1st Somersetshire Engineers
military unit
The 1st Somersetshire Engineers was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers (RE) whose history dated back to 1868. As the engineer component of the 43rd (Wessex) Division, the unit served in both World Wars, distinguishing itself at the assault crossing of the River Seine at Vernon in August 1944 and in the doomed attempt to relieve the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. A detachment also served as airborne engineers in Sicily, Italy and at Arnhem. Their successors served on in the Territorial Army until 1967.
Origins
The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle, Artillery and Engineer Volunteer units composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. One such unit was the 1st Somersetshire Engineer Volunteer Corps (EVC) formed at Nailsea on 5 September 1868. The unit soon had two companies at Nailsea and one at Weston-super-Mare, where the headquarters was moved in 1873.
From the beginning, the 1st Somerset EVC was attached to the 1st Administrative Battalion, Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteers. With the reorganisation of the Volunteer Force in 1880, the Gloucestershire Admin Bn was consolidated as the 1st Gloucestershire (The Western Counties) Engineer Volunteers, Royal Engineers, with the 1st Somerset providing G and H Companies at Nailsea and I Company at Weston-super-Mare. The EVC titles were abandoned in 1888, when the units became 'Engineer Volunteers, Royal Engineers', proclaiming their affiliation to the Regular RE, and then simply 'Royal Engineers (Volunteers)' in 1896.
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