Corps History - Part 13
The Corps and Army Reforms (1902-1913)

Army Reforms 1902-12

Although the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) eventually ended in victory for the British Army it was much chastened by the experience. This led to a series of reforms, during the first decade of the twentieth century, that were to adversely affect the Corps.

The recommendations of Esher Committee led, in 1904, to the removal of the Commander-in-Chief and the creation of a General Staff and the Army Council. The consequences of these reforms on the Corps was that the post of Inspector General of Fortifications (IGF) was abolished, and replaced by the post of Director of Fortifications and Work,s at a much lower level in the new Army hierarchy, and that the appointment holder no longer had the direct access to the top that his predecessors had enjoyed.

This set back was partly redressed by the Haldane reforms, mainly because in 1908 the engineer Lieutenant General (later Lord) Sir William Nicholson (1845-1918) was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He was in effect the 'right-hand man' of the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burton Haldane (1856-1928) during the reorganisation of the General Staff and the formation of the Field Army in 1908-10.

Royal Colonel-in-Chief

The first Colonel-in-Chief of the Corps was HRH The Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904), the grandson of George III, who as Commander-in-Chief of the Britsh Army from 1856 to 1895 took the role in 1861 and held it until his death in 1904.

On 1 May 1904 Edward VII (1901-1910) honoured the Corps by assuming the appointment of its Colonel-in-Chief, the first monarch to do so. This honour has since been bestowed on the Corps by each successive reigning monarch.

George V (1910-36) - 31 May 1910

Edward VIII (1936) - 18 February 1932

George VI (1936-52) - 18 December 1936

Elizabeth II (1952 )

Corps developments - 1902-14

In the twelve years between the end of the Anglo-Boer War (1902) and the start of the First World War (1914) further developments took place within the Corps.

Ballons to Royal Flying Corps - 1905-12

In 1905 the Balloon Factory moved from Aldershot (located there since 1892 - see Part 8 for early history of aeronautics in the Royal Engineers) to Farnborough and in 1909 it was put under civilian control. In 1912 the Balloon Factory was redesignated the Royal Aircraft Factory.

Colonel (later Major General Sir) John Capper, Sam Cody and Captain WA de C King made a demonstration flight from Farnborough round St Paul's Cathedral, London, in the army airship Nulli Secundus in 1907.

In 1910 Lieutenant Rex Cammel, Royal Engineers made the first official fixed-winged flight for the British Army in a Blériot XII. A year later (1911) the first military use of ground-to-air wireless was made between an Airship and a Royal Engineers Signal unit.

Balloon School was reorganised as the Air Battalion, Royal Engineers with two companies - No 1 Company (Airships, Balloons and Kites). No. 2 Company (Aircraft) in 1911. The following year (May 1912) they became 1 and 3 Squadrons in the newly formed Royal Flying Corps (RFC), a corps created from the Royal Engineers and elements of the Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS).

On 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps was reformed as the Royal Air Force (RAF).

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Royal Engineers (Signal Service) or the Army Signals Service

On the Evelyn Wood Committee's recommendation the Royal Engineers Telegraph units and the Signal Service, were amalgamated to form the Army Signal Service (or Royal Engineers Signals Service) wearing a Royal Engineer cap badge.

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Mechanical Transport - 1902-14

As a result of the development of the internal combustion engine and the experience of the use of steam traction engines during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) (see Part 9), the Army began to mechanise its units.

In 1902 engineer officers advised a War Office Committee on the steps to be taken to mechanise the army, in the same year the same committee recommended that mechanical transport (MT) element of the Royal Engineers become the responsibility of the Army Service Corps (ASC). The Army Service Corps subsequently formed their first MT Companies in 1903-04, but their training was continued by Royal Engineer instructors.

Trials were conducted in 1901, 1903 and 1909 to ascertain which of the vehicles available would be the most suitable for military purposes. None were found, and on the best civilian technical advice, the army decided that petrol was too inflammable for use in war and, therefore, no further progress was made. However, in 1912 the the construction department of the London General Omnibus Company (managed by Major Dumble, a former adjutant of the London Electrical Engineers) evolved a motor vehicle chassis which was not only suitable for London passenger transport, but also proved very useful for military purposes.

In the two years that followed the London General Omnibus Company chassis breakthrough the army rapidly mechanised itself so that at the beginning of the First World War (1914-18), the 2nd-line transport of the army was entirely based on mechanical transport, mainly petrol lorries, with a few workshops still drawn by steam tractors. The mechanical transport of the Royal Engineers consisted of a few petrol-electric searchlight lorries and still fewer light trucks with the signal units.

In 1910 Captain EG Wace, Royal Engineers, formed a reserve of civilian despatch riders, each rider was responsible for providing their own motorcycles.

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Rank of Pioneer - 1912

Until 1912 the Corps only enlisted skilled tradesmen (artisans) and they were paid 'Engineer Pay' at varying rates according to their skill. In 1912 there was a shortage of skilled tradesmen and permission was given to fill the vacancies with non-tradesmen, who were classified as Pioneers and drew a lower rate of pay. The rank of Pioneer continued throughout the First World War (1914-18).

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Royal Engineers (Postal Section) or the Army Postal Services - 1913

The importance of an efficient military postal service cannot be underestimated in terms of maintaining high levels of morale among troops serving in the field.

In 1908, on paper, the Royal Engineers were responsible for the postal services to the Army, but it was not until 1913 that a Special Reserve Royal Engineers (Postal Section) was formed from the Army Post Office Corps (first raised in 1882 - see Part 11). The organisation was referred to as the Army Postal Service (APS), and its first Director was Lieutenant Colonel W Price CMG, Royal Engineers. The organisation was recruited almost exclusively from the General Post Office (GPO) servants.

The Royal Engineers (Postal Section) became part of the Corps because of the Corps' association with the General Post Office (GPO) through its telegraph activities that began in 1870.

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Railways - 1905

In 1905 the Railway Training Centre was established at Longmoor, Hampshire and became the home for:

• 8th Railway Company - moved from Chatham.
• 10th Railway Company - moved from Woolwich
• 53rd Railway Company - formed during the Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902)

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Submarine Mining - 1905

Coastal defence in the form of Submarine Mining, the defence of harbours using underwater mines, guided underwater missiles (Brennan Torpedo, introduced in 1887 - see Part 8) and searchlights was, with the exception of the responsibility for the latter, given over to the Royal Navy in 1905.

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Corps' equipment - 1902-14

Royal Engineers Committee

The first Royal Engineers Committee was set up in 1862 to investigate the standardisation of pontoon bridging equipment, thereafter the Committee was reconvened and developed to investigate equipment requirements for the Corps.

Developed in Bangalore, India, the original design was not intended for warfare, but to clear pre-existing barbed-wire obstacles left over from the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) and Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). It consisted of lengths of metal tubing filled with explosive, it was pushed through barbed-wire entanglements and detonated. The explosion to cut the wire. It was used to very good effect in both the First and Second World Wars and is still in service today.

History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol IV. Baker Brown W (Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1952)

A Short History. The Royal Engineers. Compiled by Maj DP Aston RE (Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1993)

Follow the Sapper. Napier G (Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 2005)

Royal Engineers Corps Memoranda (CD-ROM version, Chatham, 2003)

Links to further reading:

Biography - Field Marshal Lord Nicholson (1845-1918)

Biography - Field Marshal Lord Kitchener (1850-1916)

Specialist Engineering - Royal Engineers and Aeronautics

Specialist Engineering - Royal Engineers Transportation Service