Corps History - Part 17
The Corps at Home (1945-80)

Post-war introduction

At the end of the Second World War (1939-45) the British Army was spread more widely around the globe than ever before. In this post-war era it resumed its traditional pre-war role of Imperial policing, which developed into a process of Britain divesting itself of many of its former colonies (see Part 20). It also took on the duties of 'occupying power' in the territories of the defeated enemies, for instance. a large garrison remained in occupied Germany, which eventually became known as the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) (see Part 18)

But as the post-war decade wore on, defence policies and planning became increasingly dominated by the threat of communist expansion and nuclear war both in Europe and Asia - this period became known as the Cold War (see Part 19).

At home the Royal Engineers had to re-organise itself after the disruption of the war, this included the dismantlement of the war machine and its associated defences, a rationalisation and a reduction in forces, it also embraced the management of National Servicemen allocated to serve their time with the Corps.

National Service 1949-62

The demobilisation of the Army immediately after the Second World War (1939-45) resulted in a shortage of manpower, so to stem the outward flow of men required for the Army's peace-time commitments the National Service Act was given assent in 1947 and came into force in 1949.

The Act provided for 12 months full time service followed by 5 years reserve service, the 12 months was soon extended to 18 months and in 1950 it was further extended to 2 years. The last call up was in 1960 and National Service finally ended in 1962.

The National Servicemen allocated to the Corps served with every type of Royal Engineer unit where they made a positive contribution. Many of them brought valuable professional skills for some of them were already qualified engineers or skilled artisans before they were called up.

Corps Organisation (1945-80)

Royal Engineers strength

The strength of the Corps was reduced after the war:

• 1945 - The strength was 280,632 (9.54% of the Army)
• 1952 - The strength was 36,650 (8.21% of the Army)
• 1960s - The planned strength was 14,600 (8.6% of the Army)

Re-organisation of the Corps - 1947

Regimental System - In March 1947 the Corps adopted a regimental system for field units (field companies were brought together as a regiment rather than have companies support formation independently). Other changes included:

• Numbering of RE unit was reviewed and rationalised.
• Airfield Construction Groups, GHQ Troops Engineers, Army Troops Engineers and Artisan Works units were replaced by Construction and Plant Squadrons
• An Army Group RE became an Engineer Group.
• 'Mechanical equipment' became 'Plant'.
• Rank of Driver RE was abolished.
• In 1950's the trade of 'Field Engineer' was changed to 'Combat Engineer'.

Training 1947-1980

The return to Regular Army standards of training that followed the end of war together with the continual turnover of national servicemen made formidable demands on the Corps' training organisations.

School of Military Engineering (SME) - The SME returned to Chatham from its wartime base at Ripon, North Yorkshire in 1949. In 1962 SME become the 'Royal School of Military Engineering' (RSME) (see Part 6)

Soldiers Training - By 1947 soldiers were trained at five establishments:

• 1 Training Regiment (Malvern) - moved to Cove, Surrey in 1959 and amalgamated with 6 and 9 Training Regiment.
• 3 Training Regiment (Cove) - took the Regular Cadets destined for Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and potential National Service officers. It was disbanded in 1961 but was reformed in 1968.
• 4 (MT & Signals) Training Regiment (Aldershot) - disbanded in 1961.
• 8 Training Regiment (Elgin, Scotland) - disbanded in August 1948.
• 9 Training Regiment (Cove) - in 1954 was allotted the responsibility for ex-boys graduating to man service, amalgamated with 1 and 6 Training Regiment in 1959.

6 Training Regiment was formed in 1952 and the following year some rationalisation of the training units was applied; Recruit reception, selection and testing together with elementary military training was carried out by both 1 and 6 Training Regiments.

In 1980 the training regiments settled on 1 and 3 Training Regiments based in the Cove/Minley area of Surrey.

Junior Leaders Regiment - In December 1958 the Boy's Squadron, 4 Training Regiment (Malta Barracks, Aldershot) was formed as the Junior Leaders Regiment based at Dover . It consisted of:

• A Squadron - redesignated 54 Squadron in 1975.
• B Squadron - redesignated 82 Squadron in 1978.
• C Squadron - redesignated 66 Squadron in 1978.

Main Equipment Developments 1950-1980

In 1953 the Royal Engineers Advisory Board was reconstituted by the Army Council as the Engineer Advisory Committee with special responsibilities for advice on research and development in the field of military engineering.

