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| Page revised: Tue 11-Mar-2008 |
The Corps and the late Victorian wars (1882-1902) |
General Sir Garnet Wolseley was appointed commander of the expeditionary force. The Engineer units allocated to accompany the force were:
The engineer Major General (later Sir) Gerald Graham (1831-1899) VC commanded 2nd Brigade. The Indian engineers were: A and I Companies Madras Sappers and Miners. |
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 Major General Gerald Graham VC Commander 2nd Brigade Wolseley wrote of him "2nd Brigade could not have been in better hands. To that coolness and gallantry in action for which he has always been well known, he adds the power of leading and commanding others." |
On his arrival at Alexandria on 15 August 1882 Wolseley immediately took steps to out flank Arabi's forces by moving his own to Port Said and thence through the Suez Canal to Ismailia, where they disembarked on 20 August. Graham's brigade was pushed forward to Kassassin Lock, which he reached on 26 August. Two days later, in the first action of the campaign, his brigade was attacked in force, but the Egyptians were successfully beaten off. Another unsuccessful attack was made before the rest of the army arrived at Kassassin, the chosen assembly point for their march to Tel-el-Kebir. On 10 September the A or Pontoon Troop set out for Kassassin. They decided that because they were working beside the Sweet Water canals to tow their bridging pontoons in small boats "made out of tarpaulin wagon covers stretched on a light framework" rather than drag them over land. |
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At Tel-el-Kebir the Egyptian army had prepared defences which consisted of a number of deep ditches and embankments, constructed out of the desert sand. The desert around Tel-el-Kebir was extremely flat, so any approach by the British would easily be spotted. To overcome this obstacle the British decided to march across the desert by night and so under the cover of darkness, and with an element of surprise were able to successfully attack the Egyptian positions at dawn. The engineer operations in connection with this advance involved: |
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Once Tel-el-Kebir was in British hands, a number of infantry and cavalry divisions moved off to secure other positions. These included a triumphant march on Cairo on 14 September. Arabi Pasha and his associates were taken prisoner, court-martialled and exiled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka); Khedive Tawfiq was restored to power.The war was effectively over. | ||
Suakin Expedition - 1884 At the same time an expedition under the command of the engineer Major General (later Sir) Gerald Graham (1831-1899) VC was sent to the Red Sea port of Suakin (Souakim) to relieve the Egyptian garrison besieged at Tokar by Osman Digma, one of the Mahdist commanders. The force was also tasked to crush the tribes assembled in the vicinity of Suakin. The engineer support for this operation was 26th Field Company (Major Todd). An advance party landed at Trinkitat on 19 February 1884 with a section of 26th Field Company working alongside the Royal Navy. The engineers were employed in constructing piers to disembark troops and stores, and arranging for the water supply. The main force was landed by 27 February. After the necessary preparations had been made the force advanced on Fort Baker and took it without any opposition on 28 February 1884. The following day with his base secure Graham led his column from Fort Baker to relieve Tokar. En route they attacked the enemy at El Teb, and in the square formation that was adopted during the action, fifty men of the 26th Field Company were placed in the immediate rear of the Gordon Highlanders who were in the front face. Their loss was one killed and four wounded. The enemy were defeated and shortly after Tokar was relieved. The force returned to Trinkitat on 5 March.  Suakin c1890s For the rest of the month marches were made on Tamai and Tamanieb, during which the primary work of the engineers was to construct zeribas (thorn hedges erected in front of perimeters) as well as to find and to provide storage and distribution of water. A battle was fought at Tamai which brought defeat upon the enemy and the region was pacified. Meanwhile the Mahdis' forces closed in on Khartoum, where Gordon was based, and on 14 March 1884 they began their investment of the city . In June, 17th Field Company (Major Peck RE), stationed in England, was ordered to Suakin. Shortly afterwards, Major (later Lieutenant General Sir) HC Chermside, Royal Engineers was appointed Governor of Suakin. |
