How did Pioneer regiments work exactly?

[wbroun]

First, a bit of context:

I am grateful for the kind and generous responses last spring to inquiries about the grandfather I never met, Walter Alfred Broun.

Now that it seems fairly likely that my grandpa served in the 1/6th (Glamorgan) Battalion of the Welsh Regiment, which was attached as a Pioneer battalion to the First Division, I am able to get a rough sense of what my grandfather's general movements may have been by reading the war diaries of his battalion, located here.

(I realize that I am dealing in probabilities here, and not certainties, and I'm content with that, because I'm just as fascinated in this world from a broader historical perspective and not a strictly personal standpoint.)

Now, my questions ...

What I'm trying to learn now is how Pioneer units typically worked. I have recently purchased Peter Hart's giant and somewhat controversial book on the Somme, but Pioneer units are mostly left out, understandably perhaps. When I compare my grandpa's unit's war diaries against the narrative of the battle, it seems that the Pioneer unit is always about 1-2 months behind the movements of the battle lines. For example, in mid September 1916, on the eve of the famous Battle of Flers-Courcelette with the debut of tanks, my grandpa's unit seems to have been assigned to works projects at Bazentin, where the battle had been hot back in July.

So did Pioneer units generally come in after positions were secured and help fortify them in various ways? Does this account for the 1-2 month gap in my gramp's unit's movements behind the heat of battle?

Had it been any different, I may not have ever been born, and I thank God that grandpa was protected. Of course, as I read the war diaries of grandpa's unit, I can also see that plenty of his fellow Pioneers perished, too, but with nothing like the horrific numbers on the Line.

I am basically trying to get a GENERAL sense of what Pioneer units were all about -- what they did, how they were formed, their modus operandi, character, reputation, etc. Were these units composed of old men or men somehow not suitable for front-line combat? Why would my grandpa have ended up in a Pioneer unit? What are some possible scenarios that could have led him to that unit? I do NOT think he voluntarily enlisted, but I have no verification of that.

My grandpa would have been around age 25 in 1916. He was unmarried still, and he worked as a jewelry enameler. As many of you will know, this kind of work wasn't uncommon in the fine porcelain and handicrafts industries of the west Midlands. He was a somewhat quiet man of steady routines, as I understand it, but there was nothing whatsoever physically or mentally wrong with him from all reports.

[geraint]

The territorial battalions in France in 1914-5 found themselves bearing the brunt of fighting following the almost anhilation of the regulars. They were infantry battalions. Due to the trench system of fighting, it became imperative that pioneer battalions were established for every division. These were front line infantry battalions which had a certain penchance for digging. Territorial battalions from the collieries and heavy mining areas were suddenly transformed into fighting pioneer battalions due to their mining experiences. They were neither old nor decrepit - contrarywise 4th RWF TF found themselves 'pioneers' due to their digging activity at Loos.

Front line pioneers were responsible for all trenchwork, and worked with RE supervisors in tunneling work with the RE tunneling companies. They were also gas and smoke layers when required. They consolidated NML and dug observation, listening and attack posts and saps under consistent enemy fire.One company acting as rifle support, and one company digging. They worked behind the lines on rail and tramlines, waterpipes, ammo routes, artillery bases,dug-outs etc etc. Their losses were comprable to non-pioneer battalions in general, and their gallantry undisputed.

[wbroun]

The territorial battalions in France in 1914-5 found themselves bearing the brunt of fighting following the almost anhilation of the regulars. They were infantry battalions. Due to the trench system of fighting, it became imperative that pioneer battalions were established for every division. These were front line infantry battalions which had a certain penchance for digging. Territorial battalions from the collieries and heavy mining areas were suddenly transformed into fighting pioneer battalions due to their mining experiences. They were neither old nor decrepit - contrarywise 4th RWF TF found themselves 'pioneers' due to their digging activity at Loos.

Front line pioneers were responsible for all trenchwork, and worked with RE supervisors in tunneling work with the RE tunneling companies. They were also gas and smoke layers when required. They consolidated NML and dug observation, listening and attack posts and saps under consistent enemy fire.One company acting as rifle support, and one company digging. They worked behind the lines on rail and tramlines, waterpipes, ammo routes, artillery bases,dug-outs etc etc. Their losses were comprable to non-pioneer battalions in general, and their gallantry undisputed.

wonderful info -- many thanks! Any sense of precisely how a typical pioneer battalion might be formed, in terms of initial organization and calling up for duty? I find myself especially curious about just how my grandfather may have found himself on one of these units? It is longstanding family lore that he "had a whiff of gas" or "had a taste of gas" (this is the language my dad uses) at some point during the war, so I have no doubt he was exposed to mortal danger.

[David B]

My uncle won a DCM as a sergeant in an Australian pioneer battalion. I will answer more fully when I can get at my notes, not available at the moment.

