The Cinque Ports Fortress Royal Engineers was a volunteer unit of Britain's

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

serving in the defences of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, one of the historic

Cinque Ports The Confederation of Cinque Ports () is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier (Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to th ...

. It provided detachments for field service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when they saw active service in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Its lineal descendant continues to serve in the present day

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

as a bomb disposal unit.

Origin

When the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

was established from the old

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

in 1908, the 1st Sussex Royal Engineers (Volunteers) was split up to provide the field engineer and signal companies of the

Home Counties Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. ...

and a group of 'Kent and Sussex Fortress Companies'. These became the Sussex Fortress Royal Engineers based at

Seaford, East Sussex Seaford is a town in East Sussex, England, east of Newhaven and west of Eastbourne.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. In the Middle Ages, Sea ...

, the Kent Fortress Royal Engineers based at Gillingham, and a company at Dover entitled the Cinque Ports Fortress Royal Engineers by 1910.

World War I

At the outbreak of

the unit consisted of a single Electric Lights Company based at 16 Bench Street, Dover, forming part of South East Coastal Defences. With the expansion of the army the Cinque Ports company contributed personnel to the 1/6th and 1/7th Kent Fortress Companies organised by the Kent Fortress RE.Kent Fortress RE at Kent Fallen.
/ref> In late 1916 the 1/6th and 1/7th were converted to field companies and had joined 73rd Division by 22 November. 73rd Division was a newly-organised Home Service formation concentrating at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. Once organised, the division moved in January 1917 into

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

to form part of

Southern Army (Home Forces) Southern Army was a home service formation of the British Army during the First World War, responsible for the defence of South-East England, including both sides of the Thames Estuary. It was formed on 11 April 1916 under the command of Sir Art ...

; the engineers were stationed at

Witham Witham () is a town in the county of Essex in the East of England, with a population ( 2011 census) of 25,353. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the city of Chelms ...

and

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

. The two field companies were numbered 546th (1/6th Kent) and 547th (1/7th Kent) in February 1917.Becke, Pt2b, pp. 111–6.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 62. 73rd Division's main role was to train and physically condition men for drafting as reinforcements for units serving overseas. By the end of 1917 the division's infantry battalions had largely completed their task and been replaced by training units, whereupon the division was broken up as a Home Defence formation. 546th and 547th Field Companies were redesignated Army Troops Companies and sent to the Western Front, landing at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

on 23 June 1918, and working in the Third Army and Fourth Army areas respectively from 7 July. The two companies were engaged in engineering works associated with the rapid advance of the British Expeditionary Force in the final months of the war. 546 Company had transferred to Fourth Army by the time of the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, while 547 Company moved to

VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to: France * VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...

in September and to Third Army by November 1918. 546th and 547th Army Field Companies were disbanded in France on 4 June 1919 and 1 May 1919 respectively.

Interwar

When the Territorial Force was constituted as the Territorial Army in the 1920s, the Cinque Ports (Fortress) RE was reformed as three Lights Companies, forming part of the Coast Defence Troops in 44th (Home Counties) Divisional Area. Later it consisted of No 1 (Electric Light & Works) Company and No 2 (Anti-Aircraft Searchlight) Company and Dover. The AA/SL company had disappeared by 1939

World War II

During

the Cinque Ports Fortress RE once again provided a field unit: 579 Army Field Company, formed in September 1940. This was part of Hampshire Corps Troops RE (CTRE), formed by Hampshire Fortress RE, which became IV CTRE. However, 579 Company moved to VIII CTRE in December 1941. In July 1942 the company moved again, being assigned to First Army TRE in preparation for the Allied invasion of North Africa (

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

).Watson & Rinaldi, p. 171. 579 Army Field Company served during the

Tunisia Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the World War II, Second World War, between Axis powers, Axis and Allies of World War II, Allied ...

. When First Army was broken up at the end of the campaign, the unit was converted into a conventional field company and went to

as part of 14th GHQ Troops RE. It came under Land Forces Adriatic in June 1944, and then joined 20th GHQTRE when it was formed in early 1945. In June 1945, 579 Field Company accompanied 20th GHQTRE to Greece in June 1945 in connection with the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

. 579 Field Company was disbanded after September 1945.101 Rgt RE at British Army site.
/ref>

Postwar

When the Territorial Army was reconstituted in 1947, 579 Field Company was reformed as a Construction Squadron in 121 Construction Regiment, RE. The rest of the regiment was descended from the field companies of 47th (London) Infantry Division and was based in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. In 1950, 579 Construction Squadron was converted into an independent bomb disposal unit and returned to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

in Kent.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 306. When the Territorial Army was reduced into the

Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. The Army Reserve was known as the Ter ...

in 1967 the squadron was disbanded, but contributed personnel to 590 Specialist Team, Royal Engineers (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). It was reformed as the 579 Field Squadron (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) in 1990, absorbed in to another unit in 1993, and reformed again in 1999 when it absorbed 2 ( Surrey Yeomanry) Troop at

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

from the disbanded 78th Fortress Engineer Regiment. It continues to serve in the Army Reserve as part of 101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). Under the Army 2020 proposals released on 3 July 2013, 579 Field Sqn (currently located at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

, Reigate and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

) will close its Brighton centre and take over two troops at Rochester from 221 Field Sqn.

Heritage

579 Squadron claims direct descent from 1/6th (Kent Fortress Royal Engineers) Field Company.

Honorary Colonel

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit:''Army Lists'' * Field Marshal

Viscount Allenby Viscount Allenby, of Megiddo and of Felixstowe in the County of Suffolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 7 October 1919 for the prominent military commander Field Marshal Sir Edmund Allenby, with remainder ...

, , appointed on 12 September 1925. * Lieutenant-Colonel J.H. Mowll, TD, former Commanding Officer, appointed 5 March 1934.

Notes

References

* Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions,'' London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * ''Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army'', London: War Office, 7 November 1927. * Graham E. Watson & Richard A. Rinaldi, ''The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889–2018'', Tiger Lily Books, 2018, . * R.A. Westlake, ''Royal Engineers (Volunteers) 1859–1908'', Wembley: R.A. Westlake, 1983, {{ISBN, 0-9508530-0-3.

External sources

British Army units from 1945 on

Kent War Memorial Transcription Trust.

British Army website
Military units and formations in Kent Cinque Military units and formations in the Cinque Ports Military units and formations established in 1908