Relief of Gordon - Nile Expedition - 1884-1885 | The British Government was reluctant to send a force to relieve Gordon, not wanting to get involved in the troubled affairs of the Sudanese, they finally gave in to increasing pressure and in August appointed General Sir Garnet Wolseley to command a relief expedition. The engineer support was provided by:
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 26th Field Company embarking on their journey up the Nile 1884 (Print: Melton Prior) |
Wolseley calling on his experience of the Red River expedition (1870) decided to move his force directly up the Nile in whale boats. Eight hundred whalers, designed to carry 12 men with rations for 100 days were ordered from ship builders in England. In Canada a few hundred Canadian 'voyageurs', noted for their boatmanship, were recruited specially for the expedition to help navigate and handle the boats up the Nile. The handling of the logistics for this operation was carried out by the engineer Major General (later Sir) Wilbraham Lennox, VC (1830-97). The forces landed in Egypt in October and by 1 November began their journey sailing and rowing up the Nile from Saras to Korti. Throughout the boat trip the engineers were occupied repairing the frequently damaged boats and establishing forward depots for that purpose. |
| At Korti, due to delays incurred in mounting the expedition and the difficulties encountered on the way up the Nile, Wolseley decided to send a Flying Column under command of Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Stuart (1843-1885) overland to Khartoum. On 16 January 1885, the column found the enemy in force near the wells of Abu Klea. The column was attacked but they managed to successfully repulse the Mahdist force. The column finally reached Khartoum on 28 January 1885, 2 days after Gordon had been killed and the town had fallen. |
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Whilst constructing a fort at El Goubat, Lieutenant Lawson, Royal
Engineers recorded:
"February 1st. Stuart Wortley arrived in a rowing boat at 3 a.m., bringing all the bad news : fall of Khartoum, death of Gordon, loss of two steamers, the news of Sir C. Wilson, the Sussex detachment with him and the Egyptian soldiers being on an island thirty miles up stream. . ." And again: "Feb. 11th. Fort practically complete. Convoy under Major-General Sir Redvers Buller, accompanied by 500 of the Royal Irish Regiment, arrived at 1 p.m. Major Kitchener, R.E., came as Intelligence Officer, and Lieut. Burton R.E. in charge of 300 camels." In the meantime, the 8th Railway Company and Telegraph Section were engaged in laying railway track and telegraph lines in the wake of the army's progess up the Nile. Wolseley's expedition was called off in June 1885 and by the end of August the British troops had been withdrawn from the Nile. |
Suakin Expedition - 1885 In England, on hearing the news of the fall of Khartoum, there were calls for revenge against the Madhi and his followers. To this end and to better support troops operating in Sudan it was decided that a railway be laid from Suakin to Berber to link up with Wolseley's line. The engineer Lieutenant General Sir Gerald Graham VC was appointed to command the troops necessary to protect its construction. |
| The engineer unit nominated for the railway construction and operation tasks was 10th Railway Company (Major Rathborne). They were joined by thirty-nine Volunteers drawn from the 1st Newcastle and Durham Engineers and 1st Lancaster Engineers. An Indian Coolie Corps (Captain Cather) of 100 artificers and 400 labourers was brought from India to assist in the construction. The narrow track railway was supplied with all its plant and necessary workmen by Messrs. Lucas and Aird. 19 miles of track was laid inland before the British Government decided to abandon the railway and withdraw the troops. |  Railway terminus at Suakin 1885 constructed by the Royal Engineers |
The other engineer units engaged in the expedition were: British engineers:
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| These units were in engaged in constructing zeribas (thorn hedges
erected in front of perimeters), in forming defensive posts at Suakin,
Hasheen, Handoub, Otao and Tambouk. They were also detailed to clear
dense bush, to prepare the ground for the railway, and to develop
a water supply.
