Royal Engineers
The Royal Engineers trace their origins back to the military engineers brought to England by William the Conqueror, specifically Bishop Gundulf of Rochester Cathedral, and claim over 900 years of unbroken service to the crown. Engineers have always served in the armies of the Crown; however, the origins of the modern corps, along with those of the Royal Artillery, lie in the Board of Ordnance established in the 15th century.
In Woolwich in 1716, the Board formed the Royal Regiment of Artillery and established a Corps of Engineers, consisting entirely of commissioned officers. The manual work was done by the Artificer Companies, made up of contracted civilian artisans and labourers. In 1782, a Soldier Artificer Company was established for service in Gibraltar, the first instance of non-commissioned military engineers. In 1787, the Corps of Engineers was granted the Royal prefix and adopted its current name and in the same year a Corps of Royal Military Artificers was formed, consisting of non-commissioned officers and privates, to be officered by the RE. Ten years later the Gibraltar company, which had remained separate, was absorbed and in 1812 the name was changed to the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners.
In 1855 the Board of Ordnance was abolished and authority over the Royal Engineers, Royal Sappers and Miners and Royal Artillery was transferred to the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, thus uniting them with the rest of the Army. The following year, the Royal Engineers and Royal Sappers and Miners became a unified corps as the Corps of Royal Engineers and their headquarters were moved from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to Chatham, Kent.
In 1911 the Corps formed its Air Battalion, the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces. The Air Battalion was the forerunner of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.
In 1915, in response to German mining of British trenches under the then static siege conditions of the First World War, the corps formed its own tunnelling companies. Manned by experienced coal miners from across the country, they operated with great success until 1917, when after the fixed positions broke, they built deep dugouts such as the Vampire dugout to protect troops from heavy shelling.
The Corps has no battle honours. Its mottoes, Ubique (Everywhere) and Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt (Where Duty and Glory lead), were granted by King William IV in 1832, signifying that the Corps had seen action in all the major conflicts of the British Army and almost all of the minor ones as well.The Royal Engineers Museum is in Gillingham in Kent.
Before the Second World War, Royal Engineers recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall (5 feet 2 inches for the Mounted Branch). They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve or four years and eight years. Unlike most corps and regiments, in which the upper age limit was 25, men could enlist in the Royal Engineers up to 35 years of age. They trained at the Royal Engineers Depot in Chatham or the RE Mounted Depot at Aldershot.
Name: Rose, James
Rank: Sapper
Age 37
No.2137986
Unit:91 Field Company
Missing since: 30-09-1944
Next of Kin:
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Believed to have been drowned.
Name: Redrup, Arthur
Rank: Lance Sergeant
Age 25
No.2076861
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin: Son of A.L and Florence May Redrup, of Barry Dock, Glamorgan.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Weston, Frederick Arthur
Rank: Lance Sergeant
Age 21
No.14236731
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin: Nuneaton
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Young, William Edward
Rank: Sapper
Age 20
No.14509787
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Albert Edward and Sarah Lilian Young, of Blackpool, Lancashire.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Starling, Cyril
Rank: Lance Sergeant
Age 25
No.1892766
Unit:80 Assault Squadron, 3rd Troop
Missing since: 26-10-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Royal and Mary Ann Starling, of Isleham, Cambridgeshire.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit during Schelde Operations.
Name: Skelly, James Charles
Rank: Captain
Age 25
No.265920
Unit:82 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 01-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Samuel and Louisa Skelly, of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit when beaching on West Kappele during Schelde Operations.
Name: Goldman, Eli
Rank: Sapper
Age 39
No.14264640
Unit:510 Field Company
Missing since: 01-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Harris and Sarah Goldman, of Leeds.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit or run into a mine during Schelde Operations.
Name: Hardie, Alexander
Rank: Lance-Sergeant
Age 25
No.2068091
Unit:23 Bomb Disposal Company
Missing since: 22-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Alexander and Joan Hardie; husband of Jessie Hardie.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in an ammuntion explosion accident at SS Barracks at S'Hertogenbosch.
Name: Freeman, James Stevenson
Rank: Sapper
Age 25
No.2056439
Unit:152 Railway Construction Company
Missing since: 16-12-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Freeman; husband of A. D. Freeman, of Fulham, London.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed by a V1 Rocket in Tilburg.
Name: Coyne, James Patrick
Rank: Corporal
Age 39
No.1912249
Unit:24 Bomb Disposal Company
Missing since: 30-04-1945
Next of Kin:
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Believed to have been killed at Almelo.
Name: Carr, Albert Edward
Rank: Sapper
Age 29
No.14342220
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Smith, Alan
Rank: Sapper
Age 20
No.14366915
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Williand and Frances Maud Smith, of Gorton, Manchester
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Wilson, Charles John
Rank: Sapper
Age 20
No.1878289
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:Son of John and Evelyn Wilson, of Wallasey, Cheshire.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Gilchrist, Donald
Rank: Sapper
Age 37
No.2135965
Unit:91 Field Company
Missing since: 21-01-1944
Next of Kin: Husband of Christina D.E. Gilchrist, of Glasgow.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Believed to have been drowned in river Waal.
