Dundee Fortress Royal Engineers

Last updated

City of Dundee Fortress Engineers
320th (City of Dundee) Searchlight Battery
126 Army Engineer Regiment
Badge, regimental (AM 790955-1).jpg
RE Cap badge (King George V cipher)
Active1908–1950
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg Territorial Army (United Kingdom)
RoleCoast Defence
Air Defence
Army Engineers
Size1–2 Companies
Part of 71st Division (1916–18)
51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment (1938–42)
124th (Highland) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (1942–45)
Garrison/HQ Dundee
Engagements North Russia
The Blitz
Normandy
North West Europe

The Dundee Fortress Royal Engineers was a Scottish volunteer unit of the British Army formed in 1908. Its main role was the defence of the harbours and shipyards on the River Tay, but it also provided a detachment that saw active service in North Russia at the end of World War I. In the 1930s, it was turned into an air defence unit, in which role it served in World War II. A brief postwar revival ended in disbandment in 1950.

Contents

Precursor unit

When Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke, Inspector-General of Fortifications 1882–6, did not have enough Regular Royal Engineers (RE) to man the fixed mines being installed to defend British seaports, he utilised the Volunteer Engineers for this task. After successful trials, the system was rolled out to ports around the country, [1] [2] and a new Volunteer company was raised at Dundee on 5 February 1887 to cover the Firth of Tay, entitled Tay Division Submarine Miners. It moved its headquarters to Broughty Ferry in 1890. [3] For many years, its Honorary Colonel was Arthur Fitzgerald, 11th Lord Kinnaird. [4] [5]

By 1907, the War Office had decided to hand all submarine mining duties over to Militia units and the Volunteer submarine miners were disbanded. Although most of the units were converted into fortress engineers, this did not happen in the case of the Tay Division, which was disbanded with effect from 2 November. [3] [6]

Territorial Force

Thus, when the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms in 1908, a completely new unit of fortress engineers had to be raised for the Firth of Tay defences. It was entitled the City of Dundee (Fortress) Royal Engineers, with its HQ at 52 Taylors Lane, Dundee, and consisted of a single Works Company. [7] [8] [9]

World War I

On the outbreak of World War I, the fortress engineers were mobilised and moved into their war stations in the coastal defences. [10] In August 1914, TF units were authorised to establish 2nd Line duplicate units to absorb the rush of volunteers coming forward. [11] The City of Dundee unit thus formed the 1/1st Dundee Fortress Company, RE, and 2/1st Dundee Fortress Company, RE. [12]

1/1st City of Dundee Army Troops Company

Once it was clear that the threat to Britain's coastal defences was small, six of the fortress engineer units organised their 1st Line as 'Army Troops' companies for service on the Lines of Communication of the British Expeditionary Force. The 1/1st City of Dundee Fortress Company embarked for France on 6 May 1915 and after arriving at Abbeville was assigned to Second Army the following month. In February 1917 it was redesignated 554th (Dundee) Army Troops Company, RE. It remained serving with Second Army after the Armistice with Germany until at least June 1919. [12] [13] [14]

2/1st City of Dundee Army Troops Company

Initially, the 2nd Line were intended as reserve units to allow the 1st Line to go on service, but in November 1916 the 2/1st Dundee Company was redesignated as a Field Company, RE, and assigned to 71st Division. When the TF engineers were numbered in February 1917, the company became 548th (Dundee) Field Company, RE. [12] [15]

71st Division was a home service formation, responsible for defending the coast of Essex from Mersea Island to Walton-on-the-Naze. Later, it became a training division, which was broken up in March 1918. One of its infantry brigades (214th Brigade) had been converted into a Special Service Brigade with attached troops and was earmarked to join the North Russia Expeditionary Force. In the event, 214th Brigade remained in the UK, but 548th (Dundee) Field Company, redesignated as an 'Army Troops Company', did proceed to Murmansk. The advance party landed on 20 June 1918, and was followed by the main body three days later. [12] [15]

The force at Murmansk defended the ice-free port facilities and the Murmansk–Petrograd railway as far as Kem on the White Sea, against the threat of attacks by German and Finnish White Guard forces in the closing months of World War I. It continued this duty during the complex postwar political and military exchanges with local Bolsheviks and Finnish Red Guards. It was finally withdrawn in 1920. [16]

