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General Sir Bindon Blood GCB, GCVO. Colonel Commandant RE from 1914 to 1940 and Chief Royal Engineer from 1936-1940 HISTORY 01;’THE CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS VOLUME IV by BRIGADIER-GENERALW. BAKERBROWN CHATHAM THE INSTITUTION OF ROYAL ENGINEERS 1952 PREFACE A FEW words are necessary to explain the reasons for the publica- tion of this volume which covers the period from 1885 to the out- break of the Great War in 1914. Three volumes of Corps history have already appeared ; Volumes I and 11, which were written by Major-General Whitworth Porter, cany the history from the Norman Conquest to 1886, and Volume 111, written by Sir Charles Watson, carries on the history from 1886 nominally to 1912. It necessarily happens that when a history is written closely after the events recorded the most recent events are not seen in proper perspective. Both Volumes I1 and I11 were completed at periods which were critically important in the history of the Corps, Whitworth Porter’s volume I1 ending at a time when a very large increase was being made to the Corps both of officers and men, and Watson’s volume I11 ending during the period of the changes in Army organizatim introduced in 1905 and 1906. There is internal evidence that Watson intended to expand his volume, as some subjects, such as Fortification, arellot touched on. Such expansion was prevented by the outbreak of the war in 1914 and by his own death in 1915. The History of Submarine Mining in the British Army, compiled by the present writer, was published in 1912 and covers the history in some detail of the large portion of the Corps, nearly one quarter of the whole, which was employed in the Submarine Mining Service ; the history covers the work of this branch from its early beginnings in 1863 to its breaking up in 1905. In addition to these volumes of Corps history The .Royal Engineers in Egy$t and the Sudan and the two volumes of The Military Engineer in India, all by Lieut.-Coionei Sandes, deal wiili paits of tbc bisttzry covered by this volume and cross references to these are given in many cases to avoid repetition. But even including these volumes, there still remain a good many gaps in the history dealt with in Volume 11, and when I was asked to assist in the preparation of a volume dealing with the R.E. in the Great War of 1914-18,I sug- gested to the Council of the Institution of Royal Engineers that a preliminary volume might be prepared filling in these gaps in the early history and carrying the account up to August 1914. In writing this volume I have made some departures from the form adopted in Volumes I and 11. In... these volumes the history of the 1U iv PREFACE Corps is dealt with as a series of episodes centring round the wars in which the British Army has been engaged. The result is that most of the space available has been given to the military side of the work of the Royal Engineers. In the present volume I have endeavoured to describe the nature of their organization for the very important duties carried out in time of peace. Also during the whole period covered by this volume there has been a close connexion between the Army and the political history of the country, during which the supreme control of the Army, formerly exercised by a Commander- in-Chief in the name of the Sovereign, has been transferred to a civilian Secretary of State. Under this change Army organization has often become a pawn in the battle of political parties, with the result that a change of Government has been followed by changes at the headquarters of the Army, which, in its turn, reacted on the duties and growth of the Royal Engineers. In the first four chapters, I have tried to give a narrative of the principal events, political and military, during the period dealt with in this volume, with a note of the more important changes which affected the Royal Engineers. The fact that this volume has been written so many years after the events recorded has enabled a more detached view to be taken of these changes than was possible at the time Volume 111 was written. Following the narrative, three chapters are given to a short descrip- tion of the work of the. Royal Engineers in our Colonies ; these include, in addition to much valuable work by individuals, two campaigns in Somaliland and in North China, which compare in size, though not perhaps in results, with the various campaigns in 1 Egypt from 1882 to 1898. Six chapters are then given to the growth of personnel, and various I aspects of Engineer work, including Fortification and the growth I of the Field units. These chapters link up with similar