The North Midland Divisional Engineers was a Territorial Force unit of the British Royal Engineers created in 1908 by conversion of a volunteer infantry battalion from Staffordshire. It saw action in World War I at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Gommecourt, Ypres, Cambrai, the German spring offensive and the Hundred Days Offensive, culminating in the assault crossings of the St Quentin Canal, the Selle and the Sambre. During World War II its component units saw action in the Battle of France, in Greece, Tunisia, Italy, Normandy and the Rhine crossing.
Early history The origin of the unit lay in the 1st Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, one of many such RVCs raised after an invasion scare in 1859.Beckett. It was organised at Handsworth on 15 August 1859. The 1st Handsworth was raised by James Timmins Chance JP, the first in the county, the first in the Midlands and possibly the first in Great Britain following the letter from Jonathan Peel, Secretary of State for War, to county Lord Lieutenants on 12 May 1859. JT Chance wrote to Lord Hatherton, Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire in July 1859 to tell him he had raised a company of fifty volunteers.
Sir Francis Scott, 3rd Baronet, was one of the original officers. From July 1860, along with a number of other units from the county, it formed part of the 3rd Administrative Battalion of Staffordshire RVCs (dates are those of the first officers' commissions):Beckett, Appendix VII.Westlake, pp. 216–22. 1st (Handsworth) Staffordshire RVC 15th (Brierley Hill) Staffordshire RVC, formed at Brierley Hill 1 August 1860 17th (Seisdon) Staffordshire RVC, formed at Seisdon 21 February 1860, became No 2 Company of 27th Staffordshire RVC in 1873 18th (Kingswinford) Staffordshire RVC, formed at Kingswinford 21 February 1860 20th (West Bromwich) Staffordshire RVC, formed at West Bromwich 25 February 1860 27th (Patshull) Staffordshire RVC, formed at Patshull on 7 March 1860 under the command of William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth 31st (Smethwick) Staffordshire RVC, formed at Smethwick on 19 April 1860 35th (Kinver) Staffordshire RVC, formed at Kinver on 3 July 1860.
In 1880, the RVCs were consolidated, and the 3rd Admin Bn became the 1st Staffordshire RVC with the following organisation: A & B Companies at Handsworth (ex 1st Staffs RVC) C Company at Brierley Hill (ex 15th Staffs RVC) D Company at Kingswinford, later at Wordsley (ex 18th Staffs RVC) E Company at West Bromwich (ex 20th Staffs RVC) F Company at Seisdon (ex No 2 Company, 27th Staffs RVC) G Company at Patshull (ex No 1 Company, 27th Staffs RVC) H Company at Smethwick (ex 31st Staffs RVC)
As part of the Childers Reforms, the RVCs were affiliated to their local Regular regiments, and in May 1883 the 1st Staffs RVC became the 1st Volunteer Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, with its headquarters at Belgrave Terrace, Handsworth.Handsworth at the Drill Hall Project. In the 1880s, the battalion formed a mounted infantry company, but it soon disappeared.Beckett, p. 200. Additional companies were formed later: I Company at Smethwick and K Company at West Bromwich (both 1900), and L (Cyclist) Company at Handsworth (1901). A later reorganisation saw the disbandment of G Company and consolidation at Handsworth (3 Cos), Brierley Hill (2 Cos), West Bromwich (2 Cos), Smethwick (2 Cos) and Sutton Coldfield (1 Co). From 1888, the battalion, along with the other South Staffordshire and North Staffordshire Regiment Volunteer Battalions, formed part of the Staffordshire Brigade.Army List.
Territorial Force When the former Volunteer Force was subsumed into the Territorial Force in 1908, some of the existing Volunteer infantry units were converted to artillery and engineers to complete the new divisional structures. The 1st VB of the South Staffordshires was one such, the bulk being converted into the 1st North Midland Field Company, Royal Engineers, in the North Midland Division, while some of the personnel from Handsworth and Brierley Hill became G and E Companies in the new 5th Bn South Staffordshires, which was mainly drawn from the 2nd VB.Brierley Hill at the Drill Hall Project.London Gazette, 20 March 1908.MacDonald, pp. 3, 5 & 7.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 11.
The 1st North Midland Field Company was based at the Drill Hall in Broomfield Road, Smethwick, while the HQ of the Divisional Engineers and the newly raised 2nd North Midland Field Company was at Norton Hall in Norton Canes, near Cannock, the family home of Lt-Col W.E. Harrison, whose coal mining employees formed the bulk of the personnel. Harrison was appointed Commanding Royal Engineer (CRE) of the North Midland Division on 25 May 1912. The newly formed Divisional Telegraph (later Signal) Company, RE, was based at the Drill Hall at Routh Street in Stoke-on-Trent.Monthly Army List, August 1914.Cannock at the Drill Hall Project.'Harrison of Wychnor Park' in Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937 Edn.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 61–7.Lord, pp. 155–6.
World War I
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.
Meanwhile, the men who had not volunteered for foreign service, together with the recruits who were coming forward, remained at the drill halls to form 2nd Line units designated the 2/1st and 2/2nd North Midland Field Companies, while the parent units took a '1/' prefix. Later, the 1/3rd and 3/1st Field Companies were formed. The 2nd Line units joined the 2nd North Midland Division.Becke, Pt 2b, pp. 17–23.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 36.Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 65–6.
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.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 31.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 34.Becke, Pt 1, pp. 105–11.
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.
Hohenzollern Redoubt
46th Division's first offensive operation was the Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt. This was an attempt to restart the failed Battle of Loos, and the division was moved down from Ypres on 1 October for the purpose. The Germans had recaptured the Hohenzollern trench system on 3 October, and the new attack was aimed at this point. The infantry went in at 14.00 on 13 October behind a gas cloud, 1/1st NM Fd Co supporting 138th (Lincoln and Leicester) Brigade in the Left Attack, and 1/2nd NM Fd Co supporting 137th (Staffordshire Brigade) in the Right Attack, with one section of 1/2nd following the third line of each attack. The assault was a disaster, most of the leading waves being cut down by machine gun and shellfire.Cherry, pp. 281–2.Rawson, pp. 120–8.
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.MacDonald, pp. 50–52, 106–7.
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.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 453–4.MacDonald, pp. 76–88, 137, 144–5.
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.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, p. 465. 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.MacDonald, pp 287–9, 299–300.
Once again, the infantry attack was a disaster.Edmonds, 1916, Vol I, pp. 465–71.MacDonald, pp. 293–450. 1/2nd Fd Co reported 2 killed and 14 wounded, 2/1st Fd Co lost 5 killed, 11 wounded and 7 missing.Macdonald, pp. 289–90.
In early 1917, the RE TF companies were numbered, those of 46th Division becoming:Watson & Rinaldi, p. 60. 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.Campbell-Johnston, pp. 15–8.
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').Campbell-Johnston, pp. 20–1.
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.Campbell-Johnston, p. 36.
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.Priestley, pp. 41–3.Edmonds, pp. 101–2.