-3 ti MI THE ? ROYAL ENGINEERS I JOURNAL Vol LXXV JUNE 1961 No 2 CONTENTS Corps Notes . 117 Reopening of the RE Museum, Chatham . 120 Joint Professional Meeting with the Institute of Civil Engineers . 122 Our First Line Reserves . Major B. C. Prout-Rlchardson 134 Integration of the Armed Forces . "Monty Mount-Harris" 137 Gems, Germs and Hovercraft . Brigadier D.W. Reid 140 The Timber Industry of Malaya . Lieut-Colonel D. F. Densham-Booth 143 01 Fusion Welding of Aluminium Alloys . Major D. L. Jones 160 t Moving by Air . Major T. C. White 179 Towards United Europe-A Problem of Measurements . .Major D. M. R. Esson 184 Are Training Regiments Dull? . 2nd Lieutenant N. J. Roberts 188 A Civil Servant's Diary, 1841-46 . Henry Parris 190 The Queen's Engineers . 200 Correspondence, Memoirs, Book Reviews, Technical Notes . 210 E R PULIPUBL INSTITUTION OF RE OFFICE COPY ' ERs iAUcTr r DO NOT REMOVE AGE A J Specalied Postal Coacng for the Amy PRACTICAL AND WRITTEN Staff College and Promotion Examinations Spedy deed Postal Corses to provide adequte practie for writte and oral eaam~atio-All maps supplied-Complet Model Answers to all Tests-Expert gdance by expericed Army Ttors-Athoritate Study Notes-AII Tuit conducted tkroagh the medihm of the post-Air Mal to Ofcers oversea-Moderate fe payabe by hstamet * * * ALSO INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL TRAINING FOR EMPLOYMENT ON RETIRMENT Write today for particulars and/or advice, statin examintion or civilan career in which interested, to the Secretar, (M12), MetropolitanCollege, St. Albans ADVERTISEMENTS i REDBOURNE, HERTS. NEW FACTORY and OFFICE BLOCK for BROOKE BOND TEA Ltd. 1At (ETBISHE 377) Architect: Messrs. J. Stanley Beard, Bennett & Wilkins TROOLHOS, I NOBLE STET RSA TET ODN . QuantityTeehoe Surveyors: MOac Messrs. A.00(0lns L. Currie & Brown BUILDERS: TROLLOPE & COLLS (ESTABLISHED 1778) TROCOLL HOUSE, I NOBLE STREET, GRESHAM STREET, LONDON, E.C.2 Telephone: MONarch 3000 (40 lines) ii ADVERTISEMENTS VICTAULIC AALUMINIUM a JOINTS Toggle joints, without nuts and bolts, can also be supplied in certain sizes. The Victaulic Company, leaders in flexible joints for forty years, manufacture light Victaulic joints in alu- minium. These are die-cast from special alloys and have been perfected after exhaustive development and tests. Ease of Assembly. The joint can be made rapidly on rough ground by unskilled labour. It couples pipes positively and cannot be assembled incorrectly. Flexibility. Clearances between the joint housing and piping, combined with the gap between pipe-ends, permit an angular movement of the piping and make exact alignment unnecessary when installing. Expansion and Contraction. The gap between pipe-ends allows the piping to expand or contract. This and the flexibility of the assembly reduce pipe-line stresses due to subsidence or settlement, and allow the pipe-line to follow the contour of the ground with a minimum of bends. ILLUSTRATED LEAFLET AVAILABLE ON REQUEST THE VICTAULIC COMPANY LTD Manufacturers of Victaulic Joints and Viking Johnson Couplings 8 GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET, LONDON, E.C.4 Telephone: Fleet Street 8346 Registered TrodeMrks 'VICTAULIC' nd 'VIKING' ADVERTISEMENTS 111 You are welcome at No. 6 Pall Mall F J at Cox's