Development of engineering equipment at the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment (MEXE), Christchurch, Dorset, was greatly influenced by the needs of the field engineers supporting the armoured divisions in BAOR (see Part 18). A list of some of the main pieces of equipment are given below with their service introduction dates:

• 1952 - Extra Widened Bailey Bridge (EWBB).
• 1955 - Heavy Girder Bridge (HGB).
• 1955 - Twynham Hut.
• 1957 - Heavy Ferry.
• 1958 - Light Assault Floating Bridge (LAFB).
• 1962 - Gillios amphibian purchased.
• 1963 - Centurion AVRE and Bridgelayer.
• 1965 - Centurion Armoured Ramp Carrier (ARK).
• 1968 - Class 16 Air Portable Bridge.
• 1969 - Eager Beaver rough terrain fork lift truck and M2B amphibian.
• 1972 - Barmine and Layer.
• 1974 - Chieftain Armoured Vehicle Launching Bridge (AVLB).
• 1976 - Aids to amphibians.
• 1977 - Light Mobile Digger.
• 1978 - Combat Engineer Tractor.
• 1979 - Combat Support Boat.

Bomb Disposal -
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) 1945-1980

Bomb Disposal became a Royal Engineer responsibility during the Second World War (see Part 16), however in 1952 there was a proposal that bomb disposal responsibility should be handed over to the Home Office - it was not accepted.

The title 'Bomb Disposal' was replaced by the title 'Explosive Ordnance Disposal' (EOD) in 1969.

Headquarters

In August 1950 after several moves the HQ Bomb Disposal Unit was established at Broadbridge Heath, near Horsham where it remained until 1966 when it and the School moved to Chattenden, near Rochester, Kent.

In 1968 it was redesignated HQ Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, which was again changed in 1972 to RHQ 33 (EOD) Engineer Regiment.

Training and the Bomb Disposal School

The Bomb Disposal School was set up as part of the School of Military Engineering (SME) at Ripon in 1940 and moved with the SME to Chatham in 1949. But in 1951 it moved to Broadbridge Heath, near Horsham to be collocated with the HQ.

In 1959 the School became the Joint Service Bomb Disposal School (JSBDS) and it became tri-service in 1962. It was renamed the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal School (DEODS) in 1970.

Minefield clearance and Bomb disposal

Minefield clearance - 1943-1972

Towards the end of the Second World War (1939-45) the clearance of beach minefields in Britain was made a Bomb Disposal responsibility.

In 1940 as part of the defence of Britain 2,000 minefields (with 350,000 mines) were laid by the Royal Engineers along the British coast, but mostly in East Anglia (see Part 16). Between 1943 and early 1948 all but 14 minefields had been cleared and 338,500 mines recovered. Another 7 minefields were cleared by the end of 1948 leaving an estimated 1,037 mines unaccounted for.

Bomb Disposal sections were employed clearing the minefields using a variety of methods: water-jetting, sweeping with the No 4A mine detector and the Electrical Research Association (ERA) locator. The last of the mines were cleared in 1972 at a cost to the Bomb Disposal units of 151 men killed.

Unexploded Bomb clearance

The legacy of the German bombing raids meant that immediately after the war a considerable unexploded bomb (UXB) clear-up operation had to be undertaken and it still continues to this day.

Second World War (1939-45) bomb recovery and disposal figures:

• 1960s - 101 bombs
• 1970s - 155 bombs

Maplin Sands - 1971-74

Postal and Courier 1945-1980

The 'Special Reserve' status of the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) was changed in 1959 when the service become part of the regular cadre of the British Army.

Until the late 1970's, officers for the service were generally seconded from the General Post Office (later the Royal Mail), after which they were recruited direct from RMA Sandhurst. Soldiers were allocated or volunteered to join Postal after they had completed their basic training with the rest of the Royal Engineer recruits.

Home Postal Depot

The Home Postal Depot had two main functions: to act as main sorting facility for military mail and to train staff to work as postal operators.

In 1947 the Home Postal Depot moved from Sutton Coldfield to Princes Club in Knightsbridge, London, the wartime premises of No 1 Army Postal Distribution Centre (see Part 16). These premises were unsuitable for the task and in 1956 the main sorting office was moved to a modern factory premises in Gorst Road, North Acton.

After the move to Gorst Road the work load increased as work was shifted from the Zone Depot in Germany to the Home Postal Depot and additional work came as a result of the Suez crisis (1956), this eventually led to the sorting office being moved to the vacant Middlesex Regiment depot at Inglis Barracks, Mill Hill in 1962.

Although the Royal Engineers had been responsible for the carriage of classified material since 1953 it was not until 1974 that the Forces Courier Service was formed as an adjunct to the postal service.

