey Vickers, 1/7th (Robin Hood Rifles) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment), Great War

Notes

References

* Anon, '' 'The Robin Hoods': 1/7th, 2/7th and 3/7th Battns Sherwood Foresters'', J & H Bell, 1921/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2009, . * A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions,'' London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Alan MacDonald, ''A Lack of Offensive Spirit? The 46th (North Midland) Division at Gommecourt, 1st July 1916'', West Wickham: Iona Books, 2008, . {{British infantry brigades of the Second World War Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War I Infantry brigades of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations established in 1908 Military history of Derbyshire Military history of Nottinghamshire