chapters in I Volume I1 and Volume 111. In some cases it has been necessary to repeat shortly facts already dealt with in previous volumes, but cross references are also given. The only important exception is the work connected with Survey ; this has been very completely dealt with in Volume 111, Chapter VI, so that only short references have been made in this volume. Chapter XIV, on the various civil activities of the Corps, must be read with the similar chapters of Volume I1 and Volume 111 and with the biographical notices which follow. In the last part of the volume a series of biographies of selected officers have been added as in previous volumes, but a departure PREFACE V from previous practice has been made in that the names have been selected not only of the officers of the Corps who have risen to high positions in the Army or the State, but include those of a number of officers representative of the various branches of engineering covered by the Corps. To make room for this increased number the length of each biography has been shortened. Another departure from previous practice has been made in giving the rank of each officer at the time he is mentioned and not the rank or title to which he may attain later ; the latter detail can be readily ascertained from the Index. Modern spelling has been adopted for place names as far as possible. A large part of the information in this volume has been obtained from the R.E. Journal and from various publications in the Corps Library in London, but great assistance has been obtained from the War Office Library, especially in connexion with the work in the Colonies. Follow the Sapper by Lieut.-Colonel P. H. Kealy has also proved most useful in the earlier part of this volume. The whole volume has been read and criticized by Major-General H. L. Pritchard as Editor-in-Chief of the volumes of Corps History covering the period 1912 to 1938, and thanks are due to many other officers who contributed notes of their personal experiences or dealt with special branches of work. Among these are Major- Generals Sir Charles Gwynn, Sir Robert'Lee, and E. V. Turner, Brigadier-General G. H. Boileau, and Colonels R. L. McClintock, R. S. McClintock, and R. A. P. O'Shee, while Colonel H. G. C. Swayne contributed valuable notes of his work in Somaliland as an explorer and surveyor. Special thanks are also due to Mr. L. Moran for checking the typescript in detail and preparing it for printing. I W. BAKERBROWN. CONTENTS CHAPTER I NARRATIVE-1885 TO 1902 Introduction-Position in 1885-Memorandum by Sir John Stokes-Lord Sandhurst’s Committee-Final report 1886- Organization in Battalions-Submarine Mining Service-Increases recommended-Quartermasters for Works-Continuous Engineer pay-Barrack construction to remain with R.E.-Terms of service recommended-Action following approval of recommen- dations-Sir Lot hian Nicholson appointed I.G. F. -Reconstruc- tion of hutted camps at Aldershot, etc.-Barrack Act 1890-New D.I.G.F. for Barrack loans-Duties of I.G.F. and D.A.G. more closely defined-Committee of r8gI-War Office control of expenditure-Coast Defence-Milford Haven 1886-Proposed transfer of Submarine Mining to the Artillery-Mr. Stanhope’s Committee of ISgo-New Submarine Mining schools 1892- Development of Field Units-Tyler cart-Corps of London Electrical Engineers formed-Work in India-Sir Robert Grant appointed I.G.F. 1891-Resignation of H.R.H. Duke of Cambridge -Admiralty propost to take over St. Mary’s Barracks-Campaigns in Egypt 1896 to 1898-South African War 1899-Organization of R.E. Units with Field Army-Reduction of appointment of D.A.G., R.E., 1902 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I This chapter links up with Vol. 11, Part I, Chap. XXVI, also Vol. 111, Chap. I and Hislory of Submarine Mifling, Chap. I, I1 and 111. CHAPTER I1 NARRATIVE-1902 TO 1906 End of South African War-Position in Igoz-Esher Committee on the construction of barracks by R.E.-Reorganization of Army by Mr. Broderick-Army Corps Commands-Major-General W. T. Shone appointed 1.G.F.-Criticism of Army Corps system- Mr. Arnold Foster ‘appointed Secretary of State for War- Committee of Three-Committee of Imperial Defence-Army Council-I.G.F. abolished-Director of Fortifications and Works-Inspector-General-Inspector of R.E.-D.A.A.G., R.E. abolished-New branch under Q.M.G. for railways-Secretary Mechanical Transport Committee-Colonel Sir G. Clarke, Secretary Imperial Defence Committee-Colonial Defence Committee retained-New Organization for Home Army-Seven Commands vi CONTENTS vii -Officers in charge of Administration-Chief Engineers to advise General Staff -Grouping of Coast Defence Commands- Grouping of depots-O.C.