The Horseback Sapper
ABOUT
Having developed an interest in history in general while in primary school – Thanks Mrs Black! – I found that I developed an interest in digging into the bits of history that School either avoided or skimmed over.
This started with getting a better understanding about the Jacobite Rebellions, which was very much skimmed over while I was in school, often with such generalisation that helped to either create or sustain many myths and untruths about the period. While digging into this bit of history I kept coming across a character called “Montrose” and his activities a 100 years before Culloden.
This made me discover the English Civil War period and I suddenly found that there was a whole aspect and battles that involved the Scots and in particular the activities of the Marquis of Montrose and his Highlanders and Irish troops.
As with many people who start looking into a period of history you suddenly get bitten with the bug and one period throws links into another period. The Jacobites through me into the ECW and the wars of the Covenant and then also into the French Indian Wars in America, this then led me into the Colonial Period. From here I found the Boer War and the lessons learned from it and Army reforms lead into the Great War Period.
At the time, 2005, I was posted out the Cyprus for 2 years unaccompanied and looked for an activity to fill my time between trips home. Here I decided to take some horse riding lessons, having never ridden before but the idea was that a few lessons would allow me to handle the horses at home better. At the end of the 2 years out there I had become the Chairman of the Saddle Club and had competed in Dressage and Show Jumping, much to the surprise of many of my friends.
Over the next few years I continued riding and competing back in the UK until in 2014 the opportunity arose to take part in an riding event called The Warhorse Ride 2014. This was a 100 mile ride over 5 days to follow the route of the British Cavalry Division’s Re-guard action against the German Army in August 1914 in France. The Ride was to have representatives from each unit in the Cavalry Division of 1914 and I was fortunate to be selected to represent the Sappers. The ride was undertaken wearing the appropriate Uniform of the period and on the same types of saddles.
While the ride mainly had service personnel keen to represent their unit but there was a few riders that were service personnel that were also involved in living history.
For the Warhorse 14 Ride I had decided to do research into the Royal Engineers of the period and in particular the Sapper units that were part of the Cavalry Division. This created the whole interest in the often ignored area of the Mounted Units of the Royal Engineers, their roles, equipment and their actions.
In 2016 I decided that I wanted to do another long distance ride and the opportunity arose to take part in a Battlefield Ride on the Somme to commemorate the only cavalry action of the 1916 Somme Offensive. I put my name forward for the event and was told that the rules for the ride would be that I would have to get myself kitted out in period uniform and equipment and so started my journey into Great War and horse related Living History. I researched the events and found that Mounted Sappers had been involved in the action and as such I put together a 1916 impression of a Mounted Royal Engineer Officer.
Since that point I have continued my research and involvement in Living History, particularly in the Great War period. While I focus on Mounted Royal Engineers I also look at units that have a family connection or are linked locally to where I live.
While I take part in Living History Events I also provide the following:
- Show & Tell talks for Battlefield Studies on kit and equipment.
- Talks and displays for events:
- Saddle, tack and equipment displays for horse related events.
- Talks on the Royal Engineers Forestry Companys, Canadian Forestry Corps and the Womens Forestry Corps of the Great War.
- Engineer logistics and works in the forward areas.
- Sapper defensive works.
- Research information on RE Mounted Units.
- The roles of the Remount units and the true warhorse story.
- Show & tells for the kit, equipment and tactics of the Great War.
- Link in with other Living History groups either as part of their display or to provide Sapper support to them.
GET IN TOUCH
I regularly post on twitter, feel free to have a look at what I’m currently upto, you can find me @HorsebackSapper or use the link on the icon below.