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King's Engineers
employed to design and build the King's fortifications and fieldworks from
1066 |
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1414
Office of Ordnance
created to manage King's cannon and ammunition |
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1518
Board of Ordnance
established to control the work of the Engineers and Artillery. |
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1698
Ordnance Train
The first permanent ordnance trains |
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1716
Royal Artillery and Corps of Engineers placed on seperate establishments |
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1757
Military rank given to the Corps of Engineers |
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1787
Corps of Engineers
granted the title of
Corps of Royal Engineers |
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1812
Royal Engineer Establishment, Chatham
To instruct officers and soldiers |
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1826-31
Royal Engineers and Sappers and Miners build the Rideau Canal in Canada |
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1839
Royal Sapper And Miner Divers carry out underwater explosive clearance of
the wreaks at Portsmouth. |
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1855
Board of Ordnance abolished and Artillery and Engineers come under control
of War Office |
1856
Royal Sappers and Miners amalgamated with the Corps of Royal Engineers |
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1860-1
Royal Engineers responsible for conducting the North American Boundary Commission |
1865-83
Royal Engineers conduct survey of much of the
Middle East |
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1871-1905
Royal Engineers responsible for Submarine mining |
1870
First Royal Engineers Telegraph troop formed and was responsible for the
signalling until 1920 |
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1877
Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) join the Corps |
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1882
Royal Engineers Transport formed and was responsible for the function until
1965 |
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1888
Ballon School founded at Aldershot and Royal Engineers responsible for aeronautics
until 1912 |
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1890's
Searchlights (Electrical Engineers) developed for coastal defence |
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1913
Army Post Office Corps forms the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) -remains
with Corps until 1993 |
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1915
Royal Engineers Special Companies were raised to train in gas warfare |
1916
Royal Engineers develop the 'Light Railway' on narrow gauge to transport
supplies and munitions |
1917
Royal Engineer Tunnellers explode 19 mines under Messine Ridge (7 Jun) |
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1919
Postal Section set up airmail service between Folkestone and Cologne. |
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1938
Royal Engineers take on responsibility for Port Operations (stevedoring) |
1940
Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Sections formed |
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1942
Royal Engineers clear mines at the Battle of El Alamein, North Africa |
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1944
Royal Engineers build Mulberry harbours during Operation Overlord |
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1948
Gurkha Engineers formed |
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1957
Centurion Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVREs) in service |
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1961
First amphibious bridge in service (Gillois) |
1962
Medium Girder Bridge in service |
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1972
Operation Motorman, Northern Ireland - AVREs used to clear the barricades
into the 'no-go' areas. |
1978
Combat Engineer Tractor (CET) in service |
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1987
Willich Chieftain Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVREs) in service |
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1078
Bishop Gundulf, King's Engineer designs and builds the White Tower (Tower
of London) |
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Hon Col J Armstrong, Chief Engineer to Duke of
Marlborough during the siege of Bouchain and the 'Lines of Non plus Ultra'
(1711) |
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1747
Col D Wilson begins military survey of Highlands of Scotland |
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Capt J Moncrieff , Chief Engineer for British
forces during the American Independence War |
Col W Green, Chief Engineer during the seige
of Gibraltar. Sgt Maj Ince of the Soldier Artificers gives invaluable service
during siege. |
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1813
Lt Col Sir Richard Fletcher, Chief Engineer, killed at the siege of San
Sebastián |
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1837
Captain J Jebb RE provides revolutionary single cell design for Prison Service |
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1855
Corporal William James Lendrim first Sapper and Miner to be awarded a Victoria
Cross (14 Feb) |
1855
Lts HC Elphinstone and G Graham win first Royal Engineer officers' Victoria
Crosses (18 June) |
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1860-1
Major Charles "Chinese" Gordon RE commander of the 'Ever Victorious
Army' China |
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1867-8