Interwar

When the TF was reconstituted as the Territorial Army (TA) in 1920, the City of Dundee Fortress Engineers reformed at the Drill Hall in Bell Street, Dundee. The contemporary Army List shows this as a single company, though the Dundee Directory for 1922-23 lists both a Works Company and an Electric Light Company. [17] [18] [19] By 1927 it consisted of No 1 Company (City of Dundee) (Fortress) RE, listed as Coast Defence Troops in 51st (Highland) Divisional Area. [20]

With the recognition of the increased threat of aerial bombing in any future war, the company was converted into an Independent Anti-Aircraft (AA) Searchlight Company in 1934 as 320th (City of Dundee) AA Company, RE. It gained a Regular RE officer as Adjutant, who was shared with 319th (City of Aberdeen) AA Company (converted at the same time from the Aberdeen Fortress Royal Engineers). [17] [21]

World War II

With the continued expansion of the TA's air defences, 320th (Dundee) Company and 319th (Aberdeen) Company combined with a newly raised battery at Cowdenbeath in 1938 to form 51st (Highland) AA Battalion, RE. [17] [22] [23] [24] In August 1939, Anti-Aircraft Command was mobilised and 51st AA Bn took its place in the air defences of Scotland. A year later the RE searchlight battalions were transferred to the Royal Artillery (RA), and the unit became 51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, RA (TA), serving throughout the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. [23] [25] [26] [27]

In February 1942, the regiment was converted to the Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) artillery role as 124 (Highland) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA (TA) and it served with Second Army in Normandy and North West Europe. [23] [25] [28] [29] [30]

Postwar

When the TA was reformed in 1947, 124 LAA Regiment was reconstituted as 586 (Highland) LAA/SL Rgt with its HQ at Dundee. This unit was absorbed into 276th (Highland) Field Rgt on the disbandment of AA Command in 1955. [25] [31]

However, a Royal Engineer unit was also formed at Dundee in 1947, which was regarded as the lineal descendant of the Dundee Fortress Engineers and derived its seniority (1908) from that unit. Designated 126 Army Engineer Regiment, RE, it consisted of: [32]

This TA regiment and its squadrons were disbanded in 1950, their numbers being transferred to 126 Advanced Engineer Stores Regiment of the Supplementary Reserve/Army Emergency Reserve, which itself was disbanded in 1961. [33]

Prominent members

Captain Lewis Collins, MC, credited with five aerial victories in 1918 as an observer in the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force, was born in Dundee and originally enlisted as a sapper in the Fortress Engineers. [34]

Notes

  1. Beckett, pp. 184–5.
  2. Short et al, pp. 1–4.
  3. 1 2 Westlake, p. 10.
  4. Army Lists.
  5. Burke's.
  6. Quarterly Army List, October 1907.
  7. Monthly Army List, August 1914.
  8. 52 Taylor's Lane at Scotland's Urban Past.
  9. Watson & Rinaldi, p. 12.
  10. Conrad.
  11. Becke, p. 6.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 62–3, 69, 83.
  13. 'Embarkation Dates', The National Archives (TNA), Kew file WO 162/7.
  14. Morling, p. 38.
  15. 1 2 Becke, pp. 101–5.
  16. Lincoln, pp. 176–82, 268–73, 278–9.
  17. 1 2 3 Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 104, 111–2.
  18. Monthly Army List, January 1923.
  19. Dundee Directory 1922-23.
  20. Titles and Designations, 1927.
  21. Monthly Army Lists 1934–35.
  22. Army List.
  23. 1 2 3 "3 AA Division 1939 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  24. Glasgow Herald 13 January 1938.
  25. 1 2 3 Litchfield, pp. 274–5.
  26. 51 S/L Rgt at RA 39–45 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  27. "3 AA Division 1940 at British Military History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  28. 124 LAA Rgt at RA 39–45 Archived 2008-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
  29. Joslen, p. 463.
  30. Routledge, pp. 314–5, 319, 326, 366
  31. RA TA Rgts 564–591 at British Army 1945 on Archived 10 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  32. RE TA Rgts 118–432 at British Army 1945 on Archived 10 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  33. RE SR/AER Sqns 240–751 at British Army 1945 on
  34. Aces at The Aerodrome.

Related Research Articles

27th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an Air Defence formation of the British Army in World War II that served in The Blitz and later converted to infantry.