Name: Alcock, Horace Ernes Simms
Rank: Driver
Age 19
No.14546271
Unit:82 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 01-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Gordon and Annie Alcock, of Guiseley, Yorkshire.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit or run into a mine during Schelde Operations.
Name: Brind, John Leslie
Rank: Sapper
Age 26
No.2001555
Unit:510 Field Company
Missing since: 01-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Henry and Clara Winifred Brind, of Greenford, Middlesex
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit or run into a mine during Schelde Operations.
Name: Gray, James Cameron
Rank: Lieutenant
Age
No.230839
Unit:202 Field Company, 2nd Platoon
Missing since: 03-11-1944
Next of Kin:
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed by a B mine at Ellewoutsdijk.
Name: Verling, Richard
Rank: Corporal
Age 27
No.2129066
Unit:23 Bomb Disposal Company
Missing since: 22-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Richard and Mary.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in an ammuntion explosion accident at SS Barracks at S'Hertogenbosch.
Name: Patterson, Thomas William
Rank: Sapper
Age
No.14252136
Unit:926 Railway Bridge Company
Missing since: 24-12-1944
Next of Kin:Oakerthorpe
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Believed to have been killed/drowned in the Ravenstein/Maas area.
Name: Nisbet, Peter Samuel
Rank: Sapper
Age 30
No.14541296
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:Husband of Charlotte Nisbet, of Musselburgh, Midlothian. Son of Peter Samuel and Jessie Thomson Nisbet.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Walby, William
Rank: Sapper
Age 28
No.1903584
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:Husband of Lena Walby, of Upperby, Carlisle.
Son of Joseph and Catherine Walby.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Wilson, James
Rank: Sapper
Age 34
No.14349401
Unit:284 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 20-10-1944
Next of Kin:Husband of Edna Doreen Wilson, of Stretford, Lancashire.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in a explosion at Ijzendijke.
Name: Smith, Edward Thomas
Rank: Driver
Age 21
No.6106419
Unit:80 Assault Squadron, 3rd Troop
Missing since: 26-10-1944
Next of Kin:Son of William and Frances Eliza Smith. of Bethnal Green, London.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit during Schelde Operations.
Name: Lawrence, Alfred Victor
Rank: Lance Corporal
Age 24
No.1991713
Unit:82 Assault Squadron
Missing since: 01-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Alfred and Elsie Lawrence, of Erdington, Birmingham.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit or run into a mine during Schelde Operation
Name: Clover, Leonard George
Rank: Sapper
Age 30
No.1870217
Unit:510 Field Company
Missing since: 01-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of George and Elizabeth Clover.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed when the LVT he was in, was hit or run into a mine during Schelde Operations.
Name: Dixon, Thomas William
Rank: Driver
Age 25
No.2007285
Unit:509 Field company
Missing since: 20-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of George and Margaret Dixon
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Believed to have been drowned, at the above date the Company was stationed in Middelburg.
Name: Wood, Clifford Henry
Rank: Sapper
Age 25
No.2126499
Unit:23 Bomb Disposal Company
Missing since: 22-11-1944
Next of Kin:Son of Horace and Lily Wood, of Denaby Main, Yorkshire.
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been killed in an ammuntion explosion accident at SS Barracks at S'Hertogenbosch.
Name: Cook, Dennis Clayton
Rank: Corporal
Age 26
No.2122841
Unit:70 Field Company
Missing since: 14-02-1945
Next of Kin: Husband of Mrs H.I. Cook, of Birmingham
Groesbeek Panel: 2
KIA Information: Known to have been drowned in river Maas, at Gennep, whilst working on repair on the railway bridge.
On 11 February 1945 the Company moved and were billeted in the school and convent at Hagelkruststraat 19, 5835 BD Beugen. Mine clearance commenced and tug boats and pontoon rafting stores were unloaded at St Agitha. A small stream was bridged on the approach road to the ferry site. On the remaining 4 stone peirs of the old railway bridge at Gennep a Class 18 Bailey Bridge was to be built. The site was declared safe from the enemy and work commenced on 12th February and was completed on 2nd March. Regrettably Corporal Cook was not to witness its completion. On 14th February at approx 19.00 hrs whilst engaged on these bridge operations he fell in to the fast waters of the flooded river and was lost.
The War Diary of 70 Field Company records that both he and the Commanding Officer were thrown from a Tug boat which had collided with a pontoon and capsized in the fast flowing waters. The C.O. was rescued but Corporal Cook was lost. (War Diary-70 Field Co, Royal Engineers-June44 to March 45)
