Updated: Sep 20, 2021

This post will look at the type of weapons that a Mounted Sapper would have been likely to have carried as the Great War progressed, both in relation to their role when mounted and also when in the dismounted role in the trenches.

The Boer war exposed the problem of Cavalry and mounted troops being equipped with a carbine. The reforms to the army required that all branches of the Army would be equipped with the SMLE and also there would be standards set for shooting and Marksmanship. (a good site to understand what was required is at Rob Enfield’s “British Muzzle Loaders” YouTube site – a link is posted below.)

Based on a RE Journal Article from 1913 about the RE Field Squadrons and Troops it states that Royal Engineers of the Field Troops were required to be equipped, trained and meet the horsemanship standards of Mounted Infantry. This is also stated in the 1911 and 1915 Cavalry Manual which states that when RE Field Troops dismount “for action” they are required to operate as dismounted Infantry.

Having looked at the 1908 manual for Yeomanry and Mounted Infantry, the Manual of Musketry and also the Field service manual it is possible to see how a RE Field Squadron and Field Troop would be armed and equipped.

From the Manuals, Cavalry and mounted troops would be equipped with the Short Magazine Lee Enfield, The Army Service manual shows that RE Field Squadrons and Troops would be issued with 50 rounds of .303 inch ammunition with a further 50 rounds per man carried by the unit Echelon (Shown by the cloth bandolier). To allow the carriage of the ammunition the Sapper would be issued with a 1903 pattern equipment 5 pouch leather bandolier, which held 2 charger clips of 5 rnds per pouch.

It should be noted that while the Manual of musketry makes a difference between the shooting standards, practices and standards required between Drivers of the RE Field Troop and the Sappers of the Troop this is not reflected in the Field Manual allocation of ammunition. (it is interesting to note that a Sapper of a Field Company would be issued with 120 rounds)

At the start of the Great War the soldiers of the Cavalry Division, while they were all armed with the SMLE, were not issued with the bayonet for the SMLE. With the experience of the actions that arose from the Retreat from Mons in Autumn 1914 it was seen that the Cavalry Division would have benefited from having a bayonet and this was issued to Mounted personnel and units of the Division in October and November 1914. These would be carried in a number of ways, either on a 1903 pattern belt or the bayonet frog would be added to the bottom of the bandolier. As most mounted units were not initially issued the 1903 pattern belt as a work round the bayonet frog was threaded onto the bottom of the bandolier.

The bayonet frog shown above is a 1903 pattern frog but due to initial supply shortages there are images of mounted troops with older patterns, such as Slade Wallace equipment.

One of the issues with this is that the bayonet is on the wrong side of the body for ease of fitting to the rifle, but the practice of hanging from the bandolier is a pragmatic solution for the time.

With issuing the 1903 equipment belt the bayonet can be moved to the correct side of the body and would make the ability to fit and replace the the bayonet easier.

As the war progressed the Sappers of the Field Squadrons spent significant amount of time working in the trenches and providing engineer support to the Dismounted Cavalry Division when they were in the trenches. The Cavalry recognised that their troops were not carrying enough ammunition when in the trenches and for many regiments they would issue additional 1903 pattern equipment pouches to supplement the 90 rounds that they would carry in the 9 pouch cavalry bandolier, bring them upto 140 rounds of .303 ammunition.

While my research of the war diaries of 1st Field Squadron in March 1916 show that the Sappers had a very trench focused shooting training programme, probably based on their experience from time in the trenches. While this suggests that the Mounted Sappers would have carried more ammunition than the 50 rounds, particularly when in the trenches I’ve not been able as yet to find any thing formal to state that was the case.

Also one of the main training activities that the mounted RE units were tasked with, even prior to the Great War, was to teach Cavalry personnel Hand Grenade/ Bomb throwing. As units spent more time in the trenches and as grenades developed this became even more important. The war diaries of all of the Mounted units show that they provided training to their respective divisions and brigades.

As the war progresses, it’s also seen that RE Troops started to do more grenade training for themselves, while this may be to allow training to other units but also to help their own personnel when they were in the trenches.

When I represent late war Mounted Sappers I add 2 Mk5 Mills Grenades to the kit. This matches what was occurring with other units. While a unit would have sections of dedicated bombers, these could be resupplied from within the unit by everyone in the wider unit carrying 2 grenades. Considering that the RE Sappers would be required to go forward to provide engineering support with the infantry/ dismounted cavalry it would not be unrealistic for a sapper to carry 2 grenades.

