Pioneer Sgt

[BennytheBall]

Hi Vic
Many Thanks for that, The Platoon is thriving at the moment, Joe is on his Pl Comders Course, Bambi is settling in very well.
Carol and the Boys are OK.
Will pass on your wishes to the Branch next week at the monthly meeting.

Hope you Donna and the girls are well send them our best wishes.
Will Speak Soon
Best Regards
Benny, Carol and Boys.

[mikedonnelly]

Judging by the Pioneer Sergeants that i have known, i always suspected that the beard was required to cover up thier grizzly mugs, every one of them was a true professional but not the prettiest bunch I have ever come accross, except Vic of course.

[Heap90]

Benny, you say the wearing of a beard applies only to our Reg. In 1982 myself, Paul Gough,Yanto etc were attached to 1 R. Hamps AP Plt in the Falklands & their Sgt also had a beard !

[john1]

The wearing of a beard was also permitted in the case of facial disfigurement.

I have met a few people from different corps and regiments given permission to wear a beard.

[Vic Hughes 53]

Hi Mike,

cheers for the observtion , glad I broke the mold for a short while, obviously Bambi has come back in and set an all time high for future PNR Sgts to aspire to (only joking Bamb , hope it is going well in Qferry and that your keeping Benny topped up with brews)

Best wishes

Vic

[anitacorbett]

Quote:
Judging by the Pioneer Sergeants that i have known, i always suspected that the beard was required to cover up thier grizzly mugs, every one of them was a true professional but not the prettiest bunch I have ever come accross, except Vic of course.


... and my Bro!! He's a handsome fella if ever there was one!
Anita xx

[johnnye63]

Thanks for that, I John Nye was very good looking, ! ! ! !

[Pegleg]

Thanks for that, I John Nye was very good looking, ! ! ! !

John Nye good looking, never ever seen him without his beard, a true gentleman to work.
quote 'don't give me problems ,give me results -get on with it Hewer'

reminds me the day in Lemgo when Tom 04 was stirring a tin of red oxide paint and he after 20 min was sweating like a good un when the Boss (john nye) asked 'what you doing 04?' Tom replied 'getting the paint out the corner boss'

who can ever forget Windsor (Zack Zack) the signwriter ,brilliant singwriter

[johnnye63]

Yes who can forget Windsor! ! ! Good to hear from you. we had some good days then, what ever happened to Windsor?

[daimartin70]

I think I’d better add my comments to this one of the oldest traditions of the Royal Welch Fusilier Pioneer Sergeant and the reasons why he wore and still wears the beard.

Firstly though to what Martin Heap had written earlier, most if not all of the infantry battalions have or used to have a pioneer sergeant who wore the beard, however the 1st Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers were the only battalion who, while on parade, paraded a section of ceremonial pioneers wearing full ceremonial order, with a brilliant white work apron and carrying a highly polished implement (axe, spade, pick axe and sledge hammer) and with the Pnr Sgt in the same ceremonial dress, with the red sash and carrying a sword. The ceremonial pioneer has always been to the front of the regiment behind L/Cpl Billy while on parade, this is the way that the regiments marched into battle. The pioneers would at the head of the column clear the route, clear the ground and build the defence’s of the camp sites, whilst in battle he would then clear any enemy defences.

As Dave Richie 64 said ref the QLR, I was the Asslt Pnr Sgt in charge while in Berlin when after the QLR’s RSM had seen us on parade, he sent his Pnr Sgt to Monty Bks to ask me if they could borrow our uniforms and Implements, because their RSM thought we looked smart and of course I showed the Pnr Sgt the pointed end of my sword and the directions to the front gate. Sometime later I was then approached by their RSM, being polite I tried to explain to him the traditions and history of the RWF, but he wouldn’t have it, he explained to me that he was a WO 1 and tried to order me to let him borrow our uniforms, not having this I pointed him into the direction of our RSM who if I remember right was Richie Irvine and guess what, I did not hear from the QLR RSM or their Pnr Sgt again, ever.

From my early days in the battalion and in Lemgo I took great interest in the Assault Pioneer and the role he played in the battalion past and present, after completing the Asslt Pnr carder run by Johnny Nye in Lemgo. I sort further information on the role of the Asslt Pnr and why the Pnr Sgt was allowed to grow the beard. This took me to seeking and asking advice from several sources including the Imperial War Museum London, in my travels and the many courses that I completed I heard many different stories including;

• The Pnr Sect would have to be up really early in order to clear the route for the Bn and that it was so dark that they couldn’t see to shave
• The time when the Pnr would keep a lighted fuze in his beard to stop it blowing out before he could set off his explosives
• Another good one I heard which the Pnr Sgt of a Scottish Reg told me, was that because the Pnr’s used to dig tunnels under the enemy positions and then rush out from these tunnels and with the Pnr’s wearing a beard and covered in mud the enemy would run off scared that they were being attacked by ghosts or cave men.
• And the stories go on and on

After speaking with the staff at the Imperial museum in London and reading through the lines, I will have to go with this version; I left all my research papers on this matter with the Pnr Pl when I left the Bn in Chepstow.

We all know the traditions behind why the RWF’s were allowed to keep and wear the Flash; the tradition of the Pnr Sgt’s beard more or less has come about in the same manner. At the time when the British Army was involved in active service in the Crimean war and then it’s returned to Great Britain at the end of the war, all serving men were ordered to be clean shaven and hair cut short but they could keep their long side burns, apart from the Bn section’s of pioneers who were allowed to keep their full beards, this was in order to allow the CO of each Bn to know the position of the front line of each rifle company while in the fight against the enemy, the Pnr’s who were at the front could easily be identified by their long beards showing the progress of advance. Then as time went by the order came for all serving men to be clean shaven including hair and side burns to be cut short, it wasn’t long after this order that the Pnrs were also given the same order; clean shaven and hair cut to what then became regimental length. It was soon realized as it is still in today’s modern army that the British army was losing its long held Regimental traditions and identities. A letter was written by senior Officers of the infantry Bn’s asking for permission for the Pioneer Sergeant to keep his beard as a way to remember the bi-gone ages of the British Army and how it was.

Today the Assault Pioneer Platoon still or should, still play an active and vital role in battalion way of life in ceremonial duties, training and on the front line, and used like any other support platoon within the BN. Whether it is instruction in field defences, crossing obstacles such as rivers and minefields to demolition tasks, to providing the engineering type task advice to the CO and Coy Cmdrs, and not like the Royal Engineers the Bn Asslt Pnr does not have all their stores and machinery on call and to hand, who I know that without this support they are lost and cannot complete or provide the assistance required to complete the task in hand. Whereas the Assault Pioneer will go out of his way and using one of his best skills, that of improvisation, turning battlefield rubble and anything else laying around, into something that can aid in the front line.

I could go on and on, but I won’t. I would like to say thank you to all my fellow Assault Pioneers who made my life more than interesting on many occasions.

Infantry Combat Engineer “ICE” cool but never frozen, I still have my tie

Dai Martin 70

(Pnr Sgt/Pl Cmdr – Berlin, Tidworth, Brawdy and Chepstow)