Robin Hood Battalion - History

History

It was formed as the 1st Nottinghamshire (Robin Hood) Volunteer Rifle Corps by Adjutant Jonathan White on 15 November 1859. It was one of many such 'corps' to be formed at a time of increased fear of war with France which created a flurry of interest in establishing such volunteer corps by the more affluent classes of British society. The unit was, also, simply known as the Robin Hood Rifles; the title's name being in honour of the legendary Robin Hood.

After the culmination of the Cardwell-Childers reforms on 1 July 1881, the Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment) was formed (later the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) and the Robin Hood Rifles became its 3rd Volunteer Battalion.

In 1900, due to the Second Boer War, the Rifles experienced a substantial increase in size. Men of the battalion volunteered for service in the war -- which had been raging since 1899 -- and returned home when it ended in 1902, gaining the Robin Hood Rifles its first Battle Honour "South Africa 1900-02". In 1908, reserve forces of the British Army were reorganised, and the battalion was transferred to the Territorial Force, as the 7th Battalion (TF). In the following year, they were redesignated as the 7th (Robin Hood) Battalion.