The 17th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Welbeck Rangers), ('17th Sherwoods') was an infantry unit recruited from Nottinghamshire] as part of 'Kitchener's Army' in World War I. It served on the Western Front, at the battles of the Somme and the Ancre. It then fought through the Third Ypres Offensive, distinguishing itself at Pilckem Ridge and the Menin Road before being broken up in early 1918 to provide reinforcements to other battalions.

Recruitment

On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The newly-appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. Men flooded into the recruiting offices and the 'first hundred thousand' were enlisted within days. This group of six divisions with supporting arms became known as Kitchener's First New Army, or 'K1'.War Office Instructions No 32 (6 August) and No 37 (7 August).Becke, Pt 3a, pp. 2 & 8. The K2, K3 and K4 battalions, brigades and divisions followed soon afterwards. But the flood of volunteers overwhelmed the ability of the Army to absorb them, and the K5 units were largely raised by local initiative rather than at regimental depots, often from men from particular localities or backgrounds who wished to serve together: these were known as 'Pals battalions'. The 'Pals' phenomenon quickly spread across the country, as local recruiting committees offered complete units to the War Office (WO). One such unit was the Welbeck Rangers raised by the Mayor of Nottingham and a recruiting committee, who had already raised a Bantam battalion as the 15th (Service) Battalion of the local regiment, the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). The new battalion was accepted on 1 June 1915 as the 17th (Service) Bn of the Sherwoods, with the subtitle 'Welbeck Rangers' (Welbeck was a North Nottinghamshire mining village and stately home.)Frederick, pp. 322.James, p 87.Sherwood Foresters at Long, Long Trail.War Office Instruction No 56 of September 1915, Appendix IX. Major Ernest Hales (a reserve officer of the Durham Light Infantry) was appointed commanding officer (CO) of the new battalion on 17 June with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.Sherwood Foresters at Infantry Battalion Commanding Officers.London Gazette, 22 July 1915.Hales at Great War Forum.

Training

17th Sherwoods carried out its basic training at Nottingham. The battalion formally became part of 117th Brigade when that was formed on 15 July in 39th Division. It was brigaded with the 16th (Service) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Chatsworth Rifles), the 17th (Service) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (British Empire League) (17th KRRC) and the 16th (Service) Battalion, Rifle Brigade (St Pancras) (16th RB). In October the battalion moved to Aldershot to join 117th Bde. Here the brigade began progressive training, at platoon, company and finally battalion level, while specialist sections such as machine gunners, signallers and bombers were formed and trained. In November 17th Sherwoods carried out a route march to Witley Camp in Surrey, where training emphasised entrenching; apart from a brief spell back at Aldershot in January 1916 to carry out its musketry course with newly-issued rifles, 17th Sherwoods remained at Witley for the rest of its training.Becke, Pt 3b, pp. 91–100.39th Division at Long, Long Trail.17th KRRC War Diary April 1915–June 1919, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 95/2586/2.

19th (Reserve) Battalion The battalion's depot companies were amalgamated with those of the 15th (Nottingham Bantams) and 16th (Chatsworth Rifles) battalions of the Sherwood Foresters on 18 August 1915 at Brocklesby in Lincolnshire to form the 19th (Reserve) Battalion as a Local Reserve to provide reinforcements for the three pals battalions. The 19th Battalion moved to Ripon in North Yorkshire and joined 19th Reserve Brigade. In January 1916 it was at Harrogate and in July at Durham. On 1 September 1916 the Local Reserve battalions were transferred to the Training Reserve (TR) and the battalion was absorbed into other battalions of 19th (Reserve) Bde.

