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Royal Engineers

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Not to be confused with Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

Corps of Royal Engineers
Cap badge of the Corps of Royal Engineers
Active1716–present
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
Size22 Regiments
Part ofCommander Field Army
Garrison/HQChatham, Kent
Motto(s)Ubique and Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt ("Everywhere" and "Where Right And Glory Lead"; in Latin fas implies "sacred duty")[1]
MarchWings (Quick march)
Websitewww.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/corps-of-royal-engineers/ Edit this at Wikidata
Commanders
Colonel-in-ChiefThe King
Chief Royal EngineerLieutenant General Sir Christopher Tickell
Corps ColonelColonel Richard Hawkins
Insignia
Tactical recognition flash
Arms of the British Army
Combat Arms
Combat Support Arms
Combat Services

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is headed by the Chief Royal Engineer. The Corps Headquarters and the Royal School of Military Engineering are in Chatham in Kent, England. The corps is divided into several regiments, barracked at various places in the United Kingdom and around the world.

History

[edit]
Corps of Royal Engineers Cypher
Royal Engineers recruitment poster

The Royal Engineers trace their origins back to the military engineers brought to England by William the Conqueror, specifically Bishop Gundulf of Rochester Cathedral, and claim over 900 years of unbroken service to the crown. Engineers have always served in the armies of the Crown; however, the origins of the modern corps, along with those of the Royal Artillery, lie in the Board of Ordnance established in the 15th century.[2]

In Woolwich in 1716, the Board formed the Royal Regiment of Artillery and established a Corps of Engineers, consisting entirely of commissioned officers. The manual work was done by the Artificer Companies, made up of contracted civilian artisans and labourers. In 1772, a Soldier Artificer Company was established for service in Gibraltar, the first instance of non-commissioned military engineers. In 1787, the Corps of Engineers was granted the Royal prefix, and adopted its current name; in the same year, a Corps of Royal Military Artificers was formed, consisting of non-commissioned officers and privates, to be led by the Royal Engineers. Ten years later, the Gibraltar company (which had remained separate) was absorbed, and in 1812 the unit's name was changed to the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners.[2]

The Corps has no battle honours. In 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique & Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt ("Everywhere" & "Where Right And Glory Lead"; in Latin fas implies "sacred duty") was granted.[1] The motto signified that the Corps had seen action in all the major conflicts of the British Army and almost all of the minor ones as well.[3][4]

In 1855, the Board of Ordnance was abolished, and authority over the Royal Engineers, Royal Sappers and Miners and Royal Artillery was transferred to the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, thus uniting them with the rest of the Army. The following year, the Royal Engineers and Royal Sappers and Miners became a unified corps as the Corps of Royal Engineers, and their headquarters were moved from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to Chatham, Kent.[2]

The re-organisation of the British military that began in the mid-Nineteenth Century and stretched over several decades included the reconstitution of the Militia, the raising of the Volunteer Force, and the ever-closer organisation of the part-time forces with the regular army.[5] The old Militia had been an infantry force, other than the occasional employment of Militiamen to man artillery defences and other roles on an emergency basis. This changed in 1861, with the conversion of some units to artillery roles. Militia and Volunteer Engineering companies were also created, beginning with the conversion of the militia of Anglesey and Monmouthshire to engineers in 1877. The Militia and Volunteer Force engineers supported the regular Royal Engineers in a variety of roles, including operating the boats required to tend the submarine mine defences that protected harbours in Britain and its empire. These included a submarine mining militia company that was authorised for Bermuda in 1892, but never raised, and the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers that wore Royal Engineers uniforms and replaced the regular Royal Engineers companies withdrawn from the Bermuda Garrison in 1928.[6][7] The various part-time reserve forces were amalgamated into the Territorial Force in 1908,[8] which was retitled the Territorial Army after the First World War, and the Army Reserve in 2014.[9]

Units from the Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery were in Australia, even after Federation.[10]

In 1911 the Corps formed its Air Battalion, the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces. The Air Battalion was the forerunner of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.[11]

The First World War saw a rapid transformation of the Royal Engineers as new technologies became ever more important in the conduct of warfare and engineers undertook an increasing range of roles. In the front line they designed and built fortifications, operated poison gas equipment, repaired guns and heavy equipment, and conducted underground warfare beneath enemy trenches. Support roles included the construction, maintenance and operation of railways, bridges, water supply and inland waterways, as well as telephone, wireless and other communications.[12] As demands on the Corps increased, its manpower was expanded from a total (including reserves) of about 25,000 in August 1914, to 315,000 in 1918.[13]

