THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST   A UK Registered Educational Charity

Reference Sources for Royal Indian Engineers Military Railways

From left to right, Bangladesh Engineer, Indian Engineer and Pakistan Engineer Corps.

Following on from the earlier reference sources this document is to assist in research on Indian Army Military Railways. This will include the Royal India Engineers, their predecessors and successors. India should be take to mean pre-Independence India unless the references specifically state Bangladesh or Pakistan. You are encouraged to look at the other research pages for further ideas, as there may be some duplication of material and those pages will also give an overall history of the railway. Also, please look at the general research page as that contains many sources that may be of assistance.

A very brief History

India Pre-Independence

The Madras Engineer Group can trace their history back to the raising of two companies of the Madras Pioneers on 30 September 1780 at Fort St George and are considered to be the senior group. Since this group was constituted by the Madras Presidency, and formed part of the Madras Army, they were called the Madras Sappers. Likewise in 1803 and again in 1824, the Bengal Sappers and Bombay Sappers were formed in the other presidencies.

The motto of the Madras Sappers is that common to all three regiments of the Corps of Engineers, Sarvatra (Sanskrit: Everywhere) the Indian equivalent to 'Ubique', the motto of the Royal Engineers.

The Bengal Sappers and Miners was originally the Corps of Bengal Pioneers, which was raised from two pioneer companies in 1803, part of Bengal Army of the Presidency of Bengal; one raised by Capt. T. Wood at Kanpur as Bengal Pioneers in November 1803. In 1819, at the conclusion of Third Maratha War, a part of Bengal Pioneers merged with the Company of Miners (raised in 1808) to become the Bengal Sappers and Miners.

In 1847 the Bengal Sappers and Miners was renamed Bengal Sappers and Pioneers, and in 1851 it became the Corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners.  The 1903 Kitchener Reforms saw it re-designated as the 1st Sappers and Miners, which was again altered in 1906 to the 1st Prince of Wales's Own Sappers and Miners.

On the accession of George V to the throne in 1910 it was renamed 1st King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners, with the '1st' being dropped in 1923, to make it King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners. In 1937 it was renamed King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners, and in 1941 they became the 'King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners Group of the Indian Engineers'. In 1946 it became the 'King George V's Group' of the Royal Indian Engineers. On Indian independence and partition in 1947, about half of the serving personnel were allocated to the Pakistan Royal Engineers. In 1950 they became the Bengal Centre, Corps of Engineers, after which they became the Bengal Engineer Group and Centre.

The earliest instance of recruitment of Indian sappers was the formation of a company of Pioneer Lascars, comprising 100 men, in 1777 by Major Lawrence Nilson, the first Chief Engineer of the Bombay Presidency.

In 1797, the Bombay Pioneer Corps was organised afresh with four companies of 100 men each, under Captain-Lieutenant Bryce Moncrieff (Bo.E.) into which the Pioneer Lascars were wholly absorbed.

Besides the Bombay Pioneers, a separate company of Engineer Lascars had been raised in 1820 and designated as 'Sappers and Miners Company'. This field company was the first Bombay Sapper unit to proceed abroad when in 1821 it sailed for operations against pirates on the Arabian coast and earned for itself the first battle honour of the Corps, Beni Boo Alli.

In 1840, all the pioneer companies were converted into Sappers & Miners and the 'Engineer Corps' renamed as the Bombay Sappers & Miners.

In the 1903 reorganisation of the Indian Army, the Corps was renamed in the newly unified Indian Army as the 3rd Sappers & Miners. A mistaken interpretation of the historic records led to the Bombay Sappers being considered as junior to the Madras and Bengal Sappers whereas they could trace an unbroken descent from before the Madras or Bengal Sappers were formed; the case for reversion being taken up a number of times unsuccessfully, presumably due to inadequate records of the services of the Corps in the late 18th century.

In recognition of the prodigious contribution of the Bombay Sappers in World War I, the title 'Royal' was bestowed on the Corps in 1921 and they became the 3rd Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners. The numeral 3rd was removed in 1923, and the Corps became the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners and were so-called right until the end of World War II.

After independence, the Group became part of the Corps of Engineers of the Army of independent India.

Pakistan

The engineering arm of the Pakistan Army was commissioned as an administrative branch when it was partitioned from the former British Indian Army's Royal Indian Engineers in 1947. The Bengal and Bombay engineer group laid the foundation of establishing the engineering arm of the Pakistan Army.

From 1947 till 1956, the engineering arm was known as "Royal Pakistan Engineers" since it was under the royal patronage, with many British officers serving in the engineering arm.:

In 1956, Royal Pakistan Engineers changed its designation to the Corps of Engineers.

Army Museums and Historical Societies

India

India has some 70 military museums given in the link below.

https://indianarmedforcesmuseums.gov.in/

Not all the links work, however, which includes the engineer ones.

• Bengal Engineering Group and Centre Museum, Roorkee, Uttarakhand
• Bombay Engineering Group and Centre Museum. Khadki, Pune, Maharashtra
• Madras Sappers Museum and Archives, Bengaluru, Kartanaka
• Corps of Engineers Archives and Museum, Pune, Pune, Maharashtra

The Indian War Memorial Museum is located in the Naubat Khana of the Red Fort Complex in Delhi which is dedicated to the army’s actions under British rule.

Address: Prince of Wales Drive, Ghorpuri Lines, Dobarwadi, Ghorpadi, Pune, Maharashtra 411001

The Indian Military Historical Society was primarily UK based and in existence until December 2020 and its archives are now held by the Military History Society https://www.militaryhistoricalsociety.co.uk/Welcome2 A quick search for railway on their website brought up some 725 hits, although not all of these are for India.

Pakistan

Army Institute of Military History https://www.aimh.gov.pk/

The Pakistan Army Museum is in Lahore https://armymuseumlahore.pk/

Army Museum Rawalpindi, Punjab, is on Iftikhar Janjua Road in Rawalpindi Cantonment
https://www.travelertrails.com/museums-of-pakistan/army-musem-rawalpindi

Indian Engineer Bibliography