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Remembered Today:

Royal Engineers: Sapper or Pioneer?


Haywired

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I'm sure that this topic will have been raised before, but I have not been able to pin it down.

 

I have been looking at some Royal Engineer Road Construction Companies on the Western Front.  In some cases, men are ranked as Pioneers, while others are ranked as Sappers.  Can anybody enlighten me on this distinction, please?  Additionally, while many of the men towards the end of the war have the standard six digit service number, others have a 'WR' prefix to a five digit number - any thoughts?

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To be given the rank and higher pay of Sapper, the man must pass a test of his proficiency in a required trade skill (examples being carpentry, brick laying, electric work, machine shop, telegraphy).

 

The WR prefix was given to men serving in the RE's Waterways and Railways departments.

 

Not sure if this will be of any help to you, but I have a page on the Road Construction Companies that I add to whenever  come across a snippet of detail. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/road-construction-companies-of-the-royal-engineers/

Edited by Chris_Baker
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On 21/06/2019 at 22:06, Haywired said:

I'm sure that this topic will have been raised before, but I have not been able to pin it down.

 

I have been looking at some Royal Engineer Road Construction Companies on the Western Front.  In some cases, men are ranked as Pioneers, while others are ranked as Sappers.  Can anybody enlighten me on this distinction, please?  Additionally, while many of the men towards the end of the war have the standard six digit service number, others have a 'WR' prefix to a five digit number - any thoughts?

The change to WR pre-fixes came about as part of the the Geddes reforms of 1917. As part of these reforms railway, inland water transport and road construction personnel were grouped together under the title Transportation Troops. It was this group of men who received had their numbers changed to WR pre-fixed numbers, men joining this group after March 1918 also received them.

 

TR

Edited by Terry_Reeves
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Chris/Terry,

 

Thank you for your informative replies.

 

In passing, was there any particular reason for identifying the men in these units in this way?

 

Chris, thank you for the Link.  I had already looked at it.  Needless to say, my man was in 342 Road Construction Company, for which you have no info.

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Hi,

 

1 hour ago, Haywired said:

...my man was in 342 Road Construction Company...

 

The RE Museum has a 'summary' diary for a short period. It may have very little detail though.

 

image.png.bc22f92e6946507d49c8fc2d6bd81eb9.png

Image sourced from the RE Museum

 

Regards

Chris

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