There is more research and digging to happen with this, particularly as I believe that the Mounted Sappers would have been carried more ammunition. while it is suggested/ alluded to in various parts of the war diaries it is more difficult to find a formal statement that the ammunition allocation was increased.

Notes – The Mk 5 Mills Grenades and the .303 ammunition are resin replicas from Trev’s Castings. A link to Trev’s site is provided below

References:

Link to Rob Enfields SMLE videos at his British Muzzle loaders site – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkOVIw4NSWVJ2RQjscT2wH6nXiqroXi_l

Trev’s Castings – https://www.trevscastingsandreplicas.com/

Manual of Yeomanry and Mounted Infantry 1908

Manual of Musketry

Cavalry Manual 1911 and 1915

RE Journal of 1906 and Jun 1913

21 Jul 21

According to the field service manual RE Sappers with the Field Sqns would have been issued with 50 rnds of .303 ammunition as normal, hence they would have worn the 5 pouch 1903 Bandolier. A further 50 rnd would be held by the unit in the Echelon.

This means that they would have been at a significant disadvantage compared to others in the Cavalry Div where they would have carried 90rnd in the Bandolier (9 pouch version) with a further Bandolier around the neck of the horse, some units went further with 50rnds on the belt.

The riding and training standard for RE Mounted personnel, particularly within the Cavalry Divisions was to meet and exceed that of a Mounted Infantryman as per the Yeomanry & Mounted Infantry Manual 1908. as such

When dismounted and not involved in Engineering the Sapper was expected to take their place next to their Cavalry bretheran to form a firing line and to operate in the dismounted infantry role, complete with the bayonet.

From late 1914 the sappers of the field Squadrons spend an extensive amount of time carrying out engineering tasks in the trenches, often longer that the Infantry and cavalry units that would rotate through,

1st Fld Sqn RE war diary shows the shooting training undertaken in Mar 1916 prior to the Somme and the Sqn undertook 3 days of shoot, 50 round practices with the emphasis on snap shoots and opportunity targets. Very much the type of shooting that would be found in the trenches.

To me this suggested that the Mounted Sappers through experience would have been carrying more that just the 50 rnds of .303 ammunition stated in the Field Service Manual. Also the shooting practices in field training suggests more was carried.

Now over the weekend when checking some info about the Pontoons carried by Field Companies, I reviewed this photo, nothing too drastic, pontoons on a pontoon wagon, 3 RE Drivers with a couple of sappers walking with the wagon

When you look closer at the front 2 drivers, you can see an ammo pouch at the shoulder away from the normal 5 pounces of the 1903 50rnd bandolier – both of these Mounted Sappers are wearing 9 pouch bandoliers, this image was taken in 1916.

The war diaries of all of the Field Sqns RE all mention taking part in infantry actions, through out the war – the 1914 Retreat, in the trenches and as part of the various Cavalry actions where the Sappers were supporting, Documents suggests that 90/100rds was more likely carried

The task now is to try and pin that down more firmly and to try and identify some more photos of Mounted sappers equipped to carrying more than just the 50rds stated in the Field Service Manual.

Posted originally on the 14th July 2021 on the @HorsebackSapper twitter feed

So 105 years ago today the 20th Deccan Horse and 7th Dragoon Guards crossed into No Mans Land to carry out a mounted attack onto High Wood. These units were supported by B Sqn Fort Garry Horse and the RE Field Troop of the Canadian Cavalry Bde.

The Sappers and Fort Garry Horse were with the Vanguard to help get the Cavalry across the British Trenches and to mark routes through the ground of No Mans Land, which was not totally churned up. There was still standing crops in front of the wood.

The point to remember that the cavalry were there to provide support and flank protection to 7th Infantry Division that was involved in the fight for Longueval. While they waited to be called forward the cavalry carried out mounted Recce of the flank areas.

The 91st Inf Bde was tasked to attack Highwould but was having difficulties and the Cavalry Vanguard was tasked to move forward to support the flank with an attack onto High Wood. This was about using mobile reserves to support and not the recreate the Charge at Waterloo.

The RE Field Troop had created cavalry crossings over the British Trenches and then moved forward with B Sqn FGH to mark routes, these would take the Deccan and the 7DG into the dead ground in front of the wood.

The Vanguard was engaged by MG fire from Longueval but only took a few casualties but pushed forward to clear German positions on the East side of the wood where they dismounted and formed a defensive line using shell holes and the standing corn crop as cover.