In 1915, in response to German mining of British trenches under the then static siege conditions of the First World War, the corps formed its own tunnelling companies. Manned by experienced coal miners from across the country, they operated with great success until 1917, when after the fixed positions broke, they built deep dugouts such as the Vampire dugout to protect troops from heavy shelling.[14]

Before the Second World War, Royal Engineers recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall (5 feet 2 inches for the Mounted Branch). They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve or four years and eight years. Unlike most corps and regiments, in which the upper age limit was 25, men could enlist in the Royal Engineers up to 35 years of age. They trained at the Royal Engineers Depot in Chatham or the Royal Engineer Mounted Depot at Aldershot.[15]

During the 1980s, the Royal Engineers formed the vital component of at least three Engineer Brigades: 12 Engineer Brigade (Airfield Damage Repair);[16] 29th Engineer Brigade; and 30th Engineer Brigade.[17] After the Falklands War, 37 (FI) Engineer Regiment was active from August 1982 until 14 March 1985.[18]

Regimental museum

[edit]

The Royal Engineers Museum is in Gillingham in Kent.[19]

Major projects

[edit]

British Columbia

[edit]
Main article: Richard Clement Moody

The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, which was commanded by Colonel Richard Clement Moody, was responsible for the foundation and settlement of British Columbia as the Colony of British Columbia.[20][21]

Royal Albert Hall

[edit]
The Royal Albert Hall, designed by Captain Francis Fowke RE

The Royal Albert Hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers.[22] The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the Victoria and Albert Museum.[23]

Indian infrastructure

[edit]

Much of the British colonial era infrastructure of India, of which elements survive today, was created by engineers of the three presidencies' armies and the Royal Engineers. Lieutenant (later General Sir) Arthur Thomas Cotton (1803–99), Madras Engineers, was responsible for the design and construction of the great irrigation works on the river Cauvery, which watered the rice crops of Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts in the late 1820s. In 1838 he designed and built sea defences for Vizagapatam. He masterminded the Godavery Delta project where 720,000 acres (2,900 km2) of land were irrigated and 500 miles (800 km) of land to the port of Cocanada was made navigable in the 1840s. Such regard for his lasting legacy was shown when in 1983, the Indian Government erected a statue in his memory at Dowleswaram.[24]

Other irrigation and canal projects included the Ganges Canal, where Colonel Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff (1836–1916) acted as the Chief Engineer and made modifications to the original work. Among other engineers trained in India, Scott-Moncrieff went on to become Under Secretary of State Public Works, Egypt where he restored the Nile barrage and irrigation works of Lower Egypt.[25]

Rideau Canal

[edit]

The construction of the Rideau Canal was proposed shortly after the War of 1812, when there remained a persistent threat of attack by the United States on the British colony of Upper Canada. The initial purpose of the Rideau Canal was military, as it was intended to provide a secure supply and communications route between Montreal and the British naval base in Kingston, Ontario. Westward from Montreal, travel would proceed along the Ottawa River to Bytown (now Ottawa), then southwest via the canal to Kingston and out into Lake Ontario. The objective was to bypass the stretch of the St. Lawrence River bordering New York State, a route which would have left British supply ships vulnerable to attack or a blockade of the St. Lawrence. Construction of the canal was supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers. Directed by him, Lieutenant William Denison, determined the strength for construction purposes of old growth timber in the vicinity of Bytown, findings commended by the Institution of Civil Engineers in England.[26]

Dover's Western Heights

[edit]
Drop Redoubt.

