The Forester Brigade (known as the Midland Brigade until 1958) was an administrative formation of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

from 1948 to 1964. The Brigade administered the regular

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

s of the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the British Army had fourteen infantry depots, each bearing a letter. The depots were territorially organised, and Infantry Depot F at

Strensall Strensall is a village in the Strensall with Towthorpe civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Foss north of York and north-east of Haxby. From the 2011 Census, the civil parish of ...

was the headquarters for the county regiments of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

. In 1948, the depots adopted names and this depot became the Midland Brigade with all regiments being reduced to a single battalion at the same time. The Midland Brigade was formally formed on 14 July 1948, combining the depots of four regiments: *

The Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

* The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment * The Royal Leicestershire Regiment * The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) Under the

1957 Defence White Paper The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected w ...

changes announced in July 1957, the infantry of the line was reorganised: accordingly, in 1958, the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was transferred to the

East Anglian Brigade The East Anglian Brigade (known as G Group until 1948) was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1946 to 1968, that administered the regiments with recruiting grounds in East Anglia, and the East of England. History After the Second ...

and the Midland Brigade was renamed as the Forester Brigade. From 1958 all regiments in the Brigade adopted a common cap badge: ''"A

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which develope ...

voided, the points pommelled, and thereon, on a mount, an antelope statant gorged with a ducal coronet and chained within The Garter, the whole encircled with a chaplet of oak-leaves issuant from a scroll inscribed 'Forester Brigade' and ensigned with, upon a mount, a tiger passant guardant.'' The badge combined parts of the cap badges of the Royal Warwicks, Royal Leicesters and Sherwood Foresters. From 1960 the Forester Brigade was based at

Glen Parva Barracks Glen Parva Barracks was a military installation at Glen Parva near South Wigston in Leicestershire. History The barracks opened under the name of Wigston Barracks in 1881. Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encourage ...

. In 1963, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was transferred to the

Fusilier Brigade The Fusilier Brigade was an administrative brigade of the British Army from 1958 to 1968, that administered the fusilier regiments. History The Brigade was created as part of the 1957 Defence White Paper announced in July 1957. It was formed on ...

, and in the following year the Royal Leicestershire Regiment joined the East Anglian Brigade and the Sherwood Foresters moved to the

Mercian Brigade The Mercian Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1948 to 1964. The Brigade administered the infantry regiments from the area of England between the Trent, Mersey and Severn rivers that roughly corresponded to the ancie ...

. With this, the Forester Brigade was disbanded.

Units

During its existence, the brigade was made up of the following units: , style="text-align:left; width:50%; vertical-align:top;",

Regular battalions

*1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (1946–1962) *2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (1946–1948} *1st Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (1946–1958) *2nd Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (1946–1948) *1st Battalion,

Royal Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both ...

(1946–1963) *2nd Battalion, Royal Leicestershire Regiment (1946–1948) *1st Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (1946–1963) *2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (1946–1948, 1952–1955) , style="text-align:left; width:50%; vertical-align:top;",

Territorial battalions

*7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (1947–1962) *2/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (1947–1950) *4th Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (1947–1950) *6th Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (1947–1950) *4th/6th Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (1950–1958) *5th Battalion, Royal Leicestershire Regiment (1947–1961) *4th/5th Battalion, Royal Leicestershire Regiment (1961–1963) *5th (Derbyshire) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (1947–1961) *8th (Nottinghamshire) Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (1947–1961) *5th/8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (1961–1963)

References

{{British Infantry Infantry administrative brigades of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1948