In 1868 a new unit of Engineer Volunteers (EV) was formed at Jarrow on the County Durham bank of the River Tyne.

[3][4][5][6] In 1885, the Inspector-General of Fortifications, Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke, sent a detachment of Volunteers to the Red Sea port of Suakin to assist the Regular Royal Engineers (RE) in railway construction for the British force engaged there.

[12] The 1st Durham RE (V) sent a detachment of one officer and 25 other ranks to assist the regular REs during the Second Boer War in 1900, and a second section the following year.

When the TF was mobilised on the outbreak of war in August 1914, the Durham Fortress Engineers took up their places in the North Eastern Coastal Defences.

By the summer of 1915 there were three strong lines of entrenchments, bomb-proof shelters and dug-outs linking strongpoints and gun positions along the coast as well as the fixed defences at Tynemouth and Hartlepool.

In August 1916 the Durham Fortress Engineers overcame shifting sand dunes to construct Link House Battery to defend Blyth Harbour.

[23] The Durham Fortress Engineers found three field companies, while the remainder of the unit continued to be employed around the Tyne Garrison.

[25][26] 1st Durham Field Company joined 4th Division in France on 20 September 1915 and served with it on the Western Front to the end of the war.

[5][11][34][36][40] A memorial plaque was set up in Jarrow Town Hall to honour the two service sections of the 1st Durham RE who went to South Africa during the 2nd Boer War.