and King's branch financial affairs of officers stationed of Lloyds Bank, 6 Pall Mall, S.W.I at home or abroad. we have been officially appointed We have departments specialis- Army Agents for over two hundred ing in general and kit insurance, years and Agents to the Royal Air in income tax, the purchase and Force since its inception. Of course sale of stocks and shares and the you may bank where you please but safe custody of valuables. This the reason why so many officers full banking service includes facili- open their personal accounts with ties for serving officers to cash their us is that we have unrivalled cheques at any branch of the Bank experience in dealing with the without prior arrangement. An officer's banking transactions are confidential to him and his bank. Our position as Official Agents in no way affects this. LLOYDS BANK LIMITED COX'S & KING'S BRANCH, 6 PALL MALL, S.W.1 Telephone WHitehall 7001 Official Agents to the Army and Royal Air Force THE COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTION OF ROYAL ENGINEERS (Incorporated by Royal Charter, 27 February 1923) Patron-HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN President Major-General Sir A. Douglas Campbell, KBE, CB, DSO, MC, MA .. 1957 Vice-Presidents Brigadier A. G. Bonn, CBE, MC, MICE ... 1957 Major-General T. H. F. Foulkes, OBE, MA ......... 1960 Elected Lieut-Colonel E. L. L. Earp, OBE, ERD, TD, BSc, MICE 1958 Captain K. V. Stewart, BSc ............ 1958 Brigadier P. N. M. Moore, DSO**, MC, BA ...... 1959 Colonel E. F. Kyte, OBE, MA, AMICE ... ... 1959 Colonel R. W. C. Smales, MA, AMICE ... ... 1959 Lieut-Colonel G. W. Kirkland, MBE, MICE, PIStruct.E, Mlnst.HE, Flnst. Arb., MConsE ......... 1959 Lieut-Colonel R. F. Parker, MBE ......... 1959 Lieut-Colonel J. E. Weller, MC, MA .......... 1959 Colonel H. C. G. Cartwright-Taylor, BA, AMICE ... 1960 Lieut-Colonel I. D. S. Brown, MC, BA ...... 1960 Lieut-Colonel J. R. Cave-Browne, MC, BA ....... 1960 Major-General D. C. T. Swan, CB, CBE ... ... 1960 Major G. B. Duffy, MC ............ 1960 Lieut-Colonel R. H. Braybon, MBE, TD ... ... 1960 Ex-Officio Brigadier A. P. Lavies, CBE, MA ......... ... BGS, RE Colonel A. G. Peart, OBE, BA ......... ... AAG RE Brigadier E. F. Parker, OBE, BA ......... ... ComdSME Brigadier A. H. Dowson, CBE, ADC, BA, FRICS ... ... D Survey Colonel M. B. Adams, BA, AMICE, C ...... Col. (AQ) HQ, SME Brigadier H. W. Kitson, CBE, MA ......... Comd, Trg Bde, RE Brigadier A. G. P. Leahy, OBE, BA ......... Comd, Tn Centre RE Brigadier R. B. Muir, CBE, BSc, MICE, AMIMechE, AMIEE, AMIStruct. E, MBIM ... ... ... ... ... Brig. "E" (Q Services) Corresponding Members Lieut-Colonel P. H. G. Hamilton, BSc, ADSM, RNZE, New Zealand Military Forces ............... 12 November 1960 Colonel C. Linsell, OBE, MC, Union Defence Force, South Africa I February 1956 Brigadier A. T. J. Bell, OBE, Australian Military Forces 15 August 1960 Colonel D. W. Cunnington, GM, CD, Canadian Army ... 2 September 1958 Secretary and Editor RE Journal Brigadier J. H. S. Lacey, CBE, BA ............ ... 15 December 1958 Bankers Lloyds Bank, Ltd, Cox's and King's Branch, 6 Pall Mall, SWI 4,250 1.6.61 THE ROYAL ENGINEERS JOU RNAL Authors alone are responsiblefor the statements made and the opinions expressed in their papers VOL. LXXV CONTENTS JUNE, 1961 PAGE I. CORPS NOTES ( With Photograph) . 