1- THE ROYAL ENGINEERS JOURNAL No 1 Vol LXXXVIII MARCH 1974 Published Quarterly by ME4 4UG The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent Telephone: Medway (0634) 42669 Printers ME5 8TD W & J Mackay Limited Lordswood Chatham Kent Telephone: Medway (0634) 64381 Y I THE COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTION OF ROYAL ENGINEERS (Established 1875, Incorporated by Royal Charter, 1923) Patron-HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN President Major-General Sir Gerald Duke, KBE, CB, DSO, BA, C Eng, FICE, DL ... ... 1970 Vice-Presidents Major-General M E Tickell, CBE, MC, MA .. Brigadier M L Crosthwait, MBE, MA, C Eng, 1972 MICE, MBIM ... ...... ... 1970 Elected Members Colonel B A E Maude, CBE, MA ... ... ... 1968 Colonel W C S Harrison, i CBE, ERD, ADC, C Eng, FICE, MIHE 1970 Major W M R Addison, RE, BSc ... ... ... ... 1970 Major D McCarthy, MM, RE, AMBIM ... ... ... ... 1970 Brigadier J D Walker, OBE ... ... ... ... 1972 Colonel M B Adams, MA, C Eng, FICE ... ... 1973 Colonel D G Raschen, OBE, r MA, C Eng, MIMechE, AMBIM 1973 Lieut-Colonel R Jukes-Hughes, MBE, RE, C Eng, MICE, AMIHE 1973 Lieut-Colonel M W Knill, TD, RE (V), BSc, C Eng, FICE, FIWE 1973 Major F G E Grainger, RE ...... ... 1973 Captain P G C P Druitt, RE ... ... ... ... 1973 Ex-Officio Members Brigadier B C Elgood, MBE, BA ............... .. D/E-in-C Colonel A N Brearley-Smith, OBE, AMBIM ... ... .. AAG RE i. Brigadier J I Purser, OBE, BA ... ...... ... Comdt RSME Brigadier J Kelsey, CBE, BSc, FRICS ... ... ... .. D Mil Survey Colonel B J Coombe, GM, BSc ............... 1'4( D/Comdt RSME Brigadier P F Aylwin-Foster, MA, C Eng, '1 MICE, AMBIM Comd Trg Bde RE Brigadier D L G Begbie, OBE, MC, BSc, C Eng, MICE ... D. Engr Svcs Corresponding Members i Brigadier P Yonge, Australian Military Forces ... ... ... ... 1972 Lieut-Colonel J M Harman, BSc, C Eng, MICE Royal New Zealand Engineers ............ ... ... 1972 Major-General N C Brown, DFC, CD Canadian Forces ... ...... ......... ... ... 1971 Secretary and Editor RE Journal jj Colonel E E Peel, BSc, C Eng, FICE ... ... ... 1972 11 Bankers 11 Lloyds Bank, Ltd, Cox's and King's Branch, 6 Pall Mall, SWI ; 1 THE ROYAL ENGINEERS JOURNAL Authors alone are responsiblefor the statements made and the opinions expressed in theirpapers VOL. LXXXVIII CONTENTS MARCH, 1974 PAGE 1 EDITORIAL 1 2 THE FIXED FORTIFICATIONS OF THE SIXTEENTH TO NINETEENTH CENTURIES ILLUSTRATED BY THE DEFENCES OF CHATHAM. By BRIGADIER J R E HAMILTON-BAILLIE (With sketches) 3 ANTI-TANK MINES IN MOBILE WARFARE. BY CAPTAIN AND BREVET MAJOR H DEWING (Reprinted from March 1924 Journal) 4 COLONEL R J CARSON, CD FIRST COLONEL COMMANDANT CANADIAN MILITARY ENGINEER BRANCH (Withphotograph) 5 EXERCISE HIMALAYAN VENTURE III. PART TWO. INDRASAN. BY CAPTAIN M W H DAY (Withphotographs) 6 REPORT ON PROFESSIONAL MEETING 23 OCTOBER 1973. BYLIEUT- COLONEL J C PEACEY . 7 TECHNICIAN ENGINEERING STATUS. BY E A BROMFIELD 8 EARLY DAYS. BY M L C 9 BEF, BACK EVERY FORTNIGHT, NORWAY 1940. BY MICHAEL CALVERT (With map) 10 THE HOOK. BY NOMINAL (With photograph) 11 THE FIRST MONTH OF WORLD WAR I. BY K B GODSELL 12 AUTUMN CIRCLES. BY LIEUTENANT C J PECK 13 RAVELIN (With photograph) 14 A MADRAS SAPPER RETURNS. BY CAPTAIN J IRWIN (Withphoto- graphs) 15 MEMOIR MAJOR-GENERAL B E C DIXON . 61 16 CORRESPONDENCE 62 17 BOOK REVIEWS 63 18 TECHNICAL NOTES 65 4,100 Editorial THE Padre spoke of a man on a deserted island. Although the island was wooded there was only one large tree. From it he made himself a hut, some furniture and some utensils. Not all of the tree had been utilized, ". and with the remains thereof he built an idol". The theme was not the disregard of the First and Second Command- ments but that the man had placed immediate material needs before long term spiritual ones. Are we not all guilty of over-concern with immediate solutions to problems with little regard for the long term? It is natural to react to immediate problems with the easiest of the possible alternatives. This does not always result in the best long term solution. The side- effects of the instant answer must be weighed against the long term requirements. On occasions even the most unfortunate side-effects have to be accepted but more often either they are not considered at all or they are pushed to one side to be dealt with when they themselves become immediate problems. Instant expediency eventually becomes normal practice. Can we really afford not to invest in the future? How many buildings have been erected at low capital cost in the certain know- ledge of exorbitant maintenance costs to come? How many of us have selfishly denied the opportunity to subordinates who wish to attend courses? The new careers and