Royal Engineers Inland Waterways Transport

Early development

The extensive canal and waterway network of France, and to a lesser extent that of the small part of Belgium in the hands of the Entente forces, provided an important asset in the logistical capabilities of those forces. Before the war, as much as 50% of goods in those countries were moved by water. It presented a largely unforeseen opportunity for the British Expeditionary Force, and although a fledgling British organisation of two officers, no men of its own, one hired tug and 34 barges working under the Director of Railway Transport existed by December 1914, it was soon recognised and developed.

It had been decided that the Inland Waterways Transport would be part of the Corps of Royal Engineers, with the following specific duties:

From National Archives WO95/56, the war diary of the Director of Inland Waterways Transport. Crown Copyright.

The published history of the Corps of Royal Engineers adds, “It was in December, 1914 that this service began to be created by Commander G. E. Holland, CIE DSO., a retired officer of the Royal Indian Marine. At the time of the outbreak of war he was Marine Superintendent of the London and North Western Railway. With the idea that the IWT would partly supplement, and partly be a substitute for railway transport Commander Holland was placed as a Deputy Director under the DRT with the rank of Colonel. The regimental officers and other ranks of the service were commissioned or enlisted as Royal Engineers. The main work of IWT was the carriage inland, from the ports, of bulky traffic of no great urgency, e.g., hay, oats, timber and bricks, and also ammunition for building up reserves during quiet times.”

By 30 June 1915, the IWT consisted of 68 officers, 1082 NCOs and men, 60 steam and motor vessels, 7 motor launches, 88 purchased and 92 hired non-motorised barges. Five months later this had grown to 296 officers (of which 97 were overseas on 30 November), 5266 men (3128), and a total of 564 vessels working oversea with another 184 on order. And it kept on growing.

With thanks to Trinity College Dublin for the use of this image. OLS Papyrus Case 55b no.42. A valuable guide to the sorts of technical skills sought for the IWT.
British Official History of Transportation on the Western Front. My highlight. The canal and river network of northern France and Belgium, as eventually developed for military purposes. The network was divided into 14 districts, each with one or more officers for managing the traffic and maintenance of the district.

Growth and development

A Repair Section was created, the job of which was to open the waterway network for traffic as soon as possible. It consisted of three Salvage Units, each of a Captain, 2 Lieutenants and 100 NCOs and men, equipped with a flotilla of 1 crane barge (capable of lifting 10 tons), 1 workshop barge, 1 stores barge, 1 small pile-driving barge, and 1 accommodation (barrack) barge.

Same source. Written in April 1916.

A second key role was water supply. 30 barges were fitted with filtration plant and water carriers, which would provide fresh water for the armies in areas where supplies had been damaged or contaminated. In addition, two barges would be fitted with pumps that could move a million gallons of water per hour, for maintaining the levels in areas that had been deliberately flooded. The published history of the Royal Engineers mentions that they were used to pump sea water to keep the inundated land in front of the Belgian-held line from drying out, and in the winter to lower the water levels in the low-lying area around Bethune.

18 vessels were supplied as ambulance barges. See detailed page. In July 1916, IWT also began evacuating sick horses from the forward areas to the base veterinary hospitals.

3 barges were provided as workshops for bridge repair units. A fourth was added in 1916.

A number of old barges were provided as stationary coal bunkers for refuelling tugs.

Imperial War Museum photograph Q5920. “A barge unloading at a quay on the canal at Bergues, 23 August 1917”

A key development, which began in 1915 and came into operation in 1916, was the Cross-Channel barge service between the port of Richborough in Kent and the new ammunition and goods depot established at Zeneghem. A new jetty, capable of docking 12 barges at any one time and unloading them via cranes onato adjacent railway trains, was constructed at Zeneghem in the period July to October 1916.

The headquarters of the IWT relocated from Saint-Omer to the General Headquarters at Montreuil-sur-Mer on 30 October 1916. Next day, it was merged into the new organisation under the Director General of Transportation.

Position as at 30 November 1916. Same war diary as above. The total carried hit 1 million tons on 17 December 1916.

On 7 February 1917, Major Walter Hubert O’Brien, Deputy Assistant Director IWT in the Estaires area, was killed in a motorcycle accident. He is buried in La Gorgue Communal Cemetery (III.C.6). He had been employed by the Bengal pilot service before the war, was aged 33 and left a widow and three children.

The terms “Inland Waterways and Docks” and “Inland Water Transport Corps” appear in men’s service records, but they all essentially refer to the same organisation.

Researching soldiers of the IWT

The process for researching officers and men of the IWT is the same as for any other part of the Royal Engineers, and for that matter the same as any other regiment or corps. See Researching a soldier

The men of the IWT had the ranks used by all branches of the Royal Engineers: that is, Pioneer (unskilled rank), Sapper (skilled), 2nd-Corporal, and so on.

I cannot recall ever finding good detail of which part of the IWT a man served with, even when his service record has survived. There may be examples of this, but they have certainly eluded me.

One thing to look out for is that in 1918, men serving with the RE Transportation branch, which included waterways, railways, road and quarrying units, were renumbered into a common pattern that had a “WR” prefix.

Links

Corps of Royal Engineers

Ambulance Barges

Zeneghem

This page is dedicated to my great great uncle Charles Henry Baker (born 1890), an Aston, Birmingham man who was aged 47 when he enlisted into the IWT in September 1916. He had mechanical engineering experience but as far as I know, no knowledge of boats or waterways. In November 1916 he was sent to work in Mesopotamia. He was invalided sick with sandfly fever to India in August 1917, where he then spent four months in hospital. Charles returned home to work at the port of Richborough in July 1918.

IWM photo Q20602. “Scene in the Inland Water Transport Dockyard, showing native Mahalas and Bellums. Basrah, Mesopotamia, August 1918”.
I can only assume that Charles enlisted voluntarily under the conditions described in this article from the “Coventry Telegraph” of Saturday 12 August 1916 (British Newspaper Archive).