[sotonmate]

wb

As your Gramp's unit was initially raised in Swansea in 1914 one must assume that they,and maybe increasingly,their later drafts were from mining stock. As might be seen from the Pioneers of other Divisions they also seem to have,though not exclusively, come from mining areas. It follows that their leaders would have put "a square peg in a square hole" and used them to best advantage,even though they were fully trained as Infantry from the outset.

All those obvious jobs such as turning around captured trenches to face the other way (!), and their various infrastructure links,had to be done swiftly and efficiently and called for a considerable expertise and speed.

Well done the Pioneers !

Sotonmate

[dycer]

wbroun,

If you care to send me a personal message with your e-mail address.

I will forward, to you, a WW1 Scots Pioneer Battalion History written in 1919/20.

George

[David B]

My Uncle originally joined an infantry division but, whether from necessity or request was transferred to the 3rd Australian Pioneers. He was a country

farmer big and strong and this may have had some bearing ffor the transfer. Generally the pioneers followed their parent division around and performed

works such as building amenities/toilet blocks/shower houses behind the front lines, road making up to the front line (often courderoy construction) and

took their turns in the front line if needed for reinforcement to the regular division infantry. They were also engaged in trench digging/cable laying, allthese

tasks being performed well within range of enemy fire. In fact my uncle was wounded twice and gassed during his nearly two years in France. Fortunately

he survived and lived a long and useful life as a farmer back home in Victoria. As was the case he rarely spoke of events in France even though I was

fairly close to him for nearly fifty years.

[wbroun]

... In fact my uncle was wounded twice and gassed during his nearly two years in France. Fortunately

he survived and lived a long and useful life as a farmer back home in Victoria.

It's so strange for me when I reflect on how some lives continued and so many hundreds of thousands of other lives came to an end during the prime of their lives. I look at the faces of the fallen in the old photographs, and the men truly seem to belong to a different world. But then when I draw a line in my mind from my grandpa to my own father (safely born in 1929), I realize that my own existence and that of my five-year-old son at one point hung by the thinnest of mortal threads. I guess that's part of why I find the Somme so fascinating. On so many levels, its shells reverberate to this day.

[wbroun]

wb

As your Gramp's unit was initially raised in Swansea in 1914 one must assume that they,and maybe increasingly,their later drafts were from mining stock. As might be seen from the Pioneers of other Divisions they also seem to have,though not exclusively, come from mining areas. It follows that their leaders would have put "a square peg in a square hole" and used them to best advantage,even though they were fully trained as Infantry from the outset.

All those obvious jobs such as turning around captured trenches to face the other way (!), and their various infrastructure links,had to be done swiftly and efficiently and called for a considerable expertise and speed.

Well done the Pioneers !

Sotonmate

It sounds like perhaps my grandpa's inclusion in a Pioneer unit was a function of his location in the Black Country?

[geraint]

I think that High Command knew who were who in the territorial and new army battalions. The pioneer battalions only came into existence in early 1915 to answer the specific needs of the trench war. They filled an immediate gap between the Royal Engineers (specific high profile work architectural construction worksuch as bridge building); and the labour force on the other hand which were manual workers shifting tons of wheat, stone, ammo etc by hand. The 4th RWF were noted at Loos to have "reached three feet in depth whilst the other battalions were still scratching around". No wonder they were made a "pioneer infantry battalion" a few weeks later. The men enlisted in the battalion had no choice. They were initially disappointed at what they believed was a retrograde step, but "perked up tremendously" as the nature of their work became apparent. The 8 companies were reformed into 4 paired companies A and C coys were pick and spade men, B and D coys were bayonet, bomb and riflemen used to protect the digging coys. Perhaps men in the battalion could 'choose' but I believe that the CO used his knowledge of the men during reorganisation. Subsequent men arrived with the battalion according to drafts available. The 4 often received men whom they thought were unsuitable to pioneer work and managed to transfer them elsewhere. (Quotes from Battalion History)

[Chris_Baker]

See if you can find a copy of Bill Mitchinson's excellent book "Pioneer Battalions", which explains all.

[wbroun]

... B and D coys were bayonet, bomb and riflemen used to protect the digging coys...

Wow -- that says it all, really. Thanks for that fascinating info. Another fellow on the forum just sent me the history of a Scottish Pioneer battalion, and it's obvious they were really quite frankly "in the thick of it" day after day.

See if you can find a copy of Bill Mitchinson's excellent book "Pioneer Battalions", which explains all.

Very helpful reference -- thanks!

[Magnumbellum]

One Pioneer task not specifically mentioned in this thread so far was making and repairing roads. That and other work in battle areas sometimes involved coming across, and dealing appropriately with, Allied or enemy dead bodies

[Chris_Baker]

Very helpful reference -- thanks!

Lots available on the used market from about a tenner: http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=mitchinson&bt.x=60&bt.y=17&sts=t&tn=pioneer+battalions

[dycer]

I'm the "guilty Forum Member" who sent "wbroun" a British WWI Pioneer Battalion History, without warts,as it was published in the local Newspaper during the immediate post-WW1 period.

George