The Western Heights of Dover are one of the most impressive fortifications in Britain. They comprise a series of forts, strong points and ditches, designed to protect the United Kingdom from invasion. They were created to augment the existing defences and protect the key port of Dover from both seaward and landward attack. First given earthworks in 1779 against the planned invasion that year, the high ground west of Dover, England, now called Dover Western Heights, was properly fortified in 1804 when Lieutenant-Colonel William Twiss was instructed to modernise the existing defences. This was part of a huge programme of fortification in response to Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. To assist with the movement of troops between Dover Castle and the town defences Twiss made his case for building the Grand Shaft in the cliff:

"... the new barracks. ... are little more than 300 yards horizontally from the beach. ... and about 180 feet (55 m) above high-water mark, but in order to communicate with them from the centre of town, on horseback the distance is nearly a mile and a half and to walk it about three-quarters of a mile, and all the roads unavoidably pass over ground more than 100 feet (30 m) above the barracks, besides the footpaths are so steep and chalky that a number of accidents will unavoidably happen during the wet weather and more especially after floods. I am therefore induced to recommend the construction of a shaft, with a triple staircase ... the chief objective of which is the convenience and safety of troops ... and may eventually be useful in sending reinforcements to troops or in affording them a secure retreat."[27]

Twiss's plan was approved and building went ahead. The shaft was to be 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter, 140 feet (43 m) deep with a 180 feet (55 m) gallery connecting the bottom of the shaft to Snargate Street, and all for under an estimated £4000. The plan entailed building two brick-lined shafts, one inside the other. In the outer would be built a triple staircase, the inner acting as a light well with "windows" cut in its outer wall to illuminate the staircases. Apparently, by March 1805 only 40 feet (12 m) of the connecting gallery was left to dig and it is probable that the project was completed by 1807.[27]

Pentonville Prison

[edit]
Pentonville Prison designed by Capt Joshua Jebb RE

Two Acts of Parliament allowed for the building of Pentonville Prison for the detention of convicts sentenced to imprisonment or awaiting transportation. Construction started on 10 April 1840 and was completed in 1842. The cost was £84,186 12s 2d. Captain (later Major General Sir) Joshua Jebb designed Pentonville Prison, introducing new concepts such as single cells with good heating, ventilation and sanitation.[28]

Boundary Commissions

[edit]

Although mapping by what became the Ordnance Survey was born out of military necessity it was soon realised that accurate maps could be also used for civil purposes. The lessons learnt from this first boundary commission were put to good use around the world where members of the Corps have determined boundaries on behalf of the British as well as foreign governments; some notable boundary commissions include:[29]

  • 1839 – Canada-United States
  • 1858 – Canada-United States (Captain (later General Sir) John Hawkins RE)
  • 1856 and 1857 – Russo-Turkish (Lieutenant Colonel (later Sir) Edward Stanton RE)
  • 1857 – Russo-Turkish (Colonel (later Field Marshal Sir) Lintorn Simmons RE)
  • 1878 – Bulgarian
  • 1880 – Græco-Turkish (Major (later Major General Sir) John Ardagh RE)
  • 1884 – Russo-Afghan (Captain (later Colonel Sir) Thomas Holdich RE)
  • 1894 – India-Afghanistan (Captain (later Colonel Sir) Thomas Holdich RE)
  • 1902 – Chile-Argentine (Colonel Sir Delme Radcliffe RE)
  • 1911 – Peru-Bolivia (Major A. J. Woodroffe RE)

Much of this work continues to this day. The reform of the voting franchise brought about by the Reform Act (1832), demanded that boundary commissions were set up. Lieutenants Dawson and Thomas Drummond (1797–1839), Royal Engineers, were employed to gather the statistical information upon which the Bill was founded, as well as determining the boundaries and districts of boroughs. It was said that the fate of numerous boroughs fell victim to the heliostat and the Drummond light, the instrument that Drummond invented whilst surveying in Ireland.[30]

Abney Level

[edit]

An Abney level is an instrument used in surveying which consists of a fixed sighting tube, a movable spirit level that is connected to a pointing arm, and a protractor scale. The Abney level is an easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and when used correctly an accurate surveying tool. The Abney level was invented by Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843–1920) who was a Royal Engineer, an English astronomer and chemist best known for his pioneering of colour photography and colour vision. Abney invented this instrument under the employment of the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham, England, in the 1870s.[31]

H.M. Dockyards

[edit]

In 1873, Captain Henry Brandreth RE was appointed Director of the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, later the Admiralty Works Department. Following this appointment many Royal Engineer officers superintended engineering works at Royal Navy Dockyards in various parts of the world, including the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda, home base for vessels of the North America and West Indies Station.[32]

1848 Woodcut of HMD Bermuda, Ireland Island, Bermuda.
Chatham Dockyard
Slip 7 at Chatham Dockyard, designed by Col. G. Greene RE
Slip 3 at Chatham Dockyard, designed and built by the Corps

