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Archiver > GREATWAR > 2001-08 > 0996907279


From: Iain Kerr <>
Subject: Re: [WW1] Uncle Leonard
Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 07:41:31 +0100
In-Reply-To: <78.189b352f.289ca6b3@aol.com>


At 21:15 03/08/01 -0400, wrote:
>I had an Uncle - Leonard Harrison, 1st/5thBn., Sherwood Foresters (Notts and
>Derby Regt.) who died on Saturday, 1st July 1916.
>
>If anyone could give me anymore information I would really appreciate it.
>
>Sue Gill

Sue,

"Soldiers Died in the Great War" offers the following:

201425 Lance Corporal Leonard Harrison. 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood
Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (Territorial Force);
resident Heanor, Derbyshire, enlisted derby; Killed in Action 1 July 1916
in France and Flanders.

The CWGC "Debt of Honour" web site at http://www.cwgc.org/ may offer more
information on his place of memorial or burial.

From my notes:

Houghton's Regiment, later The 45th Regiment of Foot, from 1779 The 45th
(Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot, later The 45th (Nottinghamshire -
Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot, from 1881 The Sherwood Foresters
(Derbyshire Regiment), from 1902 The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire
and Derbyshire Regiment), since 1971 part of The Worcestershire and
Sherwood Forester Regiment.

The 5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire)
Regiment (Territorial Force) owed its origins to the 1st Admin of the
Derbyshire Rifle Volunteers raised in 1860. ). In 1914, the 5th Battalion
was assigned to the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Infantry Brigade, a
territorial formation. Battalion Headquarters and A to C Companies were
based at Derby, D Company at Long Eaton, E Company at Ripley, F Company at
Belton, G Company at Ilkeston and H Company at Swadlincote. Mobilisation
in 1914 initially involved reorganising the unit from the pre-war eight
company organisation into four standard or "double" companies and bringing
the battalion up to establishment strength of 1,007 men; that is 6 officers
and 221 other ranks per rifle company. With the outbreak of war and to
cope with the mass of volunteers, the 5th Battalion, in common with other
territorial units, split itself into two, and then three, lines named the
1/5th, 2/5th and 3/5th Battalions respectively.

The 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and
Derbyshire) Regiment (Territorial Force) was mobilised at the Drill Hall,
Derby on 4 Aug 1914 and assigned to the Notts and Derby Brigade in the
North Midland Division. Later in Aug it moved to Harpenden and in Nov to
the Braintree area. On 25 Feb 1915 it embarked for France and Flanders. On
12 May 1915 the formations became 139th Brigade in 46th (North Midland)
Division. The 1/5th Battalion ended the war on 11 Nov 1918 in 139th
Brigade 46th Division; at Cartignies, south-west of Avesnes, France.

"British Battalions on the Somme" indicates that the 1/5th Battalion in
139th Brigade and 46th (North Midland) Division was engaged in an attack on
Gommencourt on 1 July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. The
battalion moved forward from Foncquevillers during the early morning and
advanced at 7.30 am. Machine gun fire swept the leading waves as soon as
they left the parapet of their trenches. Small parties crossed the enemy
front line and attacked from the rear before being cut off. The battalion
was relieved at 7 pm and moved to Bienvilles. The battalion suffered 414
casualties that day. Captain John Leslie Green, the battalion Medical
Officer, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for rescuing wounded
while himself wounded and under fire, being killed later that day.
Yours aye,

Iain Kerr in Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Web Page at: http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/index.htm
RootsWeb Sponsor and Listowner for the WORLDWAR2 Mailing List.

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