Renfrewshire Fortress Royal Engineers
World War II The Renfrewshire Fortress Royal Engineers was a Scottish volunteer unit of the British Army under various titles from 1888.
Its main role was defence of the ports and shipyards on the River Clyde, but it also provided detachments for active service in the field during both World Wars.
Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke, Inspector-General of Fortifications 1882–6, did not have enough Regular Royal Engineers (RE) to man the fixed mines being installed to defend British ports.
It occupied Fort Matilda(first built in 1814 to defend the Port of Glasgow), which later had quick-firing guns and searchlights installed to cover the minefield between Greenock and Kilcreggan.
[12] Britain's harbour defences were never seriously tested during the war, but the fortress engineers formed companies for service with the armies in the field.
The company worked on the canal defences, water supply and the light railway from Quarantine upon its arrival at Ayun Musa.
The 1/1st City of Edinburgh Field Company, one of the few engineer units to be over establishment, began an outpost line for one and a half battalions astride the track to Nekhl.
The company received orders to leave Egypt for the Western Front in Europe and sailed to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France.
They were assigned to 4th Division on 2 May 1916 and redesignated the 1st (Renfrew) Field Company, R.E, remaining with that formation on the Western Front for the rest of the war.
The remainder of the RE were held back to work on improving forward roads and water supply, and then to consolidate strongpoints at night.
[19] The division sustained disastrous losses in its assault; although the leading troops penetrated the strongpoint known as 'The Quadrilateral', the following waves came under heavy fire.
[20] Under cover of darkness, the battle front was cleared – the engineers assisting in bringing in the wounded – and defences were reorganised, but the Quadrilateral had to be abandoned the following morning.
[21] In the middle of the Somme battle, Major Hordern was admitted to hospital and Capt Hodgart assumed command of the Coy.
[18] Capt Hodgart commanded the Fd Coy through the battle of Le Transloy before promotion in the field to the substantive rank of Major on 20 December 1916.
[18][22][23] The 4th Division was defending positions in front of Arras when the second phase of the German spring offensive (Operation Mars) struck on 28 March 1918.
[18] For the Battle of the Canal du Nord, the Division constructed dummy figures made of painted canvas on wooden frames to represent an advance in No Man's Land.
[14] In addition to operating searchlights for the coastal defence guns, the RE fortress companies began to utilise them in the Anti-Aircraft (AA) role.
As the war progressed, and raids by airships and fixed wing bombers became more frequent, the RE formed specialist AA Searchlight Companies.
[29] Postwar, the Renfrewshire Fortress Engineers were reformed in the reconstituted Territorial Amy (TA), consisting of two company at Fort Matilda.
Once the Allies reached Rome in mid-1944, they discovered that less than 10 per cent of the 800,000 kW generating capacity of central Italy was in working order.