117 2. REOPENING OF THE RE MUSEUM, CIIATIIAM (With Photograph) . 120 3. JOINT PROFESSIONAL MEETING WITII THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS . 122 4. OUR FIRST LINE RESERVES. BY MAJOR B. C. PROUT-RICHARDSON, RE . 134 5. INTEGRATION OF TI1E ARMED FORCES. BY "MONTY MOUNT-HARRIS" . 137 6. GEMS, GERMS AND HOVERCRAFT. BY BRIGADIER D. W. REID, MBE . 140 7. TIE TIMBER INDUSTRY OF MALAYA. BY LIEUT-COLONEL D. F. DENSIIAM-BOOTII, MBE, RE, AIOB, ARSH (With Photographs) . 143 8. FUSION WELDING OF ALUMINIUM ALLOYS. BY MAJOR D. L. JONES, RE (Wiith Photo- graphs and Sketches) . 160 9. MOVING BY AIR. BY MAJOR T. C. VWHITE, RE . 179 o1. TOWARDS UNITED EUROPE-A PROBLEM OF MEASUREMENTS. BY MAJOR D. M. R. ESSON (RE RETD) . 184 I I. ARE TRAINING REGIMENTS DULL? BY 2ND LIEUTENANT N.J. ROBERTS, RE . 188 12. A CIVIL SERVANT'S DIARY, 1841-46. BY HENRY PARRIS . 190 13. THE QUEEN'S ENGINEERS . 200 14. CORRESPONDENCE . 210 MILITARY ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT IN SMALL WARS 15. MEMOIRS . 213 GENERAL SIR KENNETII N. CRAWFORD, KCB, MC, FRSA, CIIIEF ROYAL ENGINEER AND COLONEL COMMANDANT ROYAL ENGINEERS (IWith Photograph) BRIGADIER-GENERAL R. L. WrALLER, CMG MAJOR-GENERAL A. WV. SPROULL, CB, CBE, FCGI (With Photograph) BRIGADIER C.J. E. GREENWOOD, CBE, MC (WIith Photograph) COLONEL R. S. RAIT KERR, CBE, DSO, MC (WIith Photograph) CAPTAIN GEORGE DANN ( 11ith Photograph) 16. BOOK REVIEWS . 227 WrAR IN TIIE DESERT; AN RAF FRONTIER CAMPAIGN . M.C.A.H. HISTORY OF SECOND WORLD rWAR: CIVIL AFFAIRS AND NMILITARY GOVERN- MENT NORTHI-W EST EUROPE 1944-46 . S.V.K. FOUNDATION FAILURES . J.D.E. REINFORCED CONCRETE . .C. TIIE DESIGN OF CYLINDRICAL SHELL ROOFS . V.C. A GUIDE TO TIIE B.S. CODE OF PRACTICE FOR PRESTRESSED CONCRETE . W.C. 17. TECIINICAL NOTES . 232 ENGINEERING JOURNAL OF CANADA The Queen inspecting RE Corps Notes THE Queen has approved the appointment of General Sir Frank Simpson, GBE, KCB, DSO, as Chief Royal Engineer in place of General Sir Kenneth Crawford, KCB, MC, who died suddenly on 5 March 1961, whose memoir is published in this edition of the Journal. * * * * * Major-General Harkirat Singh has succeeded Major-General R. E. Aserappa as Engineer-in-Chief at Army Headquarters, New Delhi, India. * * * * * Lieut-Colonel P. H. G. Hamilton, RNZE, has succeeded Lieut-Colonel A. R. Currie, DSO, OBE, as Chief Engineer, New Zealand Military Forces. * * * * * To mark the 500th Anniversary of the grant of a Charter to the City, Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh visited Rochester on 30 March 1961. At a civil reception, Major-General T. H. F. Foulkes, OBE, the Engineer-in-Chief, representing the Corps as Freeman of the City, was presented to Her Majesty; the Corps of Royal Engineers received the Freedom of the City of Rochester on 22 May 1954. In the morning the Queen attended a Service in Rochester Cathedral and distributed the Royal Maundy after which she was entertained to luncheon by the City. In the afternoon Her Majesty, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, drove to the Castle Gardens where she inspected a Royal Engineer Guard of Honour commanded by Captain R. I. Foley, RE. The Corps Band was in attendance.