As part of my continued research into the capabilities and activities of the Mounted Squadrons of the Royal Engineers is that there was officially no Pontoon Bridging equipment allocated to any of the Cavalry Divisions.
The aim was that is a crossing or a ford was not available then the Division would cross by the following methods.
The Horses and riders would swim (the saddles and tack would be removed and moved over on boats or rafts)
Limbered wagons would move over on light rafts that each Cavalry Regiment could construct themselves.
Heavier wagons and Guns would be crossed using a Flying Bridge constructed by the RE Field Squadron. This was constructed using a raft made from 2 of the Squadrons Collapsible boats, anchored on a line mid stream and this would then swing from bank to bank ferrying the Division’s heavy transport.
However…….
As I keep delving into the War Diaries of the Squadrons I do keep coming across references to the Squadrons training on Bridges and trailling new bridging equipment. There is a possibility that the Collapsible boats may have been used to construct a light weight pontoon bridge. It’s something to keep looking into.
A few weeks ago when the weather wasn’t great I decided to do a check of the Saddles and Tack and decided to do put together what would have the set up of the saddle for a Great War Royal Engineer serving in the Field Squadrons or Field Troops.
The first part was to get the basic Universal Pattern Saddle set up with the felts and then
The next stage is to add the Wallets. When riding on a UP Saddle it is important for modern riders to realise that these saddles don’t have knee rolls so it can be a little different for the modern rider to get used to. For my style of riding the Military saddles work well.
The wallets are trooper wallets and secured to the front of the saddle with Y straps which have 2 buckles. one buckles secures the wallets to the saddle and the other is to then hold the Waterproof Cape. The cape is held by the two outside straps so that it is easy to remove the cape when riding and to wear when the rain starts.
The next item to be added is the Rifle bucket for the SMLE Rifle.
The rifle bucket is secured with a strap round the rear arch of the saddle and a leather loop lower down the bucket to steady it by threading it through the surcingle strap.
The next item to be added is the RE Tool Bucket, which goes on the opposite side of the saddle and secured in a similar way as the Rifle Bucket.
The next item to be added is the Shoe Case, this would hold 2 horse shoes and nails, the shoes would be one for the front and one for the back. It’s worth noting that this type of shoe case would have been issued to non Cavalry units as there is no loop and strap for retaining the sword.
Moving to the other side of the saddle and we add the SMLE Rifle and the Round object is a set of cavalry mess tins with a canvas cover. WW1 mess tins are bare metal where as my ones are actually a WW2 set and are Japanned on the outside, so a cover has been added. Covers were not uncommon, but are more often seen on Officers Mess tin sets.
The last item to be added is that of a rolled Greatcoat on the back of the saddle across the fans/ boards and under the cantel of the saddle. The greatcoat is head in place with 3 leather straps through loops on the rear arch of the saddle. It’s one of the things which I’ve got to get better at is rolling and securing the greatcoat so that it looks neater on the saddle, there is a technique to it and I’ve just got to get a bit more practice at it.
So there you have it a UP Saddle kitted out for a Sapper of a Royal Engineers Field Squadron during the Great War.
One of the things that I’m researching a the moment is how the rear area horse lines were managed and by how many soldiers.
The issue comes from an article that stated that the RE Field Troops and Squadrons where completely ineffective as they were hampered by having to look after their horses and as such could only release a fraction of their strength for Engineering tasks.
The basis for this argument is the 1 in 4 rule, which was for when mounted troop dismounted to work or fight then 1 man in each 4 must stay with the horses.
Now this is correct as that is the ratio for horse holders and also it is the manageable number of horses that a man can manage when riding.
The issue is that the author of the article has applied the same logic to when the horses are in horse lines, on a picket line or in a fixed encampment. Where you have these types of locations the horse lines can be managed very easily by just a few men from each troop and the bulk of the unit would then be available for other works.
The other issue that the article has is very bias against the Cavalry and regularly compares a Cavalry Division against an Infantry Division in out put terms while they are very different, particularly in Manpower and especially in Sapper resources. this is simply a case of comparing apples to oranges.
Its also interesting that the author has taken a snapshot of figures from what appears to be late 1914 and used these as the figures for the whole war, which is particularly naughty as the RE Field Squadrons at this point in time were in a significant state of flux with manpower as they used the existing 5 troops and the Sqn HQ to create 2 under strength Squadrons.
So it’s something that has got my dander up and I’m now digging into books and manuals. Nowt like getting a wee bit narked to get you researching!
Well today I laid the wreath for the British Legion at the Village War Memorial.
with COVID and all the lockdown milarky it was a short service with just the Vicar, a church representative, a Parish Counciller, a rep from the Scouts and Myself. we each laid a wreath and had a very short service including the Kohima Epitaph. All live streamed on the church’s facebook page.
Once the service was complete I went and had a look at the 2 military graves in the Church Yard – Sapper Fred Brazier, who died in March 1919, and Sgt Webster (North Staffordshire Regiment) who died in February 1921. The headstones both need a wee bit of a clean, so a task for in a few weeks time.
A few posts ago I mentioned that I was trying to research into a small issue (slight bit of Scottish understatement there) that I had with the the Royal Engineers official history where it relates to the activities of the RE Mounted Units.
Its been an interesting take on things and it has been worth digging in to the whole activities and the item in the official history, while given as a statement for the whole war may actually relate to an actual snapshot in time.
As with all of these types of things, it leads you further and further in the research.
So are we making headway? Yes we are but it does lead to more questions. which is why I enjoy doing this type of thing, it is also a good diversion from my work and allows me to focus on other things.
There will be more to come on this as things progress…….