Tri-Service Responsibility - 1962

The move of the Home Postal Depot to Mill Hill in 1962 also coincided with the Postal Services taking on the responsibility for the Royal Navy's mail. Up until that time naval mail was handled by a special branch of the General Post Office. The Royal Engineers had been responsible for the RAF's overseas mail from its inception in 1918 so this additional responsibility made the Postal Services a true tri-service organisation.

WRAC Postal Operators - 1952-92

When the Home Postal Depot moved from Sutton Coldfield in 1947, the ATS personnel ceased to be employed by it.

Towards the end of 1952 a number of WRAC (Women's Royal Army Corps) personnel from B Company 12 Battalion WRAC based in Kingston Gate Camp, Richmond Park were employed on general postal duties at the Home Postal Depot, thus began an association between the Corps and WRAC which lasted until the WRAC Postal trained personnel were capbadged as Royal Engineers in 1992.

Between 1960's and 1992 WRAC Postal trained personnel served with Postal units in BAOR, Cyprus, Hong Kong and Northern Ireland.

Survey 1945-1980

Directorate of Military Survey

In 1947 the Directorate of Military Survey was situated in Teddington but moved to Tolworth in 1950 before it moved again, this time to Feltham in 1962.

After reorganization in 1956 the Directorate was accredited with liaison officers from the US Army Map Service, and the US Aeronautical Chart and Information Center to assist in coordinating joint worldwide map and aeronautical chart production programmes. The Joint Survey Board, which was formed in 1947, continued to co-ordinate the interests of Military Survey, Ordnance Survey, the Directorate of Overseas Surveys and the Hydrographic of the Royal Navy.

In 1962 Directorate took on additional responsibilities for coordinating joint UK-US satellite geodesy programmes and field and geodetic programmes.

It was decided to phase out the secondment of Royal Engineer officers to the Ordnance Survey in 1974.

School of Military Survey

The Survey Training Centre, which was part of the School of Military Engineering, was renamed the School of Military Survey in 1949 the same year that the School moved from Longleat, near Bath to the Hermitage, near Newbury. The site was in poor condition but a programme of improvement was put in motion:

• In 1954 new quarters were built.
• In 1955 new instructional blocks were added.
• In 1972 the Ministry of Defence agreed to rebuild the site. The rebuild started in May 1976 and was formally opened by Her Majesty The Queen, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Corps on 27 June 1980.

Transportation 1945-1965

After the war the Transportation Centre, Longmoor, Hampshire continued to be the training centre for railway operations and construction.

1 Railway Group was responsible for running the War Department's railway at sites such as Didcot, and at all Ministry of Supply depots, ranges and Royal Ordnance Factories in all this amounted to a total of 100 locomotives, 2000 wagons and 645 miles of track at 110 different locations.

Towards the end of the war Marchwood on Southampton Water became the permanent home of the Royal Engineers port and Inland Water Transport (IWT) units (see Part 16). Late in 1945 the Holding Depot for port units at Faslane closed as did the Port Operating Technical Training Wing at Cairn Ryan, both units moved to Marchwood and became the Port Wing of the Transport Training Centre (TTC)

Movement Control personnel were responsible the management of the movement of supplies and service personnel. Given that at the end of the Second World War (1939-45) the British Army was spread more widely around the globe than ever before this branch of the Corps had a very heavy work schedule, for instance in 1959 there were six troopships in regular service all of which carried troops and supplies that were managed by the branch.

In 1962 the Transportation Service consisted of:

• Transportation Centre at Longmoor Hampshire.
• 17 Port Regiment at Marchwood, Hampshire (including 51,52 and 53 Port Squadrons).
• Lighterage Troop in Cyprus.
• 10 Port Squadron at Singapore.
• 8 Railway Squadron based at Longmoor.
• Strategic Reserve Movement Control Squadron.
• 1 Railway Group.

Formation of the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) - 5 July 1965

Diving 1838-1965

Diving as one of the Royal Engineers' specialist trade existed since 1838 (see Part 8). Between 1871 and 1905 divers were part of the Royal Engineers Submarine Mining Service (see Part 8). They became a trade within the Transportation Service towards the end of the First World War (1914-18). Where they remained until 1965, when the bulk of the Transportation Service formed the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT). After the transfer of the Transportation Service in 1965 diving as a trade was retained by the Corps.

Diving School

Northern Ireland 1969-1980

Still under development

History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vols X, XI (Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1986 and 1992)

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)