Chatham, being the home of the Corps, meant that the Royal Engineers and the Dockyard had a close relationship since Captain Brandreth's appointment. At the Chatham Dockyard, Captain Thomas Mould RE designed the iron roof trusses for the covered slips, 4, 5 and 6. Slip 7 was designed by Colonel Godfrey Greene RE on his move to the Corps from the Bengal Sappers & Miners. In 1886 Major Henry Pilkington RE was appointed Superintendent of Engineering at the Dockyard, moving on to Director of Engineering at the Admiralty in 1890 and Engineer-in-Chief of Naval Loan Works, where he was responsible for the extension of all major Dockyards at home and abroad.[33]

Trades

[edit]
ME – Fabricator in Iraq
ME – Armoured operating an AVRE in Canada

All members of the Royal Engineers are trained combat engineers and all sappers (privates) and non-commissioned officers also have another trade. These trades include: air conditioning fitter, electrician, general fitter, plant operator mechanic, plumber, bricklayer, plasterer / painter, carpenter & joiner, fabricator, building materials technician, design draughtsman, electrical & mechanical draughtsman, geographic support technician, survey engineer, armoured engineer, driver, engineer IT, engineer logistics specialist, amphibious engineer, bomb disposal specialist, diver or search specialist.[34] They may also undertake the specialist selection and training to qualify as Commandos or Military Parachutists. Women are eligible for all Royal Engineer specialities.[35]

Units

[edit]
Further information: Units of the Royal Engineers

The Royal School of Military Engineering

[edit]
HQ Royal School of Military Engineering.

The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) is the British Army's Centre of Excellence for Military Engineering, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), and counter terrorist search training. Located on several sites in Chatham, Kent, Camberley in Surrey and Bicester in Oxfordshire the Royal School of Military Engineering offers training facilities for the full range of Royal Engineer skills. The RSME was founded by Major (later General Sir) Charles Pasley, as the Royal Engineer Establishment in 1812.[36] It was renamed the School of Military Engineering in 1868 and granted the "Royal" prefix in 1962.[37]

  • Royal School of Military Engineering[38]
    • Combat Engineer School
      • 3 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment, in Minley:[39]
        • 55 Training Squadron
        • 57 Training Squadron
        • 63 Headquarters and Training Support Squadron
      • Communication Information Systems Wing
    • Construction Engineer School
      • 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment, in Chatham:[39]
        • 24 Training Squadron
        • 36 Training Squadron
        • Boat Operations
        • Hackett Troop (Plant)
      • Civil Engineering Wing
      • Electrical and Mechanical Wing
    • Royal Engineers Warfare Wing (Founded in 2011 and split between Brompton Barracks, Chatham and Gibraltar Barracks at Minley in Hampshire, this is the product of the amalgamation between Command Wing, where Command and Tactics were taught and Battlefield Engineering Wing, where combat engineering training was facilitated.)
      • United Kingdom Mine Information and Training Centre
    • Defence Explosive Munitions and Search School (formally Defence EOD School and the National Search Centre)
  • 28 Training Squadron, Army Training Regiment[40]
  • Diving Training Unit (Army), (DTU(A))[41]
  • Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers (The band are part of the Royal Corps of Army Music)[42]

Corps' Ensign

[edit]
Camp Gate Flag of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers' Ensign

The Royal Engineers, Ports Section, operated harbours and ports for the army and used mainly specialised vessels such as tugs and dredgers. During the Second World War the Royal Engineers' Blue Ensign was flown from the Mulberry harbours.[43]

Bishop Gundulf, Rochester and King's Engineers

[edit]
Rochester Castle from across the Medway. Engraving from image by G.F. Sargent c1836.
Rochester Cathedral from the West

Bishop Gundulf, a monk from the Abbey of Bec in Normandy came to England in 1070 as Archbishop Lanfranc's assistant at Canterbury. His talent for architecture had been spotted by King William I and was put to good use in Rochester, where he was sent as bishop in 1077. Almost immediately the King appointed him to supervise the construction of the White Tower, now part of the Tower of London in 1078. Under William Rufus he also undertook building work on Rochester Castle. Having served three kings of England and earning "the favour of them all", Gundulf is accepted as the first "King's Engineer".[44]

Corps Band

[edit]
Musicians from the Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers during a Medals Parade for 32 Engineer Regiment.