During a surprise attack on British troops at El Tofrek (22 March 1885) the 24th Field Company suffered fourteen NCOs and Sappers killed. In the same attack the Madras Sappers and Miners lost two of their officers. |
The Engineers with the force included Lieutenant Colonel A G Durnford as Commanding Royal Engineer, 7th Field Company (Captain Bagot), a Balloon Section (Major Elsdale), a mounted Section of the Telegraph Battalion (Lieutenants Anstruther and Heath) and a locally recruited Pioneer Regiment (Captain JCL Campbell). The force pushed forward from Cape Town by train to the terminus at Langford, then moved by foot 314 miles to Mafeking. Forts or redoubts were built along the road at Barkly, Taungs, Brussels, Vryburgh, Groot Choing and Sitlagoli, each were suitably garrisoned. Three balloons of the Balloon Section were used and on one occasion, Sir Charles Warren made a balloon ascent to get the lay of the land. It was found that because of the altitude, that the lifting power was much diminished and it became necessary to select lightweight men as observers. |
 Major General Sir Charles Warren Commander Bechuanaland Expedition He was chosen because whilst he was conducting surveys in South Africa during the 1870s he had shown great aptitude for dealing with African tribes. |
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A telegraph line was laid as rapidly as the troops marched and indeed was often in advance. The local newspaper, Kimberley Independent reported that the original detachment of 55 men put up 170 miles of line in 29 working days at an average of 6 miles a day. In total 225 miles of line were laid in 37 days. At each 20 miles or so 2-3 men as clerks or linesmen were dropped. After the successful conclusion of the Expedition the line was left in place and used for commercial purposes. |
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| The force's appearance had the desired effect and sufficiently cowed the Boer and German 'filibusters'. During the period June to August 1885 the troops were slowly withdrawn and the Crown Colony of British Bechuanaland and Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) were established. | ||
The objective of the first phase of the campaign was to take control of the Province of Dongola in northern Sudan. On 20 March 1896 Colonel (later General Sir) Archibald Hunter and a small force took possession of Akasheh at the head of the Sudan Railway. Kitchener mindful of the logistical difficulties encountered by Wolseley in his attempts to relieve Gordon in 1884 decided to extend the Nile Railway and to use it to carry his supplies. Sections from 8th and 10th Railway Companies and local labourers, under Lieutenant AG Stevenson, Royal Engineers, took in hand the repair of the railway from Wadi Halfa to Akasheh. At the same time a telegraph line was established between the two towns under the charge of Lieutenant Manifold, Royal Engineers. By 4 August 1896 Lieutenant (later Colonel Sir) E Percy C Girouard (1867-1932), Royal Engineers, who had taken over from Stevenson, had extended the railway as far as Kosheh, 116 miles from Wadi Halfa. |
 Kitchener as Sirdar (Comander in Chief), Egyptian Army |
By May 1897 the Nile Railway had been extended a further 100 miles to Kerma. It was at this point it was decided to run the line straight across the Nubian Desert from Wadi Halfa to Abu Hamed, which was in the hands of the Dervishes. The Royal Engineers surveyed the proposed route, and by the end of July a further 115 miles of the railway had been constructed, but to continue it was necessary to clear the Dervishes from Abu Hamed. Hunter was given the task and by early September, Abu Hamed fell to the Anglo-Egyptian force and work on the railway recommenced, reaching Abu Hamed on 31 October. In the meantime Hunter had pushed on and had taken Berber, which reopened the Suakin-Berber road allowing Royal Engineer Telegraphists to build a telegraph line to Suakin on the Red Sea. Towards the end of 1897 Kitchener on receiving intelligence that the Dervishes intended to retake Berber, requested further troops to garrison the town. A brigade, under the command of Major General Gatacre, and accompanied by a section of 2nd Company, Royal Engineers was sent from Cairo. They arrived at the railhead in January 1898. During the months of March and April 1898 the Anglo-Egyptian army with the aid of gunboats drove the Dervishes out of Shendy and Atbara. The gunboats proved useful and it was decided to increase their number and build a naval dockyard at Abadieh, near Berber. Major WS Gordon, Royal Engineers was charged with this task. |
 The Charge of the 21st Lancers at the battle of Omdurman (1898) |
Kitchener then started to prepare for his final assault on the Mahdists Dervishes which was to take place outside a town called Omdurman. Extra troops were requested and a brigade under the command of Brigadier General, the Honourable NG Lyttleton was sent by rail from Cairo to Berber, together with 21 Lancers and 2nd Company, Royal Engineers (Major IA Arkwright). Once the Nile had risen sufficiently to allow the gunboats to pass up it, the Anglo-Egyptian Army advanced on Omdurman. |
On 2 September, just outside Omduram, the Dervishes attacked Kitchener's forces and were defeated; they lost many warriors who displayed great bravery but were no match for the destructive effects of the European weaponry. The following day the victorious Anglo-Egyptian army marched into Khartoum, and so after a period of nearly fourteen years General Gordon's death was at last avenged. A grateful British Government created Kitchener a peer. | |
In June 1899 the British garrison in South Africa amounted to less than 10,000 men, (4,000 in Cape Colony and 6,000 in Natal) its only engineer support was 29th Fortress Company (Captain EF Taylor RE) stationed in Cape Town, but organised and equipped to act as a field company in case of war. It was deployed on the railway lines at Naauwport Junction, De Aar Junction and Stormberg. To bolster this inadequate engineer support three units were hastily despatched to South Africa.
