SHERWOOD BOYS�Birth of a Battalion

The 2/5^th Sherwood Foresters in France and Belgium 1940

Background

45^th Regiment of foot formed in 1741

95^th Regiment of foot created 1820

Merged in 1881 as 1^st and 2^nd Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)

Strong volunteer movement e.g. Chatsworth Rifles

Volunteer battalions become Territorials in 1908

33 battalions in Great War

140,000 served; 11,409 killed; 2,000 awards

By 1938 only 2 regular and 2 TA battalions

5^th (Derby) and 8^th (Nottingham) Territorials

Birth

March 1939 – TA doubled in size

Derbyshire 1/5^th and 2/5^th

Nottinghamshire 8^th and 9^th

Military Training Act (April 1939)

‘Militiamen’ – not into TA battalions

70 volunteers in B Coy by 24 July

Birth

WAR - August 1939

24 August 1939 reservists called up

25 August 1939 key TA personnel called up

TA Reserve officers assigned wartime ranks

14.30 on 1 September 2/5^th Foresters mobilised

2 September - 21 Officers and 408 ORs present

Training

Home Defence 1939-40

7 March 1940: 3 weeks’ notice to go to France

September-October 1939� 180 men swapped with 1/5^th Bn

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Organisation

‘Establishment’

33 Officers, 753 men

(20 + 476 in Rifle coys)

717 rifles

50 Machine Guns

25 ATR

18 Mortars

21 Bren carriers

49 lorries

5 cars

14 motorcycles

‘Establishment’

33 Officers, 753 men

(20 + 476 in Rifle coys)

717 rifles

18 Machine Guns

10 ATR

NO Mortars

NO Bren carriers

12 lorries

1 car

1 motorcycle

To France April 1940

LABOUR DIVISION

9 week schedule

2/3 time building railways, depots, etc

1/3 time training

460 men in Bn – about half establishment

380 men (‘militia’) join in April

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Senior Officers: 1918 veterans

Company Officers: TA (One regular)

Platoon Officers: War Commissions

26 April 1940 – SS Lady of Mann

Other Ranks: Notts/Derby locals

A few older NCOs

Belgium� 17-18 May 1940

10 May due to start training

De-train Seclin 17 May

Traffic control around Tournai

14 May ordered north

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France 19-25 May 1940

25 May back on canal

20 May first casualty

21 May on front line

Haute-Deule Canal

23-24 May reserve

Oignies, 26 May 1940

Oignies, 26 May 1940

3^rd DLM

Oignies, 26 May 1940

Casualties

Losses: 7 officers, 49 men

5 of dead from Buxton

5 Officers and 14 OR killed

2 Officers and 22 OR captured (including 7 wounded)

“… the prolonged defence of this area…greatly helped the withdrawal of other troops to Dunkirk”

Massacre - 28 May 1940

Lié sur un fauteuil, un homme. Un homme jeune et fort, blond, sans rien sur la tête Un officier anglais. Il est là depuis le matin, en butte aux railleries des S.S. Un officier l'a cravaché dans son fauteuil en pleine figura. Il sent cette zébrure à travers son front et sa joue. Ils l'ont arrosé d'essence, vivant, comme ils l'ont fait des morts dans la cour du château De Clerq tout à l'heure. Lui et la pièce autour et ils viennent d'y flanquer le feu. Ils ont jeté l'essence sur cet homme comme on jette des seaux d'eau sur un ivrogne. Alors a commencé ce cri que les gens de la colonne ont entendu. Un cri qui ne finit pas. UN CRI DANS L’HOMME. Je ne dis pas que l'homme a crié, cela a crié dans l'homme. Louis Aragon, Les Communistes

Bound to an armchair, a man. A young, strong man, blond, with nothing on his head. An English officer. He's been there since morning, the butt of mockery from the SS. An officer whipped him in his armchair across the face. He feels this welt across his forehead and cheek. They doused him with gasoline, alive, as they did to the dead in the courtyard of the Château de Clercq just now. He and the room around him they just set on fire. They threw gasoline on this man like buckets of water on a drunkard. Then began the scream that the people in the column had heard. An endless scream. A SCREAM WITHIN THE MAN. I'm not saying that the man screamed, this was a scream within the man. Louis Aragon, Les Communistes

Retreat, 27-29 May

Evacuate Oignies area 27 May

Motor transport from Mons-en-Pevelle to Dunkerque perimeter

Take up position east of Bergues

Holding the Line

Attacked 30 May

Further losses:

2 OR killed (plus 1 DOW in UK)

7 wounded

5 captured (including 1 wounded)

Pulled back to Teteghem 31 May

Evacuation - 2 June1940

Pull back to Dunkirk 1 June

Finally evacuated on 2 June

One of last units to leave – 420 men

Many others make own way back

1 man lost in harbour

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“The major portion of the force that was let of the hook, and got back to England, had received a very sudden, if unwelcome baptism of fire, and in approximately six weeks been transformed from wide-eyed recruits to quite a hard battle conditioned force.” Jack Schofield

POWs – 1940- 1945

https://www.sherwoodboys.co.uk/