The Band of the Corps of the Royal Engineers is the official military band of the RE. The RE Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1880. It was recognised by Queen Victoria seven years later, with her command that they perform at Buckingham Palace for a banquet on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. In 1916–1917, the band toured France and Belgium, giving over one hundred and fifty concerts in a journey of 1800 miles. The band continued its tour of Europe following the cessation of hostilities. In 1936, the band performed at the funeral of George V and played the following year for the coronation of George VI in 1937. The band appeared at the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, and has since been called on to play at state occasions, military tattoos and military parades. It has notably performed during the opening ceremonies of the Channel Tunnel and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.[45]

The Institution of Royal Engineers

[edit]
The Ravelin Building at the Royal School of Military Engineering, Chatham, is now home to the Institution and the Corps Museum.

The Institution of Royal Engineers, the professional institution of the Corps of Royal Engineers, was established in 1875 and in 1923 it was granted its Royal Charter by King George V. The Institution is collocated with the Royal Engineers Museum, within the grounds of the Royal School of Military Engineering at Brompton in Chatham, Kent.[46]

Royal Engineers Journal - published tri-annually and contains articles with a military engineering connection. The first Journal was published in August 1870. The idea for the publication was proposed at the Corps Meeting of May 1870 by Major R Harrison and seconded By Captain R Home, who became its first editor (The Journal eventually superseded the Professional Papers, which were started by Lieutenant WT Denison in 1837 and continued to be published until 1918).[47]

The History of the Corps of Royal Engineers is currently in its 12th volume. The first two volumes were written by Major General Whitworth Porter and published in 1889.[48]

The Sapper is published by the Royal Engineers Central Charitable Trust and is a bi-monthly magazine for all ranks.[49]

The Royal Engineers' Association

[edit]

The present Royal Engineers Association promotes and supports the Corps among members of the Association in the following ways:[50][47]

  • By fostering esprit de corps and a spirit of comradeship and service.
  • By maintaining an awareness of Corps traditions.
  • By acting as a link between serving and retired members of the Corps.
  • To provide financial and other assistance to serving and former members of the Corps, their wives, widows and dependants who are in need through poverty.
  • To make grants, within Association guidelines, to the Army Benevolent Fund and to other charities which further the objectives of the Association.

Sport

[edit]

Royal Engineers' Yacht Club

[edit]
Un-defaced Blue Ensign flown by members of the REYC.
REYC Burgee.

The Royal Engineers' Yacht Club, which dates back to 1812, promotes the skill of watermanship in the Royal Engineers.[51]

They have entered every Fastnet Race since the second in 1926, which they won sailing IIlex.[52]

Royal Engineers Amateur Football Club

[edit]
Main article: Royal Engineers A.F.C.

The club was founded in 1863, under the leadership of Major Francis Marindin. Sir Frederick Wall, who was the secretary of The Football Association 1895–1934, stated in his memoirs that the "combination game" was first used by the Royal Engineers A.F.C. in the early 1870s.[53][54][55] Wall states that the "Sappers moved in unison" and showed the "advantages of combination over the old style of individualism".

FA Cup
The Royal Engineers pictured in 1872. Back: Merriman, Ord, Marindin, Addison, Mitchell; Front: Hoskyns, Renny-Tailyour, Creswell, Goodwyn, Barker, Rich.

The Engineers played in the first-ever FA Cup Final in 1872, losing 1–0 at Kennington Oval on 16 March 1872, to regular rivals Wanderers.[56] They also lost the 1874 FA Cup Final, to Oxford University A.F.C.

Their greatest triumph was the 1874–75 FA Cup.[56] In the final against Old Etonians, they drew 1–1 with a goal from Renny-Tailyour and went on to win the replay 2–0 with two further goals from Renny-Tailyour.[57][58] Their last FA Cup Final appearance came in 1878, again losing to the Wanderers.[56] They last participated in 1882–83 FA Cup, losing 6–2 in the fourth round to Old Carthusians F.C.[56]

The Engineers' Depot Battalion won the FA Amateur Cup in 1908.[59]

On 7 November 2012, the Royal Engineers played against the Wanderers in a remake of the 1872 FA Cup Final at The Oval. Unlike the actual final, the Engineers won, and by a large margin, 7–1 being the final score.[60]

Rugby

[edit]

The Army were represented in the very first international by two members of the Royal Engineers, both playing for England, Lieutenant Charles Arthur Crompton RE and Lieutenant Charles Sherrard RE.[61]

[edit]

Several Corps have been formed from the Royal Engineers.

