Category Archives: History
Signals Equipment and the UP Saddle
During the Great War, signals was an element of Royal Engineers with some parts devolved or shared out to different cap badges including the Cavalry. Now signals are not a particular interest of mine but they do have some very … Continue reading
The Men of Hartshorne – Part 2
Over the last 9 months I’ve been working on a more concentrated effort to track down the graves or memorials of the individuals that died in the Great War that are named on the village war memorial. As stated in … Continue reading
Meeting the need for water in the 1917 Desert Campaign
I’ve always been interested in the Campaigns in the Middle East, probably due to films such as “Gallipoli” and “The Light Horsemen”. When I started to really dig into the RE Mounted History an area that does offer a lot … Continue reading
The Royal Engineer that improved Water Supply in the Middle East
In the Great War the biggest challenge facing operations in the Palestine Theatre of operations was to try and to provide water to the troops and 1916 saw the troops of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force push out into the Sinai … Continue reading
Some of the Men of Hartshorne on the Somme.
Having been told to take things at a slightly steadier pace, I decided to do some more research for a few more of the men that are named on the Hartshorne War Memorial. While I accept I’m not born in … Continue reading
The Curious Case of a Royal Engineers Riding Crop
So a couple of months ago I was contacted by a good mate, Andy Smerdon, he was having a clear out of some of his old kit as he had down sized and as he is now living on a … Continue reading
Correcting the Corps History- 3 Ton Lorry in Field Squadrons
Chapter 16’s author makes the assertion that the RE Field Squadrons would have been more mobile and effective if they had been completely mechanised and mounted in 3 ton Motor Lorries. I’m not convinced by this so I thought that … Continue reading
Correcting the Corps History – The 1 in 4 Horse Holding Myth
The next point that I need to address from Chapter 16 of the Corps History is that the Author attributes the lack of available manpower available for tasking is the fact that the majority of the Squadron’s personnel were occupied … Continue reading
Correcting the Corps History – RE Field Sqn Manning
This will be the first of a number of blog posts over time that will look to correct some of the incorrect details and negative views put forward in The Royal Engineers History, Volume 51. So what’s my problem with … Continue reading
The First RE Casualties of the Great War
Firstly I must give an apology for the lack of posts. however I have not been idle, there has been a lot of digging into archives and war diaries and planning for the coming spring and summer while I am … Continue reading