SHERWOOD FORESTERS

Nottinghamshire and Derby Regiment Badge
Crest Badge: The Maltese Cross with inside, an oak wreath, a white Hart – left and right inscribed SHERWOOD FORESTERS. Below this is a scroll inscribed NOTTS & DERBY. All ensigned with the crown.
Motto:  Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (Evil be to him who evil thinks).

The Sherwood Foresters was the regiment of the counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. It was one of Britain’s most famous regiments.  It was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment in February 1970 and was known as the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment until it was further amalgamated into the Mercian Regiment in 2007.

There is an excellent summary of the history of the Sherwood Foresters on Wikipedia.

Sherwood Foresters Trooping The Colors at Ballykinlar 1925

The photo shows my grandfather presenting the colors to the 1st Battallion Sherwood Foresters at Ballykinlar on Bajadoz Day 1925 – a commemoration of action in the Spanish province of Bajadoz. I apologize for the quality of this photo, which is printed on paper with a raised pattern that spoils the scan. I will try and get a better scan.

Wikipedia has the following description:

“In the siege of Badajoz, a detachment of the 45th succeeded in getting into the Castle first and the red coat of an officer of the 45th was hoisted in place of the French flag to indicate the fall of the Castle. This feat is commemorated on the 6th April each year when red jackets are flown on Regimental flag staffs and at Nottingham Castle.” 

Here is a photo of my grandfather with the colors just before the ceremony at Ballykinlar.

The Sherwood Foresters did a tour of duty keeping the peace in Northern Ireland and my grandfather was stationed at Ballykinlar, along with his wife and family (the twins – my father and Ena, his twin sister), when these photos were taken.

The Sherwood Foresters History
The Sherwood Foresters Regimental Archives
The Sherwood Foresters Regimental Collections
The Sherwood Foresters Reenactment Association