Notable personnel

[edit]

Engineering equipment

[edit]
Main articles: Royal Engineers bridging and trackway equipment and Modern equipment of the British Army

Order of precedence

[edit]
Preceded by Order of Precedence Succeeded by

Decorations

[edit]

Victoria Cross

[edit]

The following Royal Engineers have been awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.[71]

Burning hut in the background; red-jacketed soldiers fighting in the foreground
Rorke's Drift, 22–23 January 1879, a battle fought under the command of Lt. John Chard, RE. Eleven Victoria Crosses were won during the battle, including one by Chard. Painting by Alphonse de Neuville

The Sapper VCs

[edit]

In 1998, HMSO published an account of the 55 British and Commonwealth 'Sappers' who have been awarded the Victoria Cross. The book was written by Colonel GWA Napier, former Royal Engineers officer and a former director of the Royal Engineers Museum. The book defines a 'Sapper' as any "member of a British or Empire military engineer corps, whatever their rank, speciality or national allegiance", and is thus not confined to Royal Engineers.[72]

Memorials

[edit]

Rivalry

[edit]

The Royal Engineers have a traditional rivalry with the Royal Artillery (the Gunners).[74]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "No. 18952". The London Gazette. 10 July 1832. p. 1583.
  2. ^ a b c "A brief history of the Royal Engineers" (PDF). The Masons Livery Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  3. ^ British Army Website: Corps of Royal Engineers Badges and Emblems Archived 22 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Anon (1916) Regimental Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army. 5th Ed. London: Gale and Polden Ltd. p. 36
  5. ^ War Office Circular, 12 May 1859, published in The Times, 13 May.
  6. ^ Army Notes. Royal United Services Institution Journal, Volume 73, Issue 490, 1928
  7. ^ "ARMY ESTIMATES, 1928". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 8 March 1928.
  8. ^ Tony Mason and Eliza Ried, Sport and the Military: The British Armed Forces 1880–1960 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p.39
  9. ^ "Territorial Army 'to be renamed the Army Reserve'". BBC News. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Our history". Australian Army. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  11. ^ a b "The Air Battalion". The RAF Museum. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  12. ^ "The Corps of Royal Engineers in the First World War". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  13. ^ "The Corps of Royal Engineers". National Army Museum. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Tunnelling Companies in the Great War". Tunnellers Memorial. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  15. ^ War Office, His Majesty's Army, 1938
  16. ^ Kendall, Brigadier A J V (September 1985). ""If You Know of a Better 'Ole, Go to It": The Development of Airfield Damage Repair"" (PDF). The Royal Engineers Journal. 99 (3): 153–onwards. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  17. ^ Isby and Kamps, Armies of NATO's Central Front.
  18. ^ RE Journal, Vol 99, No. 3, p.141
  19. ^ "Royal Engineers Museum". British listed buildings. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  20. ^ Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 90, Issue 1887, 1887, pp. 453-455, OBITUARY. MAJOR-GENERAL RICHARD CLEMENT MOODY, R.E., 1813-1181.
  21. ^ "The Royal Engineers: Colonel Richard Clement Moody". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Lucas, Charles Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/49439. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  23. ^ "Royal Albert Hall". Famous Wonders. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  24. ^ Cotton, Lady (1900). General Sir Arthur Cotton, RE, KCSI: His Life and Work. Hodder & Stoughton.
  25. ^ Scott-Moncrieff, Sir Colin Campbell. The Indian Biographical Dictionary. 1915.
  26. ^ Watson, Ken. "Bye By: The Story of Lieutenant-Colonel John By, R.E. and his fall from grace". Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  27. ^ a b Ingleton, Roy (2012). Fortress Kent. Pen & Sword Military. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-1848848887.
  28. ^ "Joshua Jebb on Pentonville Prison, London". Elton Engineering Books. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  29. ^ Fenwick, SC. Boundary Commissions – 1832–1911. Royal Engineers Museum. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  30. ^ "Demonstrations 19 – Limelight". Leeds University. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  31. ^ Hearnshaw, John (2014). "Abney, William de Wiveleslie". Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. pp. 12–14. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_10. ISBN 978-1-4419-9917-7.
  32. ^ "Woolwich Dockyard Area" (PDF). University College London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  33. ^ "Chatham Royal Naval Barracks" (PDF). Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  34. ^ "The Roles" (PDF). Army life: Your guide to the Royal Engineers. pp. 12–35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  35. ^ "Welcome" (PDF). Army life: Your guide to the Royal Engineers. Ministry of Defence. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  36. ^ Corps History Part 6 Archived 5 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Royal Engineers Museum
  37. ^ Corps History Part 17 Archived 30 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Royal Engineers Museum
  38. ^ "Royal School of Military Engineering". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  39. ^ a b "Royal Engineers Units". British Army. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  40. ^ "Army Training Centre Pirbright say farewell to 76 Battery Royal Artillery". Royal Artillery Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  41. ^ "Diving Training Unit (Army)". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  42. ^ "Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  43. ^ "Flag, Blue Ensign: Royal Engineers". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  44. ^ "The Towers that Gundulf Built". Kate Shrewsday. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  45. ^ ether (25 March 2014). "The Band of the Corps of the Royal Engineers". Kent County Show. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  46. ^ "The Institution of Royal Engineers". Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  47. ^ a b Baker Brown, W (1952). History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol IV. Chatham: The Institution of Royal Engineers.
  48. ^ "Institution of Royal Engineers (InstRE)". Articles. Royal Engineers Museum. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  49. ^ "The Sapper Magazine". Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  50. ^ "Royal Engineers' Association". Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  51. ^ "Sapper Sailing". Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  52. ^ "About". sappersailing.org. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  53. ^ Wall, Sir Frederick (2005). 50 Years of Football, 1884–1934. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-86223-116-0.
  54. ^ Cox, Richard (2002) The Encyclopaedia of British Football, Routledge, United Kingdom
  55. ^ History of Football Archived 18 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  56. ^ a b c d Royal Engineers A.F.C. at the Football Club History Database
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Further reading

