City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers
| City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1886–1999 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 Territorial Army (United Kingdom)
|
| Role | Coast Defence Field Engineering |
| Garrison/HQ | Edinburgh |
| Engagements | |
The City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers was a volunteer unit of the British Army under various titles from 1886 until 1999. Its main role was defence of the Firth of Forth, 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. He decided to utilise the Volunteer Engineers for this task, and after successful trials the system was rolled out to ports around the country. The Forth Division Submarine Miners was the fifth unit of Volunteer Submarine Miners, a new corps raised in 1886. The first officers' commissions were issued on 2 April 1887 and by the end of the century the unit was a major's command, with three companies. Initially, the headquarters was aboard the mine depot ship HMS Dido at Leith, the port of Edinburgh, but moved to Queen Street, Edinburgh, in 1905.
In 1907 the War Office decided to hand all submarine mining duties over to Militia units and the Volunteer submarine miners were disbanded or converted to other roles. Several were converted into Electrical Engineers to make wider use of the coast defence searchlights that had been used to illuminate the minefields. Thus the Edinburgh-based unit became the Forth Division (Electrical Engineers) (Volunteers), but the Haldane Reforms came into effect the following year, under which all the Volunteers were subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF). The Forth Division was retitled as the City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers.
By World War I, the unit's organisation was as follows:
City of Edinburgh (Fortress) Royal Engineers
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