Though it disbanded in 1921, it is often seen as the predecessor to the Royal Pioneer Corps of the Second World War.
[1] Earlier in the war the Army Service Corps had formed labour companies to work docks and railways and unload ships and the Royal Engineers had formed eleven labour battalions for manual work.
From December 1914 onwards each infantry division had also been provided with a Pioneer Battalion, with full infantry training but usually used in manual and skilled work and thus consisting of those with experience in those areas.
From early 1916 onwards conscripted men with health too poor for fighting were also assigned to these battalions, twelve of which had been formed by June that year.
The Corps as formed also included Depot Labour Companies (renamed Reserve Labour Companies later in 1917) back in the United Kingdom as well as seven Labour Battalions converted from the Works or Infantry Works battalions of the King's (Liverpool Regiment), the Devonshire Regiment, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Middlesex Regiment and the Durham Light Infantry.