The Sussex Fortress Royal Engineers was a

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 ...

(TF) 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 ...

from 1908 to 1920. As well as coastal defence duties during

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 ...

, the unit provided works companies for service on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

Origin

The 1st Sussex Engineer Volunteer Corps was formed in 1890 as a unit of Britain's part-time

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 ...

, eventually rising to a strength of 12 companies recruited across the county of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and neighbouring

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Detachments from the corps served in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new

(TF) under the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

of 1908, the 1st Sussex EVC was split up: the bulk provided the divisional engineers for the TF's

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. ...

, the Kent company formed the basis for the

Kent Fortress Engineers Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and B & C Companies at Newhaven and Seaford became the Sussex Fortress Engineers. The new unit comprised a single Works Company with HQ and Right Half at the Drill Hall, Queen's Hall, Broad Street, Seaford, and Left Half at the Drill Hall, Newhaven.Morling, pp. 8–9, 19; 'The Family Tree' (front endpapers).

World War I

Mobilisation

The Sussex Fortress Engineers had been due to assemble at

Portsdown Portsdown is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on Portsdown Hill, on the northern outskirts of Portsmouth in Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East E ...

for annual training in August 1914, but as the international situation deteriorated the advance party was called back to Newhaven, where the company assembled shortly before the outbreak of war. On the night of 4 August it was guarding the power station, Newhaven Bridge and the railway until relieved by infantry the following day. It was then put to work on the defences of Newhaven and

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 ...

as part of South-East Coast Defences, assisted by civilian contractors.Morling, pp. 38–40. Shortly after the outbreak of war, TF units were invited to volunteer for overseas service and at the end of August the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix.

1/1st Sussex 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 A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicati ...

. Sussex Fortress Engineers formed 1/1st Sussex Army Troops Company, RE, which sailed from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

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 20 March 1915 aboard the ''Empress of India'' and joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at

Étaples Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer (; vls, Stapel, lang; pcd, Étape) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river. History Étaples takes its name from having been a medieval ...

. It was put to work erecting accommodation for the

New Army The New Armies (Traditional Chinese: 新軍, Simplified Chinese: 新军; Pinyin: Xīnjūn, Manchu: ''Ice cooha''), more fully called the Newly Created Army ( ''Xinjian Lujun''Also translated as "Newly Established Army" ()), was the modernised ar ...

units that were arriving, and building hospitals, roads ''etc''. In May 1916 the company's establishment was raised from 100 to 145 and it was sent to

Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

and set to work extending the deep dugout and tunnel system under the ridge. The company devised a ropeway suspended from the roof of the sloping gallery to move the spoil to the surface, which was later adopted in other excavations. The sappers also built concrete machine gun positions and helped farmers with their harvest.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 70. The company was numbered 577th (Sussex) Works Company in February 1917 and at Easter it was sent to the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

sector where it had to build its own huts before beginning work on a new Corps HQ. Next the company went to the Third Army workshops where a great deal of equipment was salvaged from war-damaged factories and installed at the complex. The workshops included a blacksmith's shop, sawmills, and a factory for SOS rockets. At the workshops the company employed a large number of prisoners of war, civilians, and 200 Zulu labourers. The company also carried out tasks such as running a water pipe through Delville Wood, and later in the year was moved to the

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

sector, where it worked on roads, bridges and pipelines in front of the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...

; a number of casualties were suffered during this work near the front line. Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers were given special training in erecting steel bridges. One notable task was to build a steel derrick on a timber crib floated into the middle of the

La Bassée La Bassée () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry Personalities La Bassée was the birthplace of the painter and draftsman Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845). Another native was Ignace François ...

Canal where it was sunk and filled with concrete.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 63. After the German spring offensive of March–May 1918, 577th (S) Company worked on new defence lines, including deep dugouts. During the Allied

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...

it worked with 5th Bridging Company, RE, to build the longest single span Hopkins bridge over the

Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...

. It was serving with Third Army at the time of the

Armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

. It remained on the continent, building demobilisation centres, until at least June 1919 when its own men were

demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

2/2nd Sussex Army Troops Company

The Sussex Fortress Engineers also formed 2/2nd Sussex Army Troops Company, later numbered 578th (Sussex) Works Company, which performed works duties at home. In August–September 1918 it was sent to join the BEF to work on airfield construction for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. It remained on the continent until at least June 1919 before being demobilised.

Postwar

The Territorial Force reformed at home during 1920, and the Sussex Fortress Engineers began to reform on 1 November. However, during 1921 the reformed 44th (Home Counties) Divisional Engineers moved 210th (Sussex) Field Company to Queen's Hall, Seaford, also recruiting from

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

and Newhaven, and it absorbed the Fortress Company. During

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 ...

the number 577 was re-used for a unit formed by the

Hampshire Fortress Royal Engineers Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire is ...

. When 120 Construction Engineer Regiment, RE, was formed in 1947, it was considered to descend jointly from the

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 ...

and Sussex Fortress Engineers, and derived its seniority (1890) from the 1st Sussex Engineers.118–432 Rgts RE at British Army 1945 onwards.
/ref>

Notes

References

* Col G.H. Addison, ''Work of the Royal Engineers in the European War 1914–1918: The Organisation and Expansion of the Corps 1914–1918'', Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers, 1926/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2006, . * Col L.F. Morling, ''Sussex Sappers: A History of the Sussex Volunteer and Territorial Army Royal Engineer Units from 1890 to 1967'', Seaford: 208th Field Co, RE/Christians–W.J. Offord, 1972. * 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

Fortress units of the Royal Engineers Military units and formations in Sussex Military history of Seaford, East Sussex Military units and formations established in 1908 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920