Introduction
Many of the present day Royal Engineer field units have their
origins in the companies of the Corps of Royal Sappers and
Miners first formed in 1812 from the Corps of Royal Military
Artificers.
Below are a collection of very simple Unit Histories, based
on the work of Major JT Hancock RE, they are in portable document
format (pdf). Additional unit histories will be added periodically.
Unit Histories
In 1911, Colonel Ward laid down a numbering of the Royal
Military Artificers (later Royal Sapper and Miners) companies
that were raised in 1787 (see Supplement to the
RE Journal dated April 1911 page 51). These
were arbitrarily allotted but were approved by the Corps due
to the lack of factual information. The subsequent lineage
of companies/squadrons has been based on these numbers.
| Unit |
Formed |
Unit Badge |
Posted |
| 1st
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1772 |
Yellow key
on a blue diamond |
27 Jul 06 |
| 1st
Squadron (pdf 49kb) |
1914 |
A white horse |
27 Jul 06 |
| 2nd
Company (pdf 57Kb) |
1786 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 3rd
Company (pdf 59kb) |
1811 |
|
27 Jul 06 |
| 4th
Company (pdf 55kb) |
1797 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 5th
Company (pdf 57kb) |
1811 |
|
15 Feb 06 |
| 6th
Company (pdf 57kb) |
1811 |
|
27 Jul 06 |
| 7th
Company (pdf 57kb) |
1811 |
A black horse |
27 Jul 06 |
| 8th
Company (pdf 58kb) |
1811 |
|
25 Jul 06 |
| 9th
Company (pdf 57kb) |
1787 |
|
25 Jul 06 |
| 10th Company (pdf 57kb) |
1811 |
 An RE grenade
with Roman numeral X on the base of the grenade, surrounded
by a RAF roundel |
28 Jul 06 |
| 11th
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1811 |
|
27 Jul 06 |
| 12th
Company (pdf 62kb) |
1811 |
|
25 Jul 06 |
| 13th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1824 |
no image available |
25 Jul 06 |
| 14th
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1825 |
|
25 Jul 06 |
| 15th
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1825 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 16th
Company (pdf 50kb) |
1825 |
no image available |
25 Jul 06 |
| 17th
Company (pdf 50kb) |
1827 |
A sparking
plug. Adopted since it was the first mechanised company
in the Corps. |
28 Jul 06 |
| 18th
Company (pdf 48kb) |
1827 |
Silhouette
of a bulldozer |
28 Jul 06 |
| 19th
Company (pdf 48kb) |
1827 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 20th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1848 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 21st
Company (pdf 46kb) |
1849 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 22nd
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1849 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 23rd
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1855 |
Black horse
on a red field between horizontal blue stripes. An old
Field gun in yellow on upper strip and ’23 RE’
in yellow on bottom strip. In 1885 earned the nickname
‘The Black Horse’ due to black horse teams
at Aldershot. Later became known as the ‘Old Battery’
while in South Africa. Hence the two emblems. |
27 Jul 06 |
| 24nd
Company (pdf 52kb) |
1855 |
A Maltese
Cross |
28 Jul 06 |
| 25th
Company (pdf 54kb) |
1855 |
|
27 Jul 06 |
| 26th
Company (pdf 54kb) |
1855 |
|
15 Feb 06 |
| 27th
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1856 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 28th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1856 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 29th
Company (pdf 48kb) |
1857 |
no image available |
25 Jul 06 |
| 30th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1857 |
|
25 Jul 06 |
| 31st
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1857 |
Emblem adopted
of Lion of Ceylon. An oriental animal standing on three
legs with a curved sword in the fourth paw. |
27 Jul 06 |
| 32nd
Company (pdf 53kb) |
1857 |
|
27 Jul 06 |
| 33rd
Company (pdf 57kb) |
1858 |
no image available |
19 Jan 06 |
| 34th
Company (pdf 50kb) |
1858 |
 The Black
Leopard (Panthesa Pardus) adopted by the Sqn as a symbol
of the Sqns service with Indep East African Bde and
19 Inf Bde. A ¼ size Bronze centrepiece was commissioned
by the Sqn in Kenya in 1987. The Panther is now displayed
on the Sqn's Sweatshirts, T-Shirts and plaque. |
28 Jul 06 |
| 35th
Company (pdf 48kb) |
1858 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 36th
Company (pdf 44kb) |
1858 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 37th
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1861 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 38th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1861 |
 Originally
the figures '38' in white on a red triangle. In May
1962, to commemorate it's association with Berlin, the
Bear of the City of Berlin Coat of Arms was incorporated
in the Sqn's flag |
25 Jul 06 |
| 39th
Company (pdf 49kb) |
1862 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 40th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1862 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 41st
Company (pdf 46kb) |
1868 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 42nd
Company (pdf 50kb) |
1868 |
no image available |
15 Sep 08 |
| 43rd
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1868 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 44th
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 45th
Company (pdf 54kb) |
1899 |
A Steam Traction
Engine |
27 Jul 06 |
| 46th
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 47th
Company (pdf 43kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 48th
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1900 |
|
28 Jul 06 |
| 49th
Company (pdf 45kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 50th
Company (pdf 53kb) |
1900 |
|
27 Jul 06 |
| 51th
Company (pdf 50kb) |
1900 |
|
25 Jul 06 |
| 52nd
Company (pdf 46kb) |
1900 |
A Condor |
27 Jul 06 |
| 53rd
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 54th
Company (pdf 48kb) |
1900 |
May 1937 -
Golden Springbok with 'LIV' below the head, all on a
square background, divided diagonally into red and blue.
