Since medieval times, builders and engineers had formed part of British armies.
The origins of the 12th Field Company can be traced to Nova Scotia in 1784.
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Established in 1716 by Royal warrant of King George I, the warrant decreed that fifty junior officers were to be divided into groups of five at ten permanent stations of the Corps, the engineering branch of the British Army. The first officers of the corps arrived in Nova Scotia in the 1740s and were stationed at the army’s office headquarters in Halifax under the direction of the commanding officer.
In 1787 the corps was granted the title Royal Engineers and a detachment of Royal Military Artificers was sent to Halifax to work under these officers, since it had been difficult to employ sufficient civilian tradesmen for the works that were in progress. From this detachment the Nova Scotia Company was formed in 1806 and in the same year the Company was temporarily numbered 12.
In 1812, the name Royal Military Artificers was changed to the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners. 12th Field Company was stationed at Halifax until it was disbanded in 1817.
Engineering offices were also established at the detachments in Cape Breton, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Bermuda. The primary responsibility of the Royal Engineers was the construction and maintenance of military buildings including fortifications, barracks, storehouses, hospitals, and prisons. Other engineering duties included surveying, demolition work, and occasionally civil works, such as the construction of roads, canals, and bridges. Engineer officers later became supervisors of the actual construction work which was contracted out to local builders beginning in the early decades of the 1800s.
Until reorganization of the army in the 1850s, the Royal Engineers were under the supervision of the inspector general of fortifications in Britain who, in turn, reported to the Board of Ordnance. In 1855, the Board of Ordnance was amalgamated with the War Office. The functions of the Royal Engineers were eventually transferred to the Canadian Militia who formed a formed a permanent corps of engineers under the name Canadian Engineer Corps on 1 July 1903. In 1904 it was renamed the Royal Canadian Engineers.
When the British forces departed Halifax in the spring of 1906, the Royal Engineers were the very last contingent to leave — thus holding, along with the Royal Artillery, the record for the longest-serving British military unit stationed in Nova Scotia. The Engineers were here from the early days of the garrison city, and remained until responsibilities for national defence were transferred to appropriate units of the newly-established Canadian armed forces.
The Royal Engineers continue today as that branch of the British Army responsible for construction and maintenance of all military buildings and installations — fortifications large and small, barracks and official residences, offices, storehouses, ammunition magazines and depots, hospitals, prisons and a broad range of related facilities. The Engineers also carry out surveying and demolition work, and are sometimes involved in large-scale civil construction projects such as roads, canals and bridges.
One of their activities in Halifax during the last quarter of the nineteenth century was to undertake a detailed photographic inventory of the local defence complex. This exercise was an extension of their survey work and also ensured that a systematic record existed for managing the properties for which the Engineers were accountable.
The camera and photography were still relatively new at that time, and the varied uses to which they could be put were being examined with interest. The product created by the Engineers in Halifax extends beyond a mere inventory of buildings and fortifications, to explore the broader possibilities which photography offered for systematically capturing, classifying and ordering the Victorian world — in this case, the military landscape in which the Engineers lived and worked, and for which they were responsible. [4]
This collection of remarkable images & the bulk of the information above has been provided with the kind permission of the wonderful Nova Scotia Archives. Home to an extrordinary digital archive and a brilliantly presented website. The images were thought to be part of a larger collection of several thousand glass-plate negatives, of which roughly 400 survive at the archives.
Single Corps
In 1855, when the Board of Ordnance was abolished, the Royal Engineers and the Royal Sappers and Miners transferred to the Commander-in-Chief’s direct control. The following year, they were merged into a single corps. Their headquarters moved from Woolwich to Chatham in Kent.
Roles
By this time, the two separate corps had already served in many campaigns, including the American War of Independence (1775-83), the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), and countless colonial conflicts around the globe.
Their duties included siege warfare, map-making and the construction of bridges, roads, fortifications, drainage systems and camps. Engineers also pioneered the military use of the telegraph during the Crimean War (1854-56) and were responsible for the Army’s postal service.
The 12th Field Company RE served in the Crimean War October 1853 – February 1856 considered by some to be a War of Engineers due to the nature of the Siege.
Precursor unit to I Corps Troops Royal Engineers
Following the Cardwell Reforms a mobilisation scheme began to appear in the Army List from December 1875. This assigned all Regular Army and Militia units serving in the UK to a theoretical order of battle of eight army corps. The only all-Regular corps, I Corps based at Colchester, had the following units of the Royal Engineers (RE) assigned as Corps Engineers:
- A Troop at Aldershot (Pontoons)
- Half of C Troop at Aldershot (Telegraphs)
- 12th Company and field park at Chatham, Kent
During 1876 12th Company was replaced by 31st Company. [4]
The 12th Field Company RE served in the Second Boer War 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902. Again the Royal Engineers are known to have fought valiantly during this period.
Soldiers that are know to have served with the Company at this time are [4]:-
- Sergeant TJ Hughes – 21691
- Major HAA Livingstone
- Colour Sergeant Major C Skinner – 17136
Sappers served at home, too. They built defences, particularly along Britain’s exposed southern coasts. Indeed, it was an RE officer who first suggested the use of Martello towers to protect against invasion. Engineers also surveyed the British Isles to assist with military defence, helping establish the Ordnance Survey.
They saw varied service in civil construction, including the building of railway, telegraph, canal and irrigation networks in Canada, India and elsewhere. Engineers also assisted with the construction of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and Pentonville Prison in London.
Photography & Flying
Work on the V&A accelerated the unit’s interest in photography, with members of the corps going on to document not only many military campaigns, but also archaeological excavations. They were involved in surveying expeditions in locations as varied as Turkey, the Arctic, Palestine, Panama, India, Singapore, China, and Russia.
In the early 20th century, Engineers were also involved in the beginnings of British military aviation, running the Army’s School of Ballooning. In 1911, the corps formed an Air Battalion that provided part of the basis for the Royal Flying Corps a year later.
Follow the link below to find out about the 12th Field Company during World War I
Royal Engineers Museum
Visit Kent’s largest military museum to discover the story of the Royal Engineers and how they have helped the British Army live, move and fight for over 300 years. [4]
With highlights including 25 Victoria Crosses, Wellington’s map of Waterloo, Chard’s weapons from the Zulu War, an amazing collection of bridge laying tanks, Chinese silks, the world’s first guided torpedo, Indian battle axes, a huge piece of the Berlin Wall, Zulu shields, a Harrier Jump Jet and an enormous V2 rocket, it is no surprise that the Museum’s collection has been designated as being of historical and international importance.
In time for the Anniversary of what would have been Douglas’ 100th Birthday in 2019, I printed a limited run of small booklets of the memoirs ‘THE LIFE & MILITARY SERVICE of COL. DOUGLAS VICTORY HUTCHINSON M.B.E.’ one of which was accessioned into the RE Museum collection under the number 201911.4
Ubique Vir 