WORK OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS IN THE EUROPEAN WAR 1914-1918: The Organisation and Expansion if the Corps 1914-1918 :: Reference Works :: The Great War :: Time Periods

Details of the peacetime strength and organization of the Corps on the eve of war and of the expansion on mobilization and of subsequent expansio. Gives a fine picture of the great variety of RE units that existed pre-war and were created during the war. Comprehensive tables showing the tremendous wartime expansion.

This is a remarkably detailed review of the Royal Engineers (RE) and its varied units in peacetime and the tremendous expansion that took place during the course of the war including the formation of many new units that did not exist before the war. What is interesting is how wide were the responsibilities of the Corps, which are fully described, chapter by chapter, thus we read and learn about: bridging units, electrical and mechanical companies, tunnelling companies, forestry units, the inundation section, tramway and foreway companies (the latter being a new service, formed in March 1918, to distribute supplies forward of railhead).Then there were transportation units, the postal service, the signals service, which separated from its parent Corps in 1920 and became the Royal Corps of Signals, meteorological sections, camouflage, field survey, mapping, anti-aircraft searchlight, gas (the Special Brigade) and yet more besides. It makes for fascinating and, I am sure, very enlightening reading for many. At the end there are tables showing all these and their growth during the war and the numbers serving in the various theatres of war. The RE regulars and special reserve began the war with 1,056 officers and 10,304 men; by 1 August 1917 these figures had become 8,886 and 230,500. In this same period the TF grew from 13,640 all ranks to 56,282.

Details


Product Code:	9315
Author:	Compiled by Col G.H.Addison
ISBN:	9781845743314
Format:	2006 N&M Pres reprint (original pub 1926). SB. 72 pp
Shipping Time:	This item is usually dispatched Next Day
Our Price:	£12.50