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  • Boothby, Charles (2011). With the Royal Engineers in the Peninsula & France. Leonaur. ISBN 978-0-85706-781-4.
  • Brazier, C. C. H. (2004). XD Operations. Secret British Missions Denying Oil to the Nazis. Pen and Sword. ISBN 1-84415-136-0.
  • Boyd, Derek (1975). Royal Engineers. Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-197-1.
  • Connolly, Thomas William John (1857). The History of the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners: From the Formation of the Corps in March 1772, to the Date when Its Designation was Changed to that of Royal Engineers, in October 1856. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
  • Cooper, George (2011). Fight, Dig and Live. The Story of the Royal Engineers in the Korean War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-84884-684-5.
  • Daniell, A. P. de T. (2000). Mediterranean Safari March 1943 – October 1944. Orphans Press. ISBN 0-7212-0816-9.
  • Duke, Sir Gerald (1982). The History of the Royal Engineer Yacht Club. Pitman Press. ISBN 0-946403-00-7.
  • Durie, William (2012). The British Garrison Berlin 1945–1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation / presence in Berlin. Berlin: Vergangenheitsverlag (de). ISBN 978-3-86408-068-5. OCLC 978161722.
  • Edwards, Colonel G. F. The History of Central Volunteer Headquarters Royal Engineers. Institution of Royal Engineers.
  • Eke, Richard (1997). A Game of Soldiers. Digaprint. ISBN 0-9534264-0-8.
  • Emden, Richard Van (2009). Sapper Martin, The Secret War Diary of Jack Martin. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4088-0311-0.
  • Evans, J.; Palmer, E.; Walter, R. (2000). A Harbour Goes to War. The story of the Mulberry and the men who made it happen. Brook House. ISBN 1-873547-30-7.
  • Gander, Terry (1985). The Royal Engineers. I. Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1517-1.
  • Garson, Yvonne (1992). Versatile Genius: The Royal Engineers and Their Maps: Manuscript Maps and Plans of the Eastern Frontier, 1822–1870. University of the Witwatersrand Library. ISBN 1-86838-023-8.
  • Hall, Lieutenant Colonel L. J. (1919). Inland Water Transport in Mesopotamia. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84342-952-7.
  • Hall, Malcom (2010). From Ballon to Boxkite. The Royal Engineers and Early British Aeronautics. Amberley Press. ISBN 978-1-84868-992-3.
  • Hartcup, Guy (2006). Code Name Mulberry. The Planning – Building & Operation of the Normandy Harbours. Pen and Sword. ISBN 1-84415-434-3.
  • Head, Francis Bond (1869). The Royal Engineer. John Murray.
  • Hogben, Major Arthur (1987). Designed to Kill. Bomb Disposal from World War I to the Falklands. Patrick Stevens. ISBN 0-85059-865-6.
  • Hudson, S. A. M. (2010). UXB Malta. Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal 1940–44. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-5635-5.
  • Hunt, H. J. (1986). Bombs & Booby Traps. Romsey Medal Centre. ISBN 978-0948251191.
  • Macintosh, Hugh (2000). Middle East Movers, Royal Engineers Transportation in the Suez Canal Zone 1947–1956. North Kent Books. ISBN 0-948305-10-X.