A Sqn of the Deccan Horse was then tasked with a mounted flanking attack supporting the 7th Inf Div’s attack on Longueval. As the evening wore on, the 7th DG and 20th Deccan stabilised the defensive line on the High Wood/Longueval road.

B Sqn FGH and the Sappers provided the link and support between the 2 cavalry units, holding a section of the line and also moving casualties and prisoners back to British lines. For all of the units their horses were held in the Dead Ground area while the units were dismounted.

The whole of the Cavalry Vanguard was relieved in place by infantry at 0330hrs on the morning of the 15th July. The attack showed a combined arms approach – Cavalry mobility supporting infantry, Sappers supporting Cav mobility, RFC providing info to the Cav on the ground.

In addition to the RE Field Troop going forward, the 1st Field Sqn RE was in the Cavalry Holding Area South of Montauban providing Water Supply and watering points to the remainder of the Cavalry.

5 years ago today I was fortunate to take part in a Horse Ride in full kit that followed the route taken by the Cavalry Vanguard starting at Chipilly and finishing with a wreath laying at High Wood. There were 14 riders from the UK and Australia, 4 of us were serving soldiers.

The Artist Graham Turner was one of the riders and he was kitted out as a 7DG trooper so that he could get an understanding of the Kit and equipment for his painting.

Crossing no mans land, into the dead ground in front of the wood and then to head to the east side gave a better understanding of the ground and also how you could get horses and men forward to take an objective. An incredible experience and one that I’ll never forget.

26 Jun 21

Recently I was looking for an old damaged military saddle to use to help repair and refurbish a saddle project that I have had on the bench for a while.

Having spotted a saddle for sale that looked in poor order but with some of the leather parts looked recoverable. Having chatted to the seller, he described it as a bare bones saddles that was missing the padding while the photos suggesting that it was a Universal Pattern Saddle.

Having collected the saddle the first look was that it was a very dirty 1903 UP saddle, with the leather rather dry, and the felt pads being in need of a really good clean .

However once the felts were off the saddle arches looked a bit different, a quite check of a couple of reference books and it became apparent that this wasn’t an 1902 Saddle but possibly an 1890.

A bit more research and it was indeed a 1890 UP Saddle, and while very dirty and dry the leather of the saddle wasn’t in bad condition. Another chat with the Seller to ask where the saddle came from or if he had any information on the background of the saddle. The saddle was from a farm sale and was part of a job lot of old saddles from a barn.

Having confirm that my saddle find is a 1890 UP saddle it has been a case to look to see what condition it is in. An initial brush down to get the first layer of dirt off, and then look at getting the seat leather off.

The laces holding it on at the front and rear are all shot and fell apart as I worked them through. the stitching on the seat is mostly good so a few careful stitches will fix that. all of the leather will need a good clean and nourishment but overall isn’t bad condition.

The seat took some gentle easing to get off the arches but came off with no issues and intact. The flaps were next, these are held on with flat slot head screws and which were a complete bugger to undo. but with them off they are ready to be cleaned.

Inspecting the webbing that supports the seat it was no surprise to see that it was really grotty and worn through, so that will be a complete replacement job.

Now being able to have a better look at the steel arches it was a case to look for any damage or cracking and both look good and solid. some light surface rust but that can be cleaned up quite easily.

I also placed the Saddle tree (arches and boards) on a flat surface to check to see if there was a twist and to see if there were movement between the arches and the boards. Luckily the saddle is solid and true so it will be fine to ridden once the leather and webbing is sorted.

Having cleaned some of the grime from the Fans (wooden boards) there is the makers mark of Mason & Sons Ltd of Brum and a year mark of 1903. Which is a very nice find as it gives a reference date for the saddle.

The Y Girth straps do look like they have been replaced at some point, which isn’t unusual. the buckle end looks original but the rest looks like a replacement. These both need a bit of repair work but I know good saddler that could easily do that for me.

So overall what was meant to be a scrap saddle for parts looks like a saddle that can be brought back into riding condition without changing it too much or losing it’s character. so over the next few weeks will have a case of some good scrubbing and work with the leather dressing

15 May 21

This is a post that I wrote on my Facebook Group after a rather heated discussion with a person from another Living History Group. The point of discussion was my plan for the Last Hurrah Ride in 2018 was to ride different days kitted out as a Sapper from the principle nation involved in the battle of that day. So that could be a Canadian, Australian or British Engineer, the point being “argued” was that that wasn’t appropriate as I was British.

so here is what I posted:

Part 1 – 22 Dec 2016

A few months ago I was part of a conversation that was discussing about the fact that several of us would be badged up as Canadian Forces for the entry into Mons in Aug 2018. Now the conversation went along the lines that as we were British we shouldn’t dress up as Canadians.