|
28 Jul 06 |
| 55th
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 56th
Company (pdf 51kb) |
1900 |
A white, Chinese
Dragon on a RE flag, in memory of their operations in
China in 1927/28 with the Shanghai Defence Force. |
28 Jul 06 |
| 57th
Company (pdf 44kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 58th
Company (pdf 47kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
28 Jul 06 |
| 59th
Company (pdf 46kb) |
1900 |
no image available |
27 Jul 06 |
| 60th
Company (pdf 43kb) |
1900 |
|
28 Jul 06 |
| 62nd
Company |
? |
|
28 Jan 08 |
| 64th
Company (pdf 17kb) |
1914 |
no image available |
29 Jan 08 |
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Companies disbanded in, or prior to, 1819
| Company |
Formed |
Disbanded |
Comment |
| Chatham Company |
1787 |
|
See 9th
Company (pdf 57kb) |
| Dover
Company (pdf 89kb) |
1806 |
1819 |
1811 - re-titled 3rd Company 2nd Battalion |
| 1st Gibraltar Company |
1772 |
|
See 1st
Company (pdf 51kb) |
| 2nd Gibraltar Company |
1786 |
|
See 2nd
Company (pdf 57Kb) |
| Gosport
Company (pdf 89kb) |
1787 |
1819 |
1811 - re-titled 2nd Company 3rd Battalion |
| Guernsey
(half) Company (pdf 89kb) |
1787 |
1819 |
1811 - re-titled 4th Company 3rd Battalion |
| Plymouth
Company (pdf 89kb) |
1787 |
1817 |
1811 - re-titled 1st Company 4th Battalion |
| Portsmouth
Company (pdf 89kb) |
1787 |
1819 |
1811 - re-titled 1st Company 3rd Battalion |
| West
India Company (pdf 89kb) |
1793 |
1818 |
1811 - re-titled 6th Company 4th Battalion |
| 3rd
Company 1st Battalion (pdf 89kb) |
1811 |
1819 |
|
| 7th
Company 1st Battalion (pdf 89kb) |
1811 |
1819 |
|
| 2nd
Company 2nd Battalion (pdf 89kb) |
1811 |
1819 |
|
| 6th
Company 2nd Battalion (pdf 89kb) |
1811 |
1819 |
|
| 2nd
Company 4th Battalion (pdf 89kb) |
1811 |
1817 |
|
| 4th
Company 4th Battalion (pdf 89kb) |
1811 |
1817 |
|
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document format) files.
Notes on short histories of RE Regiments and Squadrons
Compiled by Maj J T Hancock RE, Corps Librarian (1983)
Short Regimental histories were compiled, based on the work
already done by Col H W B Mackintosh when compiling the History
of the Corps of Royal Engineers - Vol X. The Squadron
histories were amended, updated and retyped to form an Edition
2 (1983). Edition 3 was produced between 2000 and 2002.
Major sources used were:
- Jackson's Woolwich Journal RE Lists
- RE Information Sheets
- E-in-C Liaison Letters
- E-in-C Newsletters
- Annual Historical Reports available from the RE Manning and Records Office
- Library files
- Unit classified Library holdings (ie Alpha classification)
- Referenced The Sapper magazine
and RE Journal items on unit index
cards
- Engineer Summaries held in the archives
The aim was to list only:
- Changes of location (typed in capitals)
- Changes of designation (underlined)
- Regimental affiliations
- Wars and operations
Lists of COs and OCs are not accurate. They have been compiled
from a variety of sources, of varying accuracy, as and when
information came to hand during the main task. These were
not checked and only form a basis for further research.
Dates of moves, in the early days, are arrival dates and not
departure dates. For example, 'May 1856' - 'S. AFRICA' means
that they arrived in South Africa in May, but may well have
left their previous station in April, or even earlier.
The Museum & Library do hold more information on the sources
from which the Short Histories were generated.
More information can be found on:
Additional material: SC Fenwick, FoREM
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