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THE ROYAL ENGINEERS JOURITAL INSTITUTION OF RE OFFICE COPY i DO NOT REMOVE DECEMBER 1995 VOL 109 NO 3 Guidelines for Authors The Editor is always pleased to consider articles Copyright. If an article has been published else- for publication in the Journal. Guidelines for where, copyright clearance must be sought; prospective authors are: copyright clearance on photographs, maps or illus- Subject. Articles should have some military engi- trations must also be obtained prior to submission. neering connection but this can be fairly Photographs should be black and white if tenuous, especially if an article is well written possible, or coloured of good quality with sharp and interesting. definition. Please do not submit laser/photo Length. Normally approximately 4500 words copies of photographs. (approximately ten A4 pages double line Rewards can be generous. The Publications spacing at 12pt) plus illustrations. Committee has about £250 in prize money to Copy. Ideally one copy of the text should be allot for each issue plus valuable annual prizes. submitted, typed in double spacing, plus a short All authors receive £10 to help cover costs. pen picture of the author and a head and shoul- Pseudonyms may be used. They will not be ders photograph. Please don't forget to add revealed by the Editor under any circumstances. captions for any artwork to be included. Contributions should reach the editor by: Clearance. The author must clear his/her article with his/her CO where applicable. 16 Februart for the April 1996 issue Computers. Articles submitted on 3Win discs are Early June fbr the August 1996 issue very welcome. Please ensure that text is typed Early Octoberfor the December 1996 issue with no formatting, ie LH justified only. and Submissions before the deadline saved as an ASCII file (with a .txt extension). are particularly welcome. BEL -4J - Detecting Set, Metal L8A1. NSN Z5/6665-99-282-4063 Telephone 0181 567 0702 - Facsimile 0181 79 2158 INSTITUTION OF ROYAL ENGINEERS Established1875 Incorporatedby Royal Charter1923 Patron: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Chief Royal Engineer: General Sir John Stibbon KCB OBE COUNCIL PRESIDENT Major General K J Drewienkiewicz ... 1994 VICE PRESIDENTS Colonel A F George ... 1990 Major General D A Grove OBE ... 1995 MEMBERS Ex Officio EinC(A) Brigadier I D T McGill D Engr Sp Brigadier C C Galloway D Mil Svy Brigadier A J Hoon Comd Engr LAND Brigadier A S Craig OBE Comdt RSME Brigadier R Pridham OBE Regt Col Colonel R J Sandy Col PB7 Colonel K H Cima Elected Brigadier G Hyde 1994 Major T P Grimshaw 1994 Colonel M B Mounde MBE 1995 Lieutenant Colonel D W Lewis OBE TD 1995 Lieutenant Colonel B H Stafford BEM 1995 Lieutenant Colonel J D Wootton MBE 1995 Coopted (non-voting) Corps RSM Warrant Officer Class I P L Brown Director National Army Museum (or senior museum professional) Secretary Colonel M R Cooper 1994 Treasurer Lieutenant Colonel A J Hicks 1989 CorrespondingMembers Colonel T R Bradwell OBE, BLO Fort Leonard Wood, USA Lieutenant Colonel P W Clarke, BLO Pionierschule, Munich Major R C F Braybrook, BLO Engineer School, Angers Major E J Ward, Exchange Appointment, Australian SME Captain P J Langford, Exchange Appointment, Canadian SME PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Ex Officio D Engr Sp Brigadier C C Galloway Chairman Regt Col Colonel R J Sandy Vice-Chairman Col Engr Svcs Colonel N Munro ROI Training RSME Lieutenant Colonel R N C Smales OBE Surve)or Major P J Smith Editor RE Journal Colonel M R Cooper Elected Senior serving officer Colonel I S Mercer CBE 1993 Senior retiredofficer Colonel M J Payne 1993 TA officer Lieutenant Colonel D W Lewis OBE TD 1995 Coopted lMuseum Director Colonel J E Nowers Asst Editor RE Journal Mrs J D Scanlan Secretary INSTITUTION OF ROYAL ENGINEERS' STAFF Secretary: Colonel M R Cooper Tel: ATN 766 (BT 01634 842669/82) 2298. Assistant Secretary: Mrs J D Scanlan Tel: ATN 766 (BT 01634 842669/82) 2299. Administrative Officers: Mrs M Bassett/Mrs J Ellender Tel: ATN 766 (BT 01634 82) 2397. All correspondence in connection with editorialmatters should be addressedto the Secretary, Institution of Royal Engineers, Ravelin Building, Brompton Barracks, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4UG The Institution of Royal Engineers is Registered as a Charity Number 249882 Editorial It has been a momentous year for anniversaries valuable addition to our archive records. Wireless and commemorations. The 50th anniversaries of in the Boer War is a tribute to those early VE and VJ days would have escaped no-one's pioneers in communications who could hardly attention. Others are perhaps less well known. have dreamt of the explosion in information tech- This year also commemorates the 75th anniver- nology which we are experiencing today. The sary of the formation of the