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Military Art prints of the Royal Engineers, including Military
regimental uniform prints published by Cranston Fine Arts,
the military print company.
[ Royal Engineers Uniform Prints ]
THE ROYAL ENGINEERS
The Corps of Royal Engineers were raised in 1716, Officers, Royal
artillery and Corps of Engineers, in 1787 the Corps was established separately,
and in 1856 Royal sappers and Miners were incorporated into the Corps of Royal
Engineers
VICTORIA CROSS AWARDS. In total forty six members of the corps received the
Victoria Cross. Eight during the Crimean war, Eight during the Indian
Mutiny two during the Bhutan Campaign of 1865, one in the Ashanti War one
in the Zulu and Basuto war, Two in the second Afghan war, One in the
Hunza Campaign of 1891, Two in the Mohmand Campaign of 1898, Two in
the Boer war Seventeen in the first World war and two during the
Second world war.
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| Search Party Reaction by David Rowlands
Bessbrook, South Armagh.
David and Goliath, Vernon, France, 27th August 1944 by David
Pentland. Leading 30th Corps assault across the Seine at Vernon, 43rd Wessex
Division gained an initial foothold on the east bank. Heroic
efforts however by the Royal Engineers of 71st, 72nd and 73rd Field
Companies, succeeded in constructing a Class 9 Bailey bridge (David,
shown left) and a Second Class 40 bridge (Goliath, shown right).
Despite constant enemy fire this amazing feat was achieved in only 2
days, and allowed 15/19th Hussars Cromwells and 4th/7th Dragoons Guards
Shermans to cross just in time to repulse a serious German counter
attack by Tiger IIs of SS Panzer Abteilung 101.
Royal Engineer Regiment by David Rowlands Royal Engineers Clearing one of the Convoy Routes (Route TRIANGLE) in
the mountains of Central Bosnia, for a convoy of Royal Logistics Corps (RLC)
vehicles.
Commando Sappers by David Rowlands Depicting 59th Independent Commando squadron of the Royal Engineers.
Air Support Sappers by David Rowlands The leading air support squadron of 39th Engineer Regiment preparing
for war. Captain Johnstone Guiding A Couple
Of Rafts Filled With Wounded Across The Aisne At Missy Under Heavy fire.All through the thick of the fighting on September
14th
1914, Captain William Henry Johnstone, of the Royal Engineers, guided a
couple of rafts to and fro across the Aisne under heavy fire.
Returning from one side with the wounded he carried back to the
other supplies of ammunition. It
was of the utmost importance to maintain communications between either
bank of the river, and for his gallant work, carried out a great
personal risk, Captain Johnstone was awarded the V.C.
Acting Second Corporal OBrien
Descending a shaft with an officer to search for the enemy.
Close to their front line of trenches, and not far from
the Hulluch quarries the British discovered a shaft.
On October 16th 1915, a sentry at the shaft reported
that he had seen two of the enemy moving along a gallery leading out of
it. In company with an
officer, Corporal OBrien of the 170th Tunnelling Company
Engineers, at once descended the shafts by means of a rope ladder,
expecting to find the enemy there.
No gallery was however found but for the courage that he had
shown Acting Second Corporal OBrien was awarded the D.C.M.
Sergeant Davies and Second
Corporal Perry repairing a barrel pier under heavy shellfire.
In circumstances demanding the greatest courage and
coolness, sergeant O Davies and Second Corporal F. G. Perry, of the 1st
Wiltshire Army Troops Company, Royal Engineers (T.F.) set to work under
heavy shellfire to repair a barrel pier across a canal.
They succeeded in repairing it for the passage of the wounded,
and were both awarded the D.C.M. for conspicuous gallantry and devotion
to duty.
Sapper Wells working a
searchlight under heavy and continuous rifle fire.
The battle which began at Shaibs, turkey in Asia 12th
1915m, had as its ibject the capture of Basra.
Though his searchlight was exposed to heavy and continuous rifle
fire on the night of April 13th-14th Sapper C. A.
Wells of the Searchlight Section royal Engineers (formerly of the
Electrical engineer Company, Bombay Volunteer Artillery) continued to
work it until it was put our of action.
By acting in the same way on the previous night he brought to
timely notice many unexpected rushes by the enemy.
For his gallant conduct and devotion to duty he was awarded the
D.C.M.
Second Corporal smith propping
up part of a mine gallery to ensure the rescue of his comrades.
