HISTORY OF 1/8th BATTALION
SHERWOOD FORESTERS 1914—1919
Lieut.-col. G. H. Fowler.
Killed in action at Hohenzollern Redoubt, Oct. 15th, 1915.
THE SHERWOOD FORESTERS
IN THE GREAT WAR
1914—1919
1/8th Battalion
By
CAPTAIN W. C. C. WEETMAN
M.C., CROIX DE GUERRE
With an introduction by
BRIG-GENERAL C. T. SHIPLEY, C.B.
NOTTINGHAM
THOS. FORMAN & SONS
1920
To (p. 004)
Our Fallen Comrades
"In truth they were young Gentlemen, Yeomen andYeomen's Sons, and Artificers of the most brave sort,such as went voluntarily to serve of a gaiety andjoyalty of mind: all which kind of people are theFlower and Force of a Kingdom."
Sir John Smyth to Lord Burleigh
on our Men in Flanders in 1589-90.
INTRODUCTION (p. 005)
It is not only a great honour to have been asked towrite an introduction to this book, but it is a realpleasure to me to be linked in this manner to a Battalionwith which I was so intimately connected for nearlysix years and in which I made so many friends, of whommany, alas, have passed the "great divide."
The Battalion has been lucky in finding in Capt.Weetman an author with such a ready and amusing pen,and one especially who was in a position to see theworkings of the Battalion in almost every phase of itscareer and from every standpoint, first as a CompanyOfficer, then as Adjutant and finally from BrigadeHeadquarters.
To me, perhaps naturally, the most interesting partof the book is the early chapters. From the time, in1911, when I took over the command of what, I wasinformed by a Staff Officer qualified to know, was thebest Territorial Brigade in the Kingdom, I was a firmbeliever in the Territorial Force. But I hardly thinkthat the most hardened optimist would at that timehave thought it possible for a Territorial Division tomobilise and march complete with equipment andTransport to its Mobilisation area on the sixth dayafter receiving the order "Mobilise." The amount ofwork done by Battalions and Companies was marvellousand only those who experienced it can have an ideaof what it meant.
As (p. 006) for the Training, I don't believe better workwas ever done than during those weeks at Harpenden.True we were lucky in the weather and in the Trainingarea, and the 8th Battalion were specially lucky in theirexcellent staff of Sergeant-Instructors. All ranks puttheir heart into the work. I remember particularlythe excellent work done by the large batch of recruitswhich joined the Battalion at that time, includingsurely as good a lot of young Officers as ever joineda regiment. The author has described fully the trainingcarried out at Harpenden and in Essex, and that thetime and labour spent in it were not wasted is provedby the manner in which all ranks so quickly to