Service 39th Division received its mobilisation orders in February 1916, and after some delays 17th Sherwoods left on three trains from Milford Station on 6 March for Southampton Docks to embark for France aboard the transports Archangel, Inventor and Connaught. It landed at Le Havre next day, and then went by train to 117th Bde's concentration area at Steenbecque in the First Army area. After further training 117th Brigade was attached to the experienced 8th Division for its introduction to Trench warfare, with 17th Sherwoods going to 23rd Bde at Estaires. A and B Companies were attached to the 2nd Bn Middlesex Regiment in the trenches on 19 March. On 22 March they returned to Estaires and C and D Companies went into the trenches with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regiment. On completion of this attachment the battalion marched to billets at Busnettes near Gonnehem and then on 7 April to Béthune, where it came under 33rd Division for further training. A and B Companies went into the trenches alongside 20th Royal Fusiliers (1st Public Schools), and next day C and D joined them as 17th Sherwoods took over full responsibility for the trenches in the Auchy Right sector under of 98th Bde. It suffered a number of casualties during this first tour of duty, which ended on 14 April. The battalion received a good report from the commander of 98th Bde, who described the men as 'good material' but 'slow thinkers'. The battalions each supplied detachments to form 117th Bde Light Trench Mortar Battery (TMB) on 15 April (and also to 117th Bde Machine Gun Company when that arrived on 18 May). 39th Division now took over its own sector at Festubert, and 17th Sherwoods moved into divisional reserve at Hingette and later at Le Touret. Here it provided working parties for the Royal Engineers (REs), including 181st Tunnelling Company. From 27 April the battalion began a routine of spells in the line at Festubert and Givenchy, alternating with spells in support or in billets at Hingette or Gorre, when working parties were constantly required. The battalion usually rotated with 16th RB. There was a trickle of casualties both in the line and among working parties from shellfire and occasional bombing exchanges with the enemy. The defences at Festubert comprised a series of 'islands' in the waterlogged countryside, but mining was possible at Givenchy, and on 21 May, just after 17th Sherwoods relieved 16th RB, the enemy blew a mine in front of D Company's positions followed by a heavy bombardment with mortars and rifle grenades; the company suffered a number of casualties. By 25 May the battalion had lost 7 killed and 29 wounded in a five-day tour of front line duty.Berkeley, pp. 151, 155.17th Sherwood Foresters War Diary, March 1916–February 1918, TNA file WO 95/2587/2. On 14 June Lt-Col Hales returned to England and Maj Herbert Milward from 16th Sherwoods was promoted to succeed him in command of 17th Sherwoods.London Gazette, 8 August 1916.

On the night of 3/4 July 2 officers and 48 other ranks (ORs) of 17th Sherwoods carried out a trench raid in conjunction with a much bigger raid by 16th RB on the 'Pope's Nose' position. The Sherwoods' raiders left 'No 3 Island' at 00.15 and from the enemy barbed wire they ran into a German party lying out in No man's land. The raiders drove them back with bombs, and cut their way through the wire, which the artillery had only partly cut. This part of the German line was strongly held and the raiders came under heavy rifle and machine gun fire. Nevertheless about 12 men got into the German trench and bombed their way along it. They withdrew at 01.10 under cover of the support party, then the whole group stayed out in No man's land with a Lewis gun for another 40 minutes to cover the flank of 16th RB's raiders. One man was killed and 1 missing, and 1 officer and 11 ORs were wounded. 16th RB's attack was costly and did not produce the results expected.Berkeley, pp. 180–1. Two nights later 17th Sherwoods was heavily shelled when the Germans retaliated against a raid by a neighbouring battalion. Early on 12 July 17th Sherwoods provided a smoke barrage to assist a raid by 16th Sherwoods and 17th KRRC; the smoke successfully attracted some of the retaliatory fire away from the raid. On 14 July the battalion went into reserve at Richebourg St Vaast. Since its arrival on the Western Front, counting 34 days in the front line, the battalion had lost 1 officer and 30 ORs killed, 4 officer and 95 ORs wounded. Apart from carrying out a small raid on 19 July, the battalion remained at Richebourg St Vaast in Brigade support or billets around Les Choquaux until it did another tour in the Givenchy lines from 26 July, carrying out another costly (68 casualties) raid against the 'Duck's Bill Craters' on 31 July/1 August. Finally on 6 August it went back for training at Essars.

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