Navi gation

9th (Service) Battalion

33rd Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division

Outline History

  • 1914: The battalion was formed in Derby on 24 August to make room for the rush of early volunteers to the army. Scheduled as part of the army's six New Army divisions ('K1'), the 9th battalion would consist of the first batch of most enthusiastic volunteers. The battalion was attached to 33rd Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division, assembling for training in and around Grantham in Lincolnshire.
  • 1915: The 11th (Northern) Division was ordered to go to Gallipoli. On 1 July the Division embarked from Liverpool, bound for the Mediterranean island of Mudros near the Gallipoli peninsula. After a brief stop in Alexandris (Egypt) the Division received orders (late in the day!) to participate in the 'new front' - the landing at Suvla Bay as part of IX Corps. The Division was involved in: The landing at Suvla, Capture of Karakol Dagh, Russell’s Top, Battle of Scimitar Hill, Attack on ‘W’ Hills, Evacuation of Suvla (December 1915). For an account of the battalion from it's formation until August 1915, concentrating on the events of June-August 1915, see here.
  • 1916:The Division went to Egypt before being ordered to the Western Front in July. Involved in: Battle of Flers-Courcelette, Battle of Thiepval (part of the Somme battles). For more details of the 9th Sherwood Foresters and the Battle of the Somme, see Dr. Mike Briggs' 'Chesterfield Sherwoods on the Somme' website.
  • 1917: The Division spent most of the year in Flanders. Involved in: Battle of Messines, and Battle of Langemarck, Operations around St. Julian, Battle of Polygon Wood, Battle of Broodseinde, Battle of Poelcappelle (part of the Battles of 3rd Ypres, or Passchendaele).
  • 1918: Involved in: Battle of the Scarpe, Battle of Drocourt-Queant, Battle of the Canal du Nord, Battle of (2nd) Cambrai, The pursuit to the Selle, Battle of the Sambre, Passage of the Grande Honelle.

Stories of 9th Battalion Men

  • David Brain, Lance Corporal, Thiepval, September 23rd, 1916

Biographies of 9th Battalion Men

  • Greaves, Fred VC. Acting Corporal, 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby) Regiment. Won Victoria Cross at Poelcapelle.
  • Green, Henry (Harry), 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby) Regiment, killed in action, 7th June 1917, aged 20.
  • Robertson, George. Private, 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby) Regiment, killed in action, 4th October 1917, aged 28. (scroll about half way down and look on the right hand side)

Links: Suvla Bay, Gallipoli