Mobilisation The order to mobilise was received on 4 August 1914. Shortly afterwards, the men were invited to volunteer for overseas service, and the majority having accepted this liability, the North Midland Division concentrated at
Luton. In November it moved to the area round
Bishop's Stortford where it completed its war training.
28th Division The first unit of the North Midland engineers to go overseas was the 1/1st NM Field Company, which was posted to the
28th Division, formed of Regular Army battalions brought back from India and other imperial postings. The company joined the division assembling at
Winchester on 26 December 1914, and landed with it in France on 19 January 1915. It went into the line soon afterwards, but had returned to its parent division before the 28th was involved in any serious fighting.
46th (North Midland) Division The advance parties of the North Midland Division arrived in France on 23 February 1915, and by 8 March the bulk of the division had completed its concentration, becoming the first complete TF division to serve in an active theatre of war. 1/1st NM Field Company returned to the division on 6 April, and because the RE establishment had been increased to three field companies per division, the experienced 57th Field Company (from the Regular Army
3rd Division) was attached from 7 April to 10 July 1915, when 2/1st North Midland Field Company arrived from England. The division was officially designated 46th (North Midland) Division on 12 May 1915. In December 1915, the division was ordered to Egypt, and most of it (with two of the field companies) arrived there by 13 January. A week later the move was countermanded and the troops re-embarked for France, concentrating near
Amiens by mid-February. The only result of this move was an outbreak of infectious disease (
Paratyphoid fever and
Diphtheria) that weakened units and men for months to come.
Gommecourt For the
Battle of the Somme, 46th Division was tasked with making a diversionary attack on the north flank of the
Gommecourt Salient. It was moved into the area in early May 1916, and the engineers were worked hard to improve the positions and then prepare for the assault against strong German defences. As before, each assaulting brigade was assigned a full field company in support, 1/2nd and 2/1st to 137th Bde and
139th (Sherwood Forester) Brigade respectively. The 2/1st Fd Co allocated one party of sappers to 1/6th Bn
Sherwood Foresters and three parties to the 1/7th (
Robin Hood) Bn. The latter were to construct strongpoints in the captured German defences, while the party with 1/6th Bn was to stay in the German front line trench doing whatever work was required. In addition, small demolition parties were to advance with the Sherwood Foresters' bombing teams. The 1/2nd Fd Co was instructed to follow the final carrying parties of the supporting 1/5th Bn
Leicestershire Regiment across No-Man's Land, and was thus less heavily engaged. No 2 Company, 5th Bn Special Brigade, RE, was also assigned to 46th Divisional RE to provide a smoke screen using trench mortars. The work was to be coordinated from a temporary RE HQ in a cellar in
Fonquevillers. Once again, the infantry attack was a disaster. 1/2nd Fd Co reported 2 killed and 14 wounded, 2/1st Fd Co lost 5 killed, 11 wounded and 7 missing. In early 1917, the RE TF companies were numbered, those of 46th Division becoming: • 465th (1st North Midland) Field Company, RE • 466th (2nd North Midland) Field Company, RE • 468th (2/1st North Midland) Field Company, RE
Hill 70 Between April and June 1917, the 46th Division was involved in back-and-forth attacks and counter-attacks around Hill 70 in the mining area of
Lens. For example, before an attack by 137th and 138th Bdes on 8 June, 466th Fd Co under Maj Coussmaker had two days to cut assembly trenches through the houses of Riamont, and open up communication trenches. A few minutes after Zero Hour, a 'battalion' of dummies was erected under orders of the CRE to attract enemy fire. After the attack, RE parties moved up into the captured positions to make shelters and erect wire during the night. For the attack of 28 June, the CRE had '2nd Cavalry Brigade Pioneer Battalion' (comprising a dismounted squadron from each regiment of the
2nd Cavalry Brigade), the
South Irish Horse and Corps Cyclists to assist the RE and divisional pioneers in digging new assembly trenches (two of which were named 'Cavalry' and 'Cyclist'). Although the raids and attacks were only partially successful, when the division was withdrawn from the Lens area in early July it had prepared the jumping-off points from which the Canadians successfully captured Hill 70 on 16–17 August. ====
Battle of St. Quentin Canal==== ) In September 1918, the 46th Division was given the task of crossing the steeply-banked and formidably defended
St Quentin Canal, part of the
Hindenburg Line. The engineers would play a critical role, but the divisional CRE, Lt-Col
Morshead, was wounded while carrying out a reconnaissance. Preparations included collecting material for crossing the canal, ranging from bridging equipment, rafts and scaling-ladders to 'mud mats' and lifebelts taken from cross-Channel ferries. A rehearsal was held on the moat at Brie Chateau. addressing troops of the Staffordshire Brigade from Riqueval Bridge after its capture On the night of 28/29 September, the engineers laid out the forming-up tapes for the assaulting troops, and at 05.50 in the morning, the