Now I wanted to point out a couple points at the time but being a bit of a pedantic git I thought that I would do a bit of research to justify my line of logic. So this is the first part:

Prior to the Great War the Canadian Forces were split into 2 parts, the Permanent Force of 3000 men and the Militia of 75,000. the militia was set up across Canada to provide defence. When war broke out Canada’s forces were not set up to deploy to overseas as a standing force so volunteers were needed.

In August 1914 the Governor General authorised the raising of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). There was a rush of volunteers, probably helped by high national unemployment and by Oct 14 a force of 36,267 deployed to Europe. While all were Canadian Citizens, their origins by place of birth was made up as follows

Canadians 30% English 42% Scottish 15% Irish 6% Welsh 1% United States of America 0.4% Not Stated 5.6%

The CEF had developed into the Canadian Corps by Aug 16, with 4 Divisions in the Field and a further Division in training in England. By the end of the War Canada had provided 424,589 personnel for overseas service. The breakdown of those troops was:

Canadians 47% Newfoundlanders 0.5% English 30% Scots 9.3% Irish 3.4% Welsh 0.9% Other British 1.1% (people from other areas of the empire such as Bermuda) USA 4.7% Other 2.9%

So from this info, there was a lot of Brits in Canadian Uniform, all wearing the Maple Leaf in some form. Canada was an important part of the Empire and its efforts in the great war secured it’s place at the forefront of the empire. So based on the figures above I’m comfortable with representing the Canadians as we ride into Mons.

Part 2 – Canadian Engineers.

As I have posted before there is a relationship between the Royal Engineers, Royal Canadian Engineers and the Canadian Engineers.

As mentioned before the Canadian Army prior to the great war was comprised of 2 elements the Permanent Force was the regular troops and the Militia Force which was similar to the Territorial Force in Britain. The Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) was the Sapper element of the Permanent Force while the Canadian Engineers was Sapper force in the Militia.

The following information comes from the Annual Review of the Canadian Permanent Force for 31 Mar 1914. At this time the Permanent Force was 3000 men strong of which there was 297 that Royal Canadian Engineers, this was made up as follows:

Officers 26 Warrant Officers 10 NCOs & men 261

of this group there was 4 officers on attachment to the Royal Engineers, 1 Major and 3 Lieutenants

In addition to the 26 Officers on the force, there was a number of officers under training, some in Canada but 9 RCE Lieutenants were attending training at the School of Military Engineering (SME) at Chatham England.

The Canadian Permanent Force also had a number of British Army personnel on load, 7 Officers and 13 NCOs, of these 2 were Royal Engineers Officers and several of the NCOs were Sappers from the Topographic Section involved in the Mapping vast areas of Canada.

The British Royal Engineers were attached to the Staff of various Headquarters and as such were granted temporary commissions in the Canadian Militia for the tenure of their attachment. So what we have is :

• Lieutenant WG Tyrrell RE, Brevet Captain in the Canadian Militia was the Commander Royal Canadian Engineers for 4th Division Canadian Permanent Force until September 1913.
• Major W Robertson RE, Temporary Commission in the Canadian Militia was the General Staff Officer Grade 2 ,of 5 Division Canadian Permanent Force Until Oct 1913.

What we have here is the fact that we have cross over, exchanges and attachments between the Royal Engineers, Royal Canadian Engineers and the Canadian Engineers.

When the CEF mobilised all 3 groups were deployed but as the CEF and Canadian Corps grew the Canadian Engineers was the pro-dominant Badge used for Canadian Sappers.

Just as a final example of the cross over between Sapper units and forces:

• The British unit of 7 Field Company Royal Engineers was commanded by a Canadian Engineer, badged at the time as a Royal Engineer, in early 1918 through to the end of the war by an officer called Major McGill RE – no relation to the best of my knowledge. (Information taken from the diary of Lieutenant Glubb RE – later to be known as Glubb Pasha for his work with the Jordanian Army post WW2)

So we can see there is a good history of cross over between all the Sapper forces of Britain and Canada. To that end I am very content that I can wear the Cap Badge of the Canadian Engineers of 1918 and pay tribute to the Sappers that helped liberate the city of Mons and I’ll be more than happy to lay a wreath on behalf of my Canadian Sapper mates that I have served alongside in Iraq and Afghanistan – CHIMO