'The true nature and functions of a pioneer battalion were never fully understood during the war either by military or laymen. "Pioneers ... pioneers," mused a red-hatted Staff Captain to me the other day. "Sort of labor battalion, aren't you?" "We sure are " I agreed.' These words, written by Captain R. Ede England, who served with 12th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry during the whole of the Great War, are as true today as they were when he wrote the original history of the battalion in the early 1920s. Little is known, or understood, of the contribution made by the many thousands of men...
'The true nature and functions of a pioneer battalion were never fully understood during the war either by military or laymen. "Pioneers ... pioneers,...