Troop build-up continued through August to October and with it came a section of the Telegraph Battalion (Major WF Hawkins RE) and 2nd Balloon Section (Major GH Heath RE). By this time an Army Corps had been deployed under the command of General Sir Redvers Buller (1839-1908). Lieutenant General Sir George White VC (1835-1912) was put in command of the army in Natal. |
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The general plan of campaign was that White would defend Natal from Boer invasion, and Buller, with the Army Corps, would advance through Cape Colony along the line of the railway to move on the Bloemfontien (Orange Free State) and Pretoria (Transvaal). |
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Colonel (local Major General, later Sir) Elliot Wood (1844-1931) was appointed Chief Engineer and the Royal Engineers detailed for service with the Army Corps were: Divisional troops
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 Major General Sir Elliot Wood Chief Engineer South Africa 1899-1902 He is credited with the idea of the use of blockhouses, which he had successfully used himself at Suakin in 1885. |
Army Corps Troops:
Line of Communications troops:
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| On 12 October 1899 the Boer army under Commandant General Pietrus Joubert (1831-1900) crossed the frontier into Natal, while on the same day Commandant General Piet Cronje (1835-1911) commenced the investment of Mafeking and cut off its communication with Cape Town. | |
Engineers at the Siege of Ladysmith - 1899-1900 The Boers under Joubert surrounded and laid siege to Ladysmith on 2 November 1899. For the duration of the siege Major SR Rice, Royal Engineers, was appointed Commanding Royal Engineers and 23rd Field Company was continuously employed in constructing and strengthening the works of defence. Electrical and mechanical mines were improvised, while roads were built together with a large number of batteries (ramparts of felled trees), magazines and bombproofs. Lines of abattis and wire entanglements were made, especially round the positions of Caesar's Camp and Waggon Hill. As the siege progressed the sappers became so weak from sickness and want of food that they had to be taken to work in wagons (by December 1,650 officers and men of the beleaguered garrison were in hospital and were dying at a rate of 23 per week). The 2nd Balloon Section, also cooped up in Ladysmith were used to great effect to observe the activities of the investing Boers, but as their balloon gas ran out the balloons were given up and the section was employed on the defence works. After the communication lines were cut, the engineers used heliograph and searchlights to pass messages between the besieged and its relief army. When there was no direct line of sight the signal light was reflected off the clouds. |
 British defenders of Ladysmith during the siege . (Photo: Unknown)
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Ladysmith was finally relieved on 28 February 1900 (after 118 days) by a force, commanded by General Redvers Buller, which had made two previous attempts that resulted in defeats at Colenso and Spion Kop. The attack on Spion Kop was ordered by the Commander of the 5th Division, the engineer Lieutenant General Sir Charles Warren. The Division had landed in Natal on 23rd December 1899, along with 37th Field Company (Captain WA Cairns). On the march to Ladysmith the 37th Field Company established a ferry at Potgieter's Drift, so that the 2nd Division could cross to the north side of the Tugela River. | ||
 Tugela Pontoon bridge constructed by the Bridging Battalion, A Troop using the Clauson or Mark II bipartie pontoon. The Troop was commanded by Major JL Irvine. - February 1900 |
On hearing the of the failure at Spion Kop Buller instructed Warren to withdraw the 5th Division across the Tugela. Major Irvine was ordered to construct a new pontoon bridge, which was completed by A Troop on 26 January 1900, while the 17th Field Company made the roads leading to it. |
After the 5th Division had crossed the river, the bridge was rapidly dismantled. A Troop proceeded to Potgieter's Drift to bridge the Tugela there. The 17th Field Company also marched to Potgieter's Drift and were employed with 37th Field Company building a road for the transport of naval guns up Swart Kop. By 1 February A Troop had completed the Potgieter's Drift bridge and had built another at Swart Kop. During the attack on Vaalkrantz (5 February 1900), they built a third bridge in three quarters of an hour under heavy fire with the loss of eight sappers wounded. The following day the second bridge was taken down and a fourth constructed immediately under the Vaalkrantz Ridge. | |
Engineers and the Relief of Kimberley On 21st November 1899 1st Division under Lord Methuen began to march north from Orange River to relieve Kimberley, which had been invested by the Boers since 14th October 1899 . The Engineers accompanying the division were; 7th and 11th Field companies, 8th Railway Company, 31st Fortress Company and a Telegraph Section. |
