Derbyshire Lads: The Sherwood Foresters: 17th Battalion

17th (Service) Battalion ('Welbeck Rangers')

117th Brigade, 39th Division

Outline History

1915: The Welbeck Rangers were formed by the Mayor of Nottingham and the City Recruiting Committee in Nottingham on 1st June 1915. Attached to 117th Brigade, 39th Division in October.
1916: The 39th Division began arriving in France during late February and early March. First serious action at Richebourg, one of the attacks launched to distract the Germans on the eve of the Battle of the Somme. The Division arrived on the Somme in August and took part in the Battle of the Ancre Heights and the Battle of the Ancre. For more details of the 17th Sherwood Foresters and the Battle of the Somme, see Dr. Mike Briggs' 'Chesterfield Sherwoods on the Somme' website.
1917: The Division moved north to Belgium and the Ypres Salient, around which the Welbeck Rangers participated in numerous battles duringthe Third Battle of Ypres, namely: The Battle of Pilckem , The Battle of Langemarck, The Battle of the Menin Road, The Battle of the Polygon Wood, The Second Battle of Passchendaele.
1918: On 12th February the battalion was disbanded as part of an army-wide reorganisation.

Biographies of 17th Battalion Men

Bennett, Charles, lived at Cresswell, killed in action 27 March 1917.
Brooks, Frederick. G, Born at Tumby Lincolnshire. Enlisted at Horncastle Lincolnshire. Lived at Woodhall Spa. Killed in Action when in the attack near Beaumont Hamel, France on 3rd September 1916, aged 26. Son of Elizabeth Brooks, Tumby, Mareham-le-Fen, Boston, Lincolnshire and the late George Brooks. Husband of Fanny Brooks.


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17th (Service) Battalion ('Welbeck Rangers') 117th Brigade, 39th Division Outline History 1915: The Welbeck Rangers were formed by the Mayor of Nottingham and the City Recruiting Committee in Nottingham on 1st June 1915. Attached to 117th Brigade, 39th Division in October. 1916: The 39th Division began arriving in France during late February and early March. First serious action at Richebourg, one of the attacks launched to distract the Germans on the eve of the Battle of the Somme. The Division arrived on the Somme in August and took part in the Battle of the Ancre Heights and the Battle of the Ancre. For more details of the 17th Sherwood Foresters and the Battle of the Somme, see Dr. Mike Briggs' 'Chesterfield Sherwoods on the Somme' website. 1917: The Division moved north to Belgium and the Ypres Salient, around which the Welbeck Rangers participated in numerous battles duringthe Third Battle of Ypres, namely: The Battle of Pilckem , The Battle of Langemarck, The Battle of the Menin Road, The Battle of the Polygon Wood, The Second Battle of Passchendaele. 1918: On 12th February the battalion was disbanded as part of an army-wide reorganisation. Biographies of 17th Battalion Men Bennett, Charles, lived at Cresswell, killed in action 27 March 1917. Brooks, Frederick. G, Born at Tumby Lincolnshire. Enlisted at Horncastle Lincolnshire. Lived at Woodhall Spa. Killed in Action when in the attack near Beaumont Hamel, France on 3rd September 1916, aged 26. Son of Elizabeth Brooks, Tumby, Mareham-le-Fen, Boston, Lincolnshire and the late George Brooks. Husband of Fanny Brooks.