Lt Gen sir Robert Napier commands the Abyssinia Campaign - An 'Engineers'
War' |
1868
Sir John Burgoyne
appointed Field Marshal |
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1871
Royal Albert Hall designed by the Capt F Fowke RE completed. |
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1879
Lieutenant JRM Chard RE awarded Victoria Cross for the defence of Rorke's
Drift |
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1884-5
Maj Gen Graham VC commands force to relieve Gordon |
1885
Death of General Charles Gordon in Khartoum |
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1898
Kitchener defeats the Mahdi's forces at the battle of Omdurman |
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1910
First official military flight flown by Capt R Cammell RE in a Blériot |
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1914
Kitchener appointed Secretary of State for War |
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1916
Maj P Nissen RE introduces his 'Nissen Hut' as a soution to accommodation
problems |
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1940
Maj J Rock RE creates Airborne force. Maj JC Holland RE creates Commando
force. |
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1942
Sir Donald Bailey's bridge is used for first time |
1943
Maj Gen P Hobart develops the Armoured Vehicles Royal Engineers (AVREs)
- "Hobart's Funnies" |
1943-44
Maj Gen LECM Perowne and Brig JM Calvert command the 2nd Chindit operations
in Burma. |
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1950
Brig JM Calvert forms the Malayan Scouts (later formed part of the SAS). |
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1970
33 Field Squadron deployed to Northern Ireland in infantry role, other sapper
units were to follow. |
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11th-15th Centuries
Feudal levies supplied skilled craftsmen for work on the King’s castles
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16th Century
Skilled men recruited for siege and ordnance trains in time of war. |
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1741
Royal Military Academy established to traing Artillery and Engineer officers |
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1772
Company of Soldier Artificers raised for defence works at Gibraltar |
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1787
Royal Military Artificers formed for defence work on Britain |
1797
Soldier Artificers merged with Military Artificers as the
Royal Military Artificers |
1799
Royal Staff Corps established - engaged in building Military Canal |
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Engineers engaged in the defence of Portugal
(Lines of Torres Vedras -1810), and all the main sieges of the Peninsular
War (1809-14) |
1813
Royal Sappers and Miners formed |
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1824
Survey of Ireland begins |
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1835
A Bugle Band formed which later develops into the Royal Engineers Band by
1860's. |
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1838
Royal Staff Corps disbanded with functions going to the Royal Engineers
and Sappers and Miners |
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1855
Telegraph used by Royal Engineers in the Crimea - Line laid by Royal Sappers
and Miners |
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1862
Engineers of the Armies of the Honourable East India Company are absorbed
into the Corps of Royal Engineers |
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1873-4
Ashanti War - Sappers deploy Blandshard pontoons, telegraph, steam traction
engines and prefab bridges |
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1899-1902
Boer War - Sapper innovations include: ballons, armoured trains and photo-reconnaissance. |
1902
Mechanical Transport Section forms the Army Service Corps |
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1912
Balloon Companies form Royal Flying Corps.
RE Old Comrades Association founded |
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1914-18
Sapper responsibilities include: chemical warfare, tunnelling, Nissen huts,
camouflage, inland waters, forestry, postal, searchlights |
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1916
Lt Col H J Elles RE was appointed commander of the Heavy Branch Machine
Gun Corps (Tank Corps) |
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1920
Corps of Signals formed from the Royal Engineers' Army Signal Service |
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1940
Royal Engineers repair damaged airfields during Battle of Britain |
1941
Royal Engineers Army Postal Services introduce the Airgraph and Air Letter
Form, the latter being foreunner to the "Bluey" |
1942
Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers formed from the Corps
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1944
Royal Engineers other D Day responsibilities include: Fuel distribution
(Pluto and Dumbo), electricty, forestry and quarries. |
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1951
In Korea - formation of 28 (Commonwealth) Field Engineers consisting of
British, Canadian and New Zealand sappers units. |
1956
Suez Crisis - Heavy dependence on Royal Engineers Port and Railway units
to manage the Suez Canal. |
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1965
Royal Corps of Transport formed from the Royal Engineers Transport |
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1993
Postal & Courier Services transferred to the Royal Logistics Corps on
its formation. |
1997
Mine Information Training Centre established to train all three services
in mine awareness. |
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