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During their advance to Kimberley the Division encountered the Boers within 2 miles of Belmont Railway Station. The Division soon put the enemy to flight but only after the Boers had done extensive damage to the railway, which the engineers repaired. Four days later, at Graspan, another stand was made during which 8th and 11th Companies assisted in bringing the naval guns into action. On reaching the Modder River, the engineers devoted themselves to constructing a temporary bridge which was completed on 10 December 1899. Meanwhile because of the heavy work repairing the railway, the 29th Fortress Company was ordered up from De Aar to assist and on 9 December 1st Balloon Section joined the Division. The Division made its first attempt to break through to Kimberley at the battle of Magersfontein on 11 December, but were defeated by the Boers. During the battle 7th Field Company fought in an infantry role, while the Balloon Section helped the howitzer battery to obtain the range of the Boer ponies concealed behind a ridge. The Telegraph Section managed to maintain communications with the columns. |
 A balloon of 1st Balloon Section in operation near Johannesburg May 1900 (Photo: Underwoods, London) |
| After the defeat at Magersfontein the British retreated to consolidate their position. | |
Lord Roberts arrives - 10 January 1900 In the new year of 1900, command was taken from General Buller. Field Marshal Lord Roberts (1832-1913), was appointed Commander-in-Chief in his stead with the engineer Major General Lord Kitchener (1850-1916) as Chief of Staff. They arrived in South Africa accompanied by substantial reinforcements:
Roberts left operations in Natal to Buller and began preparations to make an advance into the Orange Free State, but not along the original plan. The new plan required a reorganisation of the Army Corps resulting in the engineer units being redeployed as follows:
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| The Cavalry Division under Lieutenant General JPD French (1852-1925) was sent to relieve Kimberley which was achieved on 15th February 1900 by a spectacular gallop across the Veldt with his Cavalry Division, aided by the attached Field Troop. Roberts with the rest of the Army Corps moved against General Cronje's forces which were making good their retreat from Bloemfontein and had laagered (a fortified encampment) near Paardeberg Drift. On 18 February 1900 Roberts made an unsuccessful attack against Cronje. In the wake of this failure he decided to reduce the Boers to submission by siege. |
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| Trenches were commenced and pushed on towards the laager from the east by 9th and 38th Field Companies (under Lieutenant Colonel RC Maxwell RE) and from the west by 7th Field Company (under Lieutenant Colonel Kincaid RE). During the investment the Balloon Section observers were able to make sketches of the Boer positions and direct artillery fire upon the laager. It fell on 27 February 1900. | ||
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On 12 March in preparation for a final attack on Bloemfontein, Lieutenant JRE Charles, Royal Engineers, with three sappers from the Field Troop, together with Sergeant Englehart and two pioneers of 10th Hussars, were sent forward to cut the railway north of Bloemfontein. This daring mission, which involved passing through the Boer lines, was successful and led to the capture of 35 locomotives, over 100 carriages and wagons. Bloemfontein was taken on 13 March 1900 and shortly after, the control of the whole railway line was in British hands. | |
| On 4 April 1900, the Boers appear before Caledon, a short distance from Wepener, where Major C Maxwell, Royal Engineers was in charge of preparing the defences. The Official history records that "the successful defence... by 1,800 against four or five times as many of the enemy, whose artillery was far better than their own, did credit both to the courage and staunchness of the Colonial Division, and to the skill with which Major Maxwell designed the works..." | ||
Advance on Transvaal - May 1900 After the fall of Bloemfontein, Roberts consolidated his position and prepared for an advance on Transvaal, which began on 3 May 1900. | |
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Three days later the Boers had retreated to Kroonstadt, where it was believed that the Free State Government sat, Roberts wanted to capture them, and to this effect Major (later Lieutenant General Sir) Aylmer Hunter-Weston, Lieutenant Charles and 11 sappers formed part of a raiding party to blow bridges and railway lines around Kroonstadt. The bridges and lines were blown, but the Free State Government had already moved. Roberts marched into Kroonstadt on 12 May. |