Corps of Royal change in emphasis between combat engineering Signals, which replaced the Signals Service and construction engineering continues. About branch of the Royal Engineers in 1920, and the one third of sappers in the Field Army are 120th anniversary of the founding of the currently deployed on engineer operational and Institution of Royal Engineers. The latter event training projects throughout the world. UN would perhaps have passed unnoticed except for Electrical Fields in Bosnia underlines the high the good wishes sent to us by one member. standards demanded of them. In contrast, The The more observant readers of the Journal may Berril Valley Obstacle Belt Project and TES: a have noticed a reduction in the number of pages. New Type of Medicine highlight the growing For the past two years we have been averaging importance of simulation, with so little opportu- just over 115 per issue, primarily to accommodate nity otherwise of practising combat engineer the surge in "50 years ago" articles. We intend in techniques and procedures in a battle group envi- future to keep to our optimum, in terms of cost, of ronment. Finally, in this brief survey of articles 96 pages although, as reported in the minutes of in this issue, Management Theories, Long Shots the Annual General Meeting in July, the Council and Safe Betts provides much food for thought has thought it prudent to review our publications on how military engineers should be organized as a whole in the light of the reducing active and trained to meet the challenges of the future. officer membership, increases in costs and the Perusing some earlier Journals, many of the workload on the small publications staff. interesting and provocative ideas current at the Consideration was given to reducing the time were debated in the correspondence frequency of issue of the Journal from three to section. There is less evidence of this happening two a year but any decision on this will be recently and it is perhaps a reflection on the type deferred for at least another year. of articles currently being published. History has The Institution, mainly through its publications, shown that it is sometimes the provocative, reflects all sections of the Corps. The TA impertinent or radical idea which germinates features strongly in this issue. The Birth of a into a new concept of working and operating. Regiment is a a fascinating insight into the Sappers have seldom failed to lead the way in strengths and weaknesses of the TA and also this but perhaps the goal posts are moving too provides evidence of how much its importance fast and pressures are such that there is less time has grown in contributing to the Corps' and now to sit back and reflect? Our thanks must go Army's operational capability. Historical articles to all those contributors who, despite the diffi- continue to predominate, which have a particular culties, find time and make the effort to put their appeal to many of our readers and provide a thoughts down in writing. 218 ISSN 0035-8878 THE ROYAL ENGINEERS JOURNAL © Published in April, August and December by the Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4UG Printed by Staples PrintersRochester Limited, Neptune Close, Medway City Estate, Frindsbury,Rochester, Kent, ME2 4LT Volume 109 December 1995 No 3 Contents E DITO RIAL .................................................................................................................................................... 2 18 2 BIRTH OF A REGIMENT, Lieutenant Colonel N A Sutherland OBE .................. ............................................220 3 AN OBVIOUS BOOBY TRAP, Colonel J H Shirlaw ...................................................................................... 229 4 Do WOMEN MAKE BETTER MANAGERS, Captain H T S Ricketts ................................................................ 230 5 WIRELESS IN THE BOER WAR, B A Austin ................................................................................................... 232 6 TASSI REVISITED, Lieutenant Colonel S N White ...................................................................................... 239 7 THE BERRIL VALLEY OBSTACLE BELT PROJECT SALISBURY PLAIN TRAINING AREA (WEST), Captain R S F Greene .......................................................... 240 8 NOTABLE DISSIMILARITIES, Captain R Kirby ................................................................... 244 9 UNITED NATIONS ELECTRICAL FIELDS IN BOSNIA, Captain M D Collins .................... ..................................246 10 A MINE RESCUE OFFICER ON THE WESTERN FRONT, Simon Jones ........................ .......................................250 11 MANAGEMENT THEORIES, LONG SHOTS AND SAFE BETTS, M ajor D W T aylor....................................................................................................................................256