During World War II its component units saw action in the Battle of France, in Greece, Tunisia, Italy, Normandy and the Rhine crossing.

The newly formed Divisional Telegraph (later Signal) Company, RE, was based at the Drill Hall at Routh Street in Stoke-on-Trent.

Shortly afterwards, the men were invited to volunteer for overseas service, and the majority having accepted this liability, the North Midland Division concentrated at Luton.

The only result of this move was an outbreak of infectious disease (Paratyphoid fever and Diphtheria) that weakened units and men for months to come.

It was moved into the area in early May 1916, and the engineers were worked hard to improve the positions and then prepare for the assault against strong German defences.

The 1/2nd Fd Co was instructed to follow the final carrying parties of the supporting 1/5th Bn Leicestershire Regiment across No-Man's Land, and was thus less heavily engaged.

[36] In September 1918 the 46th Division was given the task of crossing the steeply-banked and formidably defended St Quentin Canal, part of the Hindenburg Line.

Preparations included collecting material for crossing the canal, ranging from bridging equipment, rafts and scaling-ladders to 'mud mats' and lifebelts taken from cross-Channel ferries.

The follow-up waves found direction-keeping difficult in the smoke screen and fog, and engineer officers at the canal bridges had to point them in the right direction.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Divisional Signal Company established a Forward Report Centre in abandoned German dugouts.

[41] During the Battle of the Selle (17 October), the Staffordshire Bde put in a mock attack using dummy troops and tanks operated by the engineers.

Thomas of 465th Fd Co, gathered a group of men of various units and led them up with his sappers to assist, where he took command of the flank infantry company.

On 5 November, 46th Division renewed the advance, the divisional engineers throwing a pontoon bridge across the canal for the artillery and transport to cross.

The signal company, too, was heavily involved in maintaining communications, a detachment advancing ahead of the leading brigade headquarters to prepare cables for its arrival (often re-using stretches of captured German systems).

[15] The Commanding Royal Engineers (CREs) of 46th Division during the war were:[15] At first the 2nd Line recruits had to parade in civilian clothes until uniforms arrived in November 1914.

59th Division was relieved in Ireland in January 1917, and returned to the UK, concentrating at the Fovant training area on the edge of Salisbury Plain preparatory to embarking for France.

[17] Before it embarked, the TF field companies were numbered in February 1917, the 59th's becoming:[17][19][33] The division completed its concentration around Méricourt in France by 3 March 1917.

Until June, it was employed in digging rear defences, then it underwent training to enable it to hold a sector of the front line.

It moved to the coast to operate demobilisation centres at Dieppe, Dunkirk and Calais in early 1919, and to train drafts for continued service in Egypt and the Black Sea.

After the Munich Crisis of 1938, the War Office doubled the size of the TA, and 46th CTRE and its component companies raised 2nd Line duplicates, which were dispersed between the two headquarters:[56][57] 46th (North Staffordshire) Corps Troops Royal Engineers 46th (South Staffordshire) Corps Troops Royal Engineers When the TA was embodied in September 1939 at the outbreak of World War II, the companies were dispersed, and the two 46th CTRE HQs disappeared, though it is probable that the North Staffordshire unit (with 213th, 214th and 293rd Cos) became III Corps Troops, Royal Engineers (III CTRE) attached to III Corps when it formed in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in April 1940.

After the Dunkirk evacuation it joined the Orkney and Shetland Defences (OSDEF) in September 1940 and returned to Western Command in England in December 1941.

The officer commanding 213th Field Company and part of one section were captured with the bulk of 51st Division, but the rest was evacuated from Le Havre in June in Operation Cycle.

The river crossing was extremely difficult: 213th Fd Co succeeded in getting the first Folding Boat Equipment (FBE) bridge across during the night of 18/19 January, but it was soon put out of action for nine hours until it could be repaired.

[61] 213th Field Company was then returned to England, where it joined 18th (1st London) GHQTRE in 21st Army Group for the invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord).

[58][62] At the crossing of the Rhine (Operation Plunder), 18th GHQTRE was assigned the task of building a Class 9 FBE bridge codenamed 'Waterloo'.

[64] The division led Eighth Army's advance up the east coast, its engineers bridging the River Biferno on 3 October.

During the winter of 1943–4, 78th Division was transferred to 5th US Army in front of the Gustav Line, where the engineers' main task was to maintain and improve the mountain roads.

[68] It was the same in front of the Gothic Line the following autumn: as 78th Division slowly advanced towards the River Po it relied on a minor road codenamed 'Ace' that had to be constantly repaired kept clear of mud and snow.

[69] During the attack against the Argenta Gap on 12 April 1945, 78th Division's field companies acted in support of the leading brigades, repairing mine craters, clearing minefields and removing demolition charges, and laying several minor Bailey bridges.

For the crossing of the Po by 56th (London) Division on 25 April, 214th Fd Co was lent to the assaulting brigade improve the approaches to the launching ramps.