British Royal Engineers constructing second line trenches in Flanders

You probably will not believe it, but this is what these men wear when they have on their full dress uniforms. They wear a scarlet tunic with garter, blue cuffs and collar, yellow shoulder cords and piping, blue trousers with a red stripe, a helmet with the royal arms on the plate, and a spike. The men wear a white waist belt, and the officers wear a gold laced leather belt with a pouch belt of russia leather with a wavy gold lion in the center. But now they are not marching down some city street lined with admiring throngs, keeping time to martial music, a part of some big celebration, they are playing the grim game of war. It is not a time for showy trappings but for the sturdy khaki (ka’ke). In 1909 there were 5,021 men in the British Royal Engineers, but this number was greatly increased after the European war began. In peace times each army division included two field companies and one telegraph company of the Royal Engineers. In the army troops there are supposed to be four field troops of the Royal Engineers and one telegraph company. The Royal Engineers are organized into mounted field troops, field companies, fortress, telegraph, railway, searchlight, balloon, wireless companies and bridging train. The European war was a mobilization of material as well as a mobilization of men. The trained knowledge of the Royal Engineers helped them to do their part in the mobilization of material