 Steam traction engines pulling baggage carts operated by the Royal Engineers (possibly 45th Fortress Company) (Photo: Unknown) |
On 27 May the British crossed the Vaal River at Vereeninging with the help of a pontoon ferry, worked by the 9th and 12th Field Companies. The army advanced on Johannesburg, which fell on 31 May as did Pretoria on the 5 June 1900. | |
Kitchener takes over - November 1900 In September 1900 Lord Roberts was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and called back to Britain. Lord Kitchener was given command of the army in South Africa on 29 November 1900. |
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By this time the Boers had been beaten in the field but continued to fight a guerrilla war against the British. This was combatted by the creation of fighting columns, which eventually numbered 64, each tasked with patrolling designated areas with the objective of pacifying their districts. The (now controversial) tactic of the use of 'concentration camps' into which Boer families were herded as a means to deny succour to the Boer commandos was also used. Kitchener also adopted a containment strategy to limit the movement of the Boer commandos. |
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The usual army formations were abandoned to form these columns and different elements of the engineer units were distributed as detachments to them. Their work was various and besides the maintenance and exploitation of the railways and telegraphs, included the construction of defences, the provisions of cantonments and hospitals, road making and bridge building. | ||
The engineers and the railways Prior to the war there were 4,628 miles of railway track working in direct intercommunication with one another in Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal. From the start it was evident that the railways would play an important strategic and tactical role in the war and to that effect the British were determined to ensure that they controlled them. A Department of Military Railways under the direction of Major (later Colonel Sir) E Percy C Girouard (1867-1932), Royal Engineers was set up in October 1899. Its work was divided under the following headings:
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 Major EPC Girouard RE Director of Military Railways A French Canadian, who had made his name constructing the Sudan Desert Railway (1896-98) and who after the war had a successful civilian career as a Colonial Governor before being appointed Director of Armstrong, Whitworth & Co in 1912 and then Director-General of Munitions Supply, 1915-17during the First World War (1914-18). |
 Damaged Bethulie railway bridge repaired by the Railway Pioneer Regiment in May 1900 |
In December 1899 a Railway Pioneer Regiment (Major (later Major General Sir) John Capper RE) was raised in South Africa, they along with the engineer railway units (8th and 10th Railway Companies and 6th, 20th, 31st and 42nd Fortress Companies) did much work restoring damaged track and bridges, as well as, operating the trains. The Military Railway Department proved of great importance in transporting the force; for instance during the three weeks from 21 January to 10 February 1900 27,025 men, 13,590 horses and mules and 24,168 tons of stores were carried north on a single line in preparation for the assault on Bloemfontein. |
In the retreat from Bloemfontein the Boers did considerable damage to the railway including blowing four major bridges as well as several smaller ones. The 12th and 26th Field Companies along with C Pontoon Troop were called in to assist the units of the Military Railway Department to make good the damage and render the lines fit for use again.
In the final stages of the war the Military Railway Department was heavily engaged in the containment strategy adopted by Kitchener by constructing and operating the armoured trains used to patrol the lines. |
Engineer auxillary units Engineer Militia and Volunteers units were deployed from December 1899 in the Lines of Communication (L of C) areas, carrying out building, bridging, telegraph, electrical and railway work (see Part 11). |
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The conclusion On 15 May 1902 the Vereeniging Peace Conference opened. By 31 May the conditions of peace were agreed and the war was over. During the war the Royal Engineers developed in every branch, and during the last twelve months of it had designed and carried out a system of blockhouses and barbed-wire barriers which had been instrumental in bringing the fighting to a conclusion. They had taken over from the enemy, repaired, organised and ran about 1,400 miles of railway and the telegraph system of two large countries - the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. |
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Author: SC Fenwick, FoREM Sources:
Links to further reading:
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