Staffordshire Brigade of 46th Division stormed the canal behind a rapid
creeping barrage, under a
Smoke screen thickened by morning fog. Captain A.H. Charlton and a party of 1/6th Bn North Staffordshire Regiment seized the single remaining road bridge over the canal at Riqueval before the Germans could destroy it, and 466th Fd Co immediately set about repairing it for guns and road traffic. The company also seized other bridges and converted dams to bridges. Other engineer sections were assigned to mopping-up parties, to examine dugouts and strongpoints for demolition charges and booby-traps. This was especially so in the Bellenglise Tunnel, where a mine was disarmed and the electric light plant restored. The follow-up waves found direction-keeping difficult in the smoke screen and fog, and engineer officers at the canal bridges had to point them in the right direction. In the aftermath of the battle, the Divisional Signal Company established a Forward Report Centre in abandoned German dugouts. ====
Battle of the Selle==== Once the Hindenburg Line had been breached, the advance moved into less devastated areas where civilians were present, and when the divisional engineers were out of the line they helped to repair civilian homes. In the advance, they were rebuilding railway bridges, filling cratered roads and dealing with delayed-action mines. During the Battle of the Selle (17 October), the Staffordshire Bde put in a mock attack using dummy troops and tanks operated by the engineers. When there was confusion in 139th Bde's attack, Lt M.E. Thomas of 465th Fd Co, gathered a group of men of various units and led them up with his sappers to assist, where he took command of the flank infantry company. The engineers then built a strongpoint for the most advanced troops. ====
Battle of the Sambre==== The BEF paused before attacking the
Sambre–Oise Canal. On 5 November, 46th Division renewed the advance, the divisional engineers throwing a pontoon bridge across the canal for the artillery and transport to cross. The approaches to this bridge soon became a sea of mud, and 465th Fd Co built a
Corduroy road across the fields. The heavy rain made the Petite Helpe stream impassable, but on 7 November, 468th Fd Co threw three bridges across it before the end of the day, and 465th Fd Co was brought up from crater-filling to build a motor bridge, which was completed before dark on 9 November. Meanwhile, on 8 November, 466th Fd Co commenced a bridge at
Cartignies for
60-pounder guns, which were urgently needed in the pursuit of the beaten enemy. The signal company, too, was heavily involved in maintaining communications, a detachment advancing ahead of the leading brigade headquarters to prepare cables for its arrival (often re-using stretches of captured German systems). Wireless sets were also leap-frogged forwards. 46th Division met its last organised opposition on 8 November, and was resting when the
Armistice with Germany came into force on 11 November. On 14–15 November, the division moved into billets around
Landrecies and began salvage and repair work. In January, it moved to
Le Cateau and here demobilisation began. The final
cadres left in June 1919.
Bourlon Wood 59th Division was next moved south to join in the
Battle of Cambrai. The division entered the recently captured line between
Cantaing and
Bourlon Wood on 28 November. Fierce German counter-attacks began on 30 Novemberand by 4 December the decision had been made to withdraw from the Bourlon Salient. 59th Division held covering positions while this was carried out. On 7 December, the British were back on the line that they would hold for the coming winter.
Spring Offensive When the
German spring offensive began on 21 March 1918 (the
Battle of St Quentin), 59th Division was holding the
Bullecourt Salient, squarely in the path of the German thrust. The situation soon became desperate, the forward brigades were almost totally destroyed, and the reserves moving up were swamped. The line was only held by the rear details.
Reconstruction 59th Division was back in the line on 14 April, when it was again in the path of a German offensive (the
Battle of Bailleul) and remnants took part in the
1st Battle of Kemmel Ridge (17–18 April). On 16 October the division fought its way through the old defences of
Lille, and liberated the city against minimal opposition the following day. Opposition stiffened as the
River Schelde was approached, but this was crossed in early November. The
Armistice on 11 November found the division astride the Schelde north of
Tournai. It moved to the coast to operate
demobilisation centres at
Dieppe,
Dunkirk and
Calais in early 1919, and to train drafts for continued service in Egypt and the Black Sea. 59th Division was finally demobilised during September 1919.
Commanders The Commanding Royal Engineers (CREs) of 59th Division during the war were: • Maj G.B. Roberts, acting, on formation, then as Lt-Col from 13 March 1916 to 4 February 1918 • Lt-Col W.E. Harrison (
see above), appointed 21 April 1915, until 13 March 1916 • Lt-Col A.C. Howard, appointed 4 February, until 6 June 1918 • Maj H.A.S. Pressey, acting 6–13 June 1918 • Lt-Col L.J. Coussmaker, appointed 13 June 1918 ==Interwar==