The London Electrical Engineers was a Volunteer unit of the British Army's Royal Engineers founded in 1897. It pioneered the use of searchlights (S/Ls) for port defence before World War I and for anti-aircraft (AA) defence during the war. In the interwar period it formed the two senior searchlight regiments of the Territorial Army, which defended Southern England during The Blitz. Detachments later served in the Battle of Crete and Siege of Tobruk.

The 28th (Essex) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1935 until 1961, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. During the Second World War it defended the approaches to London in The Blitz and Operation Diver before becoming a garrison unit in the liberation of Norway.

29th Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) before and during World War II. It defended East Anglian airfields and ports during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. It was reformed in the postwar TA.

The 29th (Kent) Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1935 until 1955, at first as part of the Royal Engineers (RE), later in the Royal Artillery (RA). It served during The Blitz, defended South West England, Orkney and Shetland before becoming garrison troops in North West Europe.

The 38th Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army formed just before World War II, which protected London and Southern England during the Blitz and later converted into an infantry formation for the liberation of Europe.

The 30th (Northumbrian) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army from 1936 until 1955, which defended Tyneside and Sunderland during World War II.

2nd Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom) Military unit

The 2nd Anti-Aircraft Division was an Air Defence formation of the British Army from 1935 to 1942. It controlled anti-aircraft gun and searchlight units of the Territorial Army (TA) defending the East Midlands and East Anglia during The Blitz.

The 32nd (Midland) Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Anti-Aircraft Command in Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1936 to 1955, charged with defending the East Midlands of England.

51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 51st (Highland) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was a Scottish unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed for air defence just before World War II. It later served as an anti-aircraft (AA) artillery unit in the North West Europe Campaign 1944–45, and continued in the postwar TA into the 1950s.

59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 59th (Warwickshire) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of the Territorial Army (TA), part of the British Army, and was raised in Birmingham in 1938 just before the Second World War. It later served as a light anti-aircraft gun unit and continued in the postwar TA.

The Tyne Electrical Engineers (TEE) is a Volunteer unit of the British Army that has existed under various titles since 1860. It has been the parent unit for a large number of units fulfilling specialist coastal and air defence roles in the Royal Engineers (RE) and Royal Artillery (RA), many seeing service during both World Wars. TEE companies currently form part of the RE and of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the Army Reserve.

37th (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery Military unit

The 37th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. It served in the Battle of France, when it was one of the last British units evacuated. It then served in Anti-Aircraft Command defending the UK, particularly against V-1 flying bombs.

3rd Anti-Aircraft Division (United Kingdom) Military unit

The 3rd Anti-Aircraft Division was an air defence formation of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army, created in the period of tension before the outbreak of World War II. It defended Scotland and Northern Ireland during the early part of the war.

The 73rd Searchlight Regiment was a volunteer air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) from 1939 until 1955, at first as part of the Royal Engineers, later in the Royal Artillery. It served during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz.

Aberdeen Fortress Royal Engineers Military unit

The Aberdeen Fortress Royal Engineers was a Scottish volunteer unit of the British Army formed in 1908. Its main role was defence of the Scottish coast, but it served on the Western Front during World War I. In the 1930s it was converted into an air defence unit, in which role it served in World War II.

East Riding Fortress Royal Engineers Military unit

The East Riding (Fortress) Royal Engineers was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers formed for the defence of the Humber Estuary in the East Riding of Yorkshire. As well as serving in this role it also provided field and specialist engineer units in both World Wars. Its successors continued to serve in the Territorial Army until 1991.

The Essex (Fortress) Royal Engineers was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers formed to defend the Essex coast. It served in this role in World War I and then converted to a searchlight regiment for air defence in World War II. The unit ended the war as a garrison infantry battalion. Its descendants continued to serve in the Territorial Army until 1955.

Cornwall Fortress Royal Engineers Military unit

The Cornwall Fortress Royal Engineers, was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers formed in 1908. It helped to defend the coastal towns of Cornwall and sent engineer units to work on the Western Front. Converted to an air defence role before World War I, it served as a searchlight unit during the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, then, as a light anti-aircraft gun unit, it served in the most heavily attacked part of the South Coast of England throughout 1942–44, including the V-1 flying bomb campaign.

52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade was an air defence formation of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. Formed on the outbreak of war to control static searchlight (S/L) sites in Scotland, it later operated as a headquarters (HQ) for mobile anti-aircraft (AA) gun units in the Allied invasion of North Africa and subsequent Italian Campaign.

References

Online sources