A. J. Smithers - Honourable conquests : an account of the enduring work of the Royal Engineers throughout the empire

HONOURABLE CONQUESTS

By the same author

HONOURABLE
CONQUESTS

An account
of the enduring work
of the
ROYAL ENGINEERS
throughout the Empire

by
A. J. Smithers

First published in Great Britain in 1991 by
LEO COOPER
190 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JL
an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire

A. J. Smithers 1991

ISBN 0 85052 725 2
Cataloguing in Publication data
is available from the British Library

Typeset by Yorkshire Web, Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Printed in Great Britain by The Redwood Press, Melksham

The idea for this book, a single-volume chronicle of some of the most important work of the Royal Engineers away from the battlefield, came from the Secretary of the Institution, Colonel Gerald Napier. He has been kind enough to read it in its various drafts, but that does not mean that he bears any responsibility for the contents.

For these I have to thank the Corps Library at Chatham; in particular Mrs Margaret Magnuson and her assistant Mrs Vivien Barker. No Sapper has ever done anything anywhere at any time but Mrs Magnuson knows about it; and she has most generously given of her knowledge and her time to an outsider with no claim upon either. The book could not have been written without her help. Whether any possible reader will be grateful I cannot tell. But I am. Very.

On the sections dealing with subjects as diverse as a canal in Canada, the damming of rivers in India and digging a notable hole in Dover, I have received more help than I deserve from ladies and gentlemen who really know about these things. The President of the Ontario Historical Society, Mr. John Bonser, is also the Superintendent of the Rideau Canal. He was good enough to introduce me (by post, of course) to Dr Robert F Legget, O.C., of Ottawa, the greatest living authority on Colonel By and his works. Dr Legget has been to great pains to prevent me from falling into error and has allowed me to quote from his locus classicus, Rideau Waterway. Mrs Beth Hill, of Victoria B.C., has added much to my inadequate knowledge of British Columbia, has traced me there a namesake if not an ancestor, and has kindly allowed me to use portions of her fine book Sappers. Moving on to India, I have had help of inestimable value on the works of Sir Arthur Cotton from gentlemen who speak with the highest authority. Major-General R. M. Rau, A.V.S.M., was, before his retirement, the Indian Armys Chief Engineer for Eastern Command and has written much on the subject. Mr. K. V. Srinivasa Rao was, not long ago, Chief Engineer (Irrigation) for Andhra Pradesh. Both of them have been generous with their help and I cannot sufficiently thank them. On Australia, I am indebted to Dr John Playford of Adelaide University for filling in some of the many gaps in my knowledge about Sapper activity down under.

The Libraries of Canada House and the India Office have been laid under contribution. As always, I have been treated not merely with courtesy but with an eagerness to help that is much appreciated. Equally have Karen James and Sarah Gray of the University of Kent at Canterbury put themselves to more trouble than I had any right to expect in order to find missing pieces for my puzzle. Their only reward, if such it be, is my gratitude.

Every author needs a candid friend, one who can tell him firmly that those passages of which he is proudest have got to be deleted and pointing out matters that ought to have been included but are not. I count myself fortunate in having for that purpose Major Derek Poulsen. After 50 years which hold quite a lot of shared experience, he knows exactly what to do; such debts can be mentioned but never paid.

In spite of all the foregoing there are bound to be mistakes and omissions. These, even though I cannot immediately identify them, are mine alone and I share them with no man.

The author and publishers are much indebted to the Director of the Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham, not only for providing most of the illustrations used in this book but also for permission to reproduce them. The drawings by Thomas Burrowes of the Rideau Canal were kindly provided by the Ontario Archives, Toronto. The relative serial numbers are given in the captions. The photograph of the light-well inside the Grand Shaft was taken by Mr Andrew Denyer and is reproduced with his kind permission.

by Colonel Gerald Napier,
Director, the Royal Engineers Museum, Chatham

Soldiers, I have come to say to you a few kind words of parting. You are going to a distant country, not, I trust, to fight against men, but to conquer nature; not to besiege cities, but to create them; not to overthrow kingdoms, but to assist in establishing new communications under the sceptre of your own Queen.

When Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, thus addressed the so-called Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers as they embarked for their adventures on the West Coast of Canada in 1858 he might have been speaking for all the remarkable men who are the subject of this book.

The continuing story of the Royal Engineers has three strands. Foremost is that of the soldier-engineer supporting the Army in the field. It can be found in most accounts of battles, for in most the Sapper was there, often spearheading an attack or securing a withdrawal. Not for nothing have fifty Victoria Crosses been won by Sappers for feats as epic as commanding the defence of Rorkes Drift or as poignant as volunteering to remain in a collapsing tunnel to succour wounded comrades in the underground war in Flanders.

The second strand of the story tells of the Sapper as an inventor ingenious adaptor of technology and science. In the age of burgeoning discoveries, Sappers made it their business as they do today to understand and exploit new ideas. Innovative building technology was applied to the construction of barracks, fortifications and public buildings; the Sappers early grasp of the principles of electricity and of diving techniques led to the development of submarine mining systems, the introduction of searchlights and the worlds first guided torpedo. Sappers were in the air for fifty years before the RAF, forming the first air unit in 1911. They ran signals for the Army until 1920, developed steam transport and helped give birth to the tank. The commander of the Tank Corps at Cambrai was a Sapper.

To many, however, it is the third strand that provides the most enthralling tale. In 1820 the Corps provided nearly half the countrys qualified engineers. As a result, their expertise was in great demand throughout the Empire and in other spheres of British influence for bringing the necessities of civilization. Much was expected of them in countries rich in natural resources but devoid of normal communications or comforts of modern life. They responded with feats approaching genius and made their mark not only in permanent monuments of stone and steel but also in the economic and social benefits they created in the communities where they worked. It required a special independence of character and sense of mission. They seem to have been aware that they were creating history but at the same time took it in their stride as if it were no more that the normal way of proceeding.