postings system for NCOs (much of the pioneering work carried out by RE Records), will go a long way to ensure that a man is given the opportunity to develop his full potential. The complexity of career planning in the Corps, a combat arm with trade responsibilities, is well known. The need to practise skills to maintain competence is well established. In the short term, provided there is time, there are advantages in practising the skills required tomorrow. In the long term would it not be better to practise those skills which are unlikely to be required in the immediate future? It is in these skills that competence is likely to be inadequate. Many projects are undertaken ostensibly for training purposes. Are these projects primarily selected to fully employ a "formed" unit or to practise individual and collective skills? Too often we read ".... the project proved to be tremendous training for junior management"; translated this means that the Troop and Section NCOs were employed properly! Are we allowing the "formed" unit mentality to over-ride the training opportunities? At an Easter Service, the Padre spoke of a project on which there were many men. The electricians planted bulbs, the carpenters augered well and the surveyors mea- sured drinks in the Mess. As all had to be employed the Commander looked around for work for the others, ". and with the remains thereof he built a road to no- where". In concluding the Service the Padre took the opportunity to wish the majority of the congregation a very Merry Christmas, as he wouldn't see them again until next Easter! In some research on another subject the Editor was fascinated by an article published in the March 1924 Journial-exactly fifty years ago. The Author of "Anti-Tank Mines in Mobile Warfare" showed remarkable foresight. Both Major-General Dewing, one of our senior Members, and the Padre were concerned with the long term! Some Members may feel that the article "Technician Engineer Status" is out of place in the Journial. Although a number of Members are eligible for registration this was not the reason for publication. It is important that all Members should understand the concept of, the reasons for and the advantages gained through, the CEI Charter. For Active List Members it should remind them of their duty to encourage their subordinates to work towards registration; for the non-Active List Members it should emphasize the standards achieved in the Active Corps in relation to civilian practice which in turn should assist them in assessing the employability of the ex-Sapper. 1 L The Fixed Fortifications of the Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries Illustrated by the Defences of Chatham BRIGADIER J R E HAMILTON-BAILLIE, MC, ADC, MA, C ENC, MICE MOST sappers if asked what a ravelin is might answer that it is the name of a yacht, or perhaps that it was the old RSME fieldworks ground. The right answer however is that it is a part of the great system of fortification that was used from the sixteenth to nineteenth century. The construction of, and method of attack against, this system were the main subjects of study by military engineers for these 300 hundred years, so an elementary understanding of it should be of historical interest to us. The system is usually connected with the name of Vauban (1637-1707), Chief Engineer of Louis XIV, but was well developed long before his time, as is illustrated by the magnificent Valetta Lines in Malta (fig 12) that will be familiar to many sappers. These were built by the Knights in 1556-70 after the Great Siege. Nearer home, Berwick-upon-Tweed has fine defences and Carisbrook in the Isle of Wight rather simpler ones, both from the time of Elizabeth I. From the earliest times round or square towers had been used to give flanking fire along a wall. However these always left some possibility of dead ground close under the front face of these towers. The essential feature of the new system was a series of bastions, each face of which was covered by flanking fire from sides, known asflanks of the neighbouring bastions. The resulting pattern is shown in figs la and b. Fig la shows a continuous line, and fig lb an isolated fort (based on Fort Pitt, Chatham), but the principle is the same. The basic element is the curtain with half a bastion each side of it, which forms onefront offortification. It is repeated constantly throughout all works in this system. A bastion with only one flank, eg at the end of a line, was known as a demi-bastion (fig lb). In early examples the flanks of a bastion were usually retired so that the flanking guns were given extra protection by the rounded coiners of the bastions, called oreilles (fig 3). The Valetta lines (fig 12) show this feature.