On a countermine being exploded by the enemy, the men at
the face of the mine, of which Second Corporal G Smith, of the 176th
Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, was in charge, were buried.
Second Corporal smith was thrown about fifteen feet down the
gallery by the explosion, and was badly bruised and shaken.
But grasping the situation immediately, he ordered his men out of
the gallery, into which gas was leaking.
When found by his officers he was propping up a dangerous part of
the gallery to ensure the rescue of his men.
For his gallant conduct he was awarded the D.C.M.
Lieutenant Martin,
D.S.O., R.E.,
And A Small Bombing Party Holding Back The Germans At Spanbroek Molen.
Lieutenant Martin (56th Field Company Royal Engineers)
gained his first distinction, the D.S.O., in the retreat from Mons, when
he was wounded. Though
wounded again during the battle of Neuve Chapelle he refused to retire,
but heading a party of six volunteer bombers, he led them with such
resolute bravery that they drove the enemy from a section of their
trenches at Spanbroek Molen. Then
after securing themselves by transposing the parapet and piling up
sandbags, they awaited a counter attack.
When the attack cam they held overwhelming numbers of the enemy
at bay for two and a half hours. They
were ultimately forced to retire, but their gallant defence was of great
value in preventing German reinforcements passing through this section
of the trenches. Lieutenant
Martins splendid courage and energy had gained for him the V.C.
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The Defense of Rake's Drift by Alphonse De
Neuville. Text supplied by Zulu War Author Ian Knight.
By about 6pm the Zulu attacks had extended all around the front
of the post, and fighting raged at hand-to-hand along the mealie-bag wall.
Lieutenant Chard himself took up a position on the barricade, firing over the
mealie-bags with a Martini-Henry, whilst Lieutenant Bromhead directed any spare
men to plug the gaps in the line. The men in the yard and on the front wall were
dangerously exposed to the fire of Zulu marksmen posted in the rocky terraces on
Shiyane (Oskarsberg) hill behind the post. Several men were hit, including
Acting Assistant Commissary Dalton, and Corporal Allen of the 14th. Surgeon
Reynolds treated the wounded as best he could despite the fire. Once the veranda
at the front of the hospital had been abandoned, the Zulus had mounted a
determined attack on the building itself, setting fire to the thatched roof with
spears tied with burning grass. The defenders were forced to evacuate the
patients room by room, eventually passing them out through a small window into
the open yard. Shortly after 6pm Chard decided that the Zulu pressure was too
great, and ordered a withdrawal to a barricade of biscuit boxes which had been
hastily erected across the yard, from the corner of the store-house to the front
mealie-bag wall. In this small compound the garrison would fight for their lives
throughout most of the coming night.
The VC Winners: Lieutenant J.R.M. Chard, R.E.; Lieutenant G. Bromhead, 2/24th;
Surgeon J.H. Reynolds, A.M.D.; Acting Assistant Commissary J.L. Dalton, C. &
T.D.; Corporal Allen, 2/24th; Corporal C.F. Schiess, N.N.C.; Privates F. Hitch,
A.H. Hook, R. Jones, W. Jones, J. Williams, 2/24th.
The DCM Winners: Col. Sgt. F.E. Bourne2/24th; 2nd Corp. F. Attwood, A.S.C.; 2nd
Corp. M. McMahon, A.H.C.;Wheeler J. Cantwell, R.A.; Pte W. Roy, 1/24th.
Eve of Distinction by Mark Churms Lt. John Rouse Merriot Chard, Royal Engineers.
At about 3.30 on the afternoon of 22nd January 1879, Lieutenant John
Rouse Merriot Chard, Royal Engineers, was supervising repairs on the
military pont on the Mzinyathi river, at the border crossing at Rorke's
Drift, when survivors brought news that the advanced British camp
at Isandhlwana had been over-run by the Zulus, and that a wing of the
Zulu army was on its way to attack Rorke's Drift. Chard ordered Driver
Robson to pack up the wagon and return to the mission station, where a
stockpile of supplies was under the guard of B Company, 2/24th Regiment.
Chard, in consultation with his fellow officers, made the historic
decision to make a stand at Rorke's Drift.
Sapper W. Hackett Refuses To Leave A Comrade Who
Was Lying Seriously Injured In A Mine Gallery.
Sapper William Hackett, of the Royal Engineers, was entombed with
four others in a gallery owing to the explosion of an enemy mine.
After working for twenty hours a hole was made through fallen
earth and broken timber, and the outside party was met.