  • Mortimer, Gerald (1993). Never a Shot in Anger. Square One Publications. ISBN 1-872017-71-1.
  • Napier, Gerald (2005). Follow the Sapper: An Illustrated History of the Corps of Royal Engineers. The Institution of Royal Engineers. ISBN 0-903530-26-0.
  • Owen, James (2010). Danger UXB. The Heroic Story of the WWII Bomb Disposal Teams. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-1-4087-0195-9.
  • Porter, Whitworth; Watson, Charles Moore (1889). History of the Corps of Royal Engineers. Longmans, Green.
  • Raschen, Dan (1987). Send Port & Pyjamas!. Buckland Publications. ISBN 0-7212-0763-4.
  • Raschen, Dan (1983). Wrong Again Dan! Karachi to Krakatoa. Buckland Publications. ISBN 0-7212-0638-7.
  • Robinson, P.; Cave, N. (2011). The Underground War. Vimy Ridge to Arras. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-84415-976-5.
  • Salmon, M. J. Oh! To be a Sapper. The Institution of Royal Engineers. ISBN 0-9524911-4-1.
  • Sandes, Edward Warren Caulfeild (1937). The Royal Engineers in Egypt and the Sudan. Institution of Royal Engineers.
  • Sliz, John (2013). Commander Royal Engineers. The Headquarters of the Royal Engineers at Arnhem. Travelouge 219. ISBN 978-1-927679-04-3.
  • Smithers, A. J. (1991). Honourable Conquests: An Account of the Enduring Work of the Royal Engineers Throughout the Empire. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-0-85052-725-4.
  • Steadman, Peter (2001). Platoon Commander (Memoirs of a Royal Engineers Officer). Pentlandite Books. ISBN 1-85821-901-9.
  • Tinsley, Terence (1992). Stick & String. Buckland Publishing. ISBN 0-7212-0897-5.
  • Turner, John Frayn (1967). Highly Explosive, The Exploits of Major Bill Hartley MBE GM late of Bomb Disposal. George G. Harappa & Co.
  • Wakeling, Eric (1994). The Lonely War. A story of Bomb Disposal in World War II by on who was there. Square One Publication. ISBN 1-872017-84-3.
  • Walker, Eric. Don't Annoy The Enemy. Gernsey Press Co.
  • Watkins, Leonard (1996). A Sapper's War. Minerva Press. ISBN 1-85863-715-5.
  • Williams, Gerard; Williams, Michael (1969). Citizen Soldiers of the Royal Engineers Transportation and Movements and the Royal Army Service Corps, 1859 to 1965. Institution of the Royal Corps of Transport.
  • Wolfe, Celia (1997). Summon up the Blood. The war diary of Corporal J A Womack, Royal Engineers. Leo Cooper. ISBN 978-0-85052-537-3.
  • Younger, Major General Tony (2004). Blowing Our Bridges. A Memoir from Dunkirk to Korea via Normandy. Pen and Sword. ISBN 1-84415-051-8.
  • Drainage Manual – Revised Edition, 1907, by Locock and Tyndale.
  • Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers, by Great Britain Army. Royal Engineers. Published by The Corps, 1874.
  • Professional Papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, by Great Britain Army. Royal Engineers, Royal Engineers' Institute (Great Britain). Published by Royal Engineer Institute, 1892.
  • A Short History of the Royal Engineers, by The Institution of Royal Engineers. Published by The Institution of Royal Engineers, 2006. ISBN 0-903530-28-7.
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