139th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Brigade 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade 139th Infantry Brigade
Formation Badge of the 46th Infantry Division, World War II
Active	1908-1919 1920-1936 1939-1946
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Territorial Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Brigade
Part of	46th (North Midland) Division 46th Infantry Division

The 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in World War I with the 46th (North Midland) Division. Later designated the 139th Infantry Brigade, the brigade also saw service with the 46th Infantry Division in World War II.

When Volunteer Infantry Brigades were introduced in 1888, the Volunteer Battalions of the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) formed part of the North Midland Brigade, although from 1901 to 1906 they formed a separate Sherwood Foresters Brigade. When the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms in 1908, a new Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Brigade was formed, as part of the North Midland Division. The brigade was composed of four Volunteer battalions of the Sherwood Foresters: the 5th (Derbyshire), 6th, 7th (Robin Hood Rifles) and 8th.

King George V inspected the division on 19 February 1915, shortly before its departure for France, and gave permission for the Notts & Derby Brigade to change its title to Sherwood Foresters Brigade. (However, its 2nd Line duplicate, formed in January 1915, remained the 2/1st Notts & Derby Brigade throughout the war.) In May, when the TF formations were numbered, the brigade became 139th (Sherwood Foresters) Brigade in the 46th (North Midland) Division.

The brigade saw service with the 46th Division throughout the Great War in the trenches of the Western Front from 1915 to 1918.