Hackett helped three of the men through the hole, but refused to
leave the fourth, which had been seriously injured.
Meanwhile the hole was getting smaller, and finally the gallery
collapsed. The rescue party
worked desperately for four days, but the attempt to reach the two men
failed. Hackett
deliberately gave his life for his comrade, and in recognition of his
most conspicuous bravery award of the V.C. was made.
Second
Corporal Daniell clearing a fallen tree from a road under heavy
shellfire. For his conspicuous devotion to duty throughout the
campaign, Second Corporal T. A. Daniell of the First Field Squadron
Royal Engineers has been awarded the D.C.M.
On one occasion a tree fell across a road in the way of some
armoured cars, and he at once went out under heavy shellfire to clear it
away.
How Lance Corporal C. A. Jarvis
Blew Up The Bridge At Jemappes.
The duties of the Engineers are more manifold than those of any
other part of the forces, and include making roads, bridges and
railways, working telegraphs telephones, balloons, preparing camps,
water supply, field work for attacking or defence, and for the
demolition of those of the enemy. In
the present war the Royal Engineers have nobly lived (and died) up to
their great traditions, and several of their number have already won the
V.C. by daring deeds, one of which is here illustrated.
Lance Corporal Jarvis, of the 57th Field Company,
royal Engineers, won his V.C. for great gallantry at Jemappes, which is
three miles west of Mons, on the 23rd of August 1914. He worked for three and a half hours under a most deadly fire
in full view of the enemy, and eventually was successful in laying a
fire charge for the demolition of a bridge.
Sergeant Taylor Clearing Fallen
Horses From a Pontoon Bridge at Valley.
The passage of the Aisne was begun on Sunday, September 13th
1914, when the 8th British Brigade made the crossing at Vailly. On the following
day the enemy made a counter attack at this point, and for a time the
communications of the 3rd Division appeared to be in danger
of being cut. No reserves
were available except cavalry, but this proved sufficient in repelling
the attack after hard fighting. As
the 5th Cavalry Brigade was retiring across the river at Vailly, shells burn in quick succession over the pontoon bridge, and
falling horses began to cause confusion.
Sergeant Taylor, of the 57th Company Royal Engineers,
however, rushed forward and did most gallant and effective work in
clearing them away. He was
awarded the D.C.M.
Lines to Direct Artillery Fire. The extremely dangerous and difficult nature of the
airman’s calling is vividly brought to mind by this picture.
If in flying over the enemy’s lines he is not attacked by
hostile airmen, his aeroplane is certain to become a mark for
anti-aircraft guns. The
observation made by Lieutenant Donald Swain Lewis, of the Royal
Engineers and Royal Flying Corps have been of the greatest value to the
gunners of the Royal Artillery. His directions, whilst flying, have frequently led to direct
hits on the enemy’s guns. For
most valuable services in difficult and trying conditions he has been
deservedly rewarded with the D.S.O.
Lieutenant Withington
Bringing a Field Gun into Action in the British Trenches Against the
Enemys Sap. During the operations south of Pilkem, between the 6th
& 8th July 1915, Lieutenant Robert Leigh Withington, of
the 9th Field Company Royal Engineers, assisted in conveying
an 18-pounder gun across the Yser Canal, and in getting it into position
in a gun pit prepared by him in the fire trenches.
The enemy’s sap was then blown in from a distance of less than
sixty yards, and under heavy fire at close range Lieutenant Withington
superintended the joining up of the British sap with that of the enemy.
His conspicuous gallantry and ability were rewarded with the M.C.
Acting Lance-Corporal
Barker Assisting a Party Collected by him to Open out a Communication
Trench Under Heavy Shell and Machine Gun Fire.
In the assault on September 25th 1915, of the salient
of Sanctuary Wood, near Hooge, Acting Lance Corporal Barker, 1st Cheshire Field Company Royal Engineers
(T.F.) was separated from his
party. He however, at once
assisted and superintended a party of the Royal Scots Fusiliers to dig
himself in, and, afterwards on his own initiative, collected a party of
infantry. With them he
opened up under heavy shell and machine gun fire a communication trench
from the British line to the captured position.
He was the last man to leave the work when it became impossible
to continue. For his
conspicuous gallantry and initiative, Lance-Corporal Barker was awarded
the D.C.M. |
| Corporal M Sleavon V.C.R.E. by Peter Archer
During the attack on the fortress of Jhansi, 3rd April 1858
Print serial number DHM9015. Image size 22" x 14".
Print price £45. SOLD OUT
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