The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century affected the army and by World War I (1914-1918) had culminated in an identifiably modern force with machine guns, aircraft, motor vehicles, tanks, optical range finders and radios. Responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the varied new equipments was at first accepted, rather naturally, by the arms and services that used them most, and a number of separate repair organisations began to grow up side by side. As a result, by the end of World War I the Tank Corps had its own workshops, the Royal Engineers repaired most of their own specialist equipment, and the Army Service Corps had become generally responsible for the repair of mechanical transport, while it was the responsibility of the Army Ordnance Corps to repair most other equipments, including small arms, guns and instruments. At this time many of these Corps gained their 'Royal' prefix. There were thus four different repair organisations functioning simultaneously in the Army with many other regiments and Corps having some of their own tradesmen to carry out minor repairs. Not only was this arrangement most uneconomical in manpower and plant, but it also created administrative difficulties for the unfortunate units that had to deal with two or more authorities in order to get all of their equipments repaired.
Many efforts were made between the two World Wars to introduce a centralised and more efficient repair organisation which could deal with all technical equipment. Unfortunately most of these attempts failed either on the grounds of initial expense or because of esprit-de-corps and a strong reluctance on the part of the various arms and services to accept any change that might conceivably weaken their self-reliance. A first major step in the right direction was approved in 1926 when the Engineering Branch of the RAOC was given responsibility for the repair of armoured fighting vehicles and of some of the Army's mechanical transport: but the Royal Engineers, Royal Signals and Royal Army Service Corps were still allowed to retain their separate organisations for repairing most of their vehicles and specialist technical equipment. For the Royal Engineers this mostly applied to civil engineering plant and machinery; for the Royal Signals, radio, telegraph and telephone equipment and for the Royal Army Service Corps (the predecessors of the Royal Corps of Transport), all forms of motor transport. The Royal Tank Corps and many other units still provided their own unit tradesmen for immediate repair tasks.
Rearmament and the mechanisation of the Army followed by the outbreak of the Second World War led to further considerable increases in the quantity and complexity of technical equipment. The consequent heavy repair load revealed the weakness of the existing organisation, while the shortage of qualified tradesmen in the Services soon dictated a need for a system which would use the available men more effectively.
In 1941, a Cabinet committee, under the chairmanship of Sir William Beveridge, was set up to investigate the use of manpower in the three services. As a result of one of its recommendations - that the repair services in the army should be rationalised - the Corps Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers came into being on the first of October 1942. The Corps had the rare, if not unique, distinction of being honoured with the designation "Royal" from the day of its formation.
Such a major re-organisation was too complex, however, to be carried out quickly and completely in the middle of a world war. It was decided therefore that the changeover should be undertaken in two phases.
In Phase I, which was implemented immediately, REME was formed on the existing framework of the RAOC (Engineering Branch), strengthened by the transfer of certain technical units and tradesmen from the RE and RASC. At the same time a number of individual tradesmen were transferred into REME from other Corps. The new Corps was made responsible for repairing the technical equipment of all arms with certain major exceptions. REME did not yet undertake:
In Phase II, which was postponed until conditions were more suitable for a further major change, it was agreed that REME should take over all unit repairs and, in the case of the RASC, field repair as well.
In 1942 the Mechanical Engineering Directorate at the War Office was established under the Director of Mechanical Engineering (DME), Major-General E B Rowcroft (later Sir Bertram Rowcroft). A plan for the subsequent development of the Corps was drawn up in three stages of nine months each, and in almost every detail planned target dates were achieved. In India the IEME was formed; separate from REME since at this time the Indian Army was a separate organisation although many officers and technical personnel were British. HQ REME Training Establishment was formed at Arborfield to control REME technical training. The repair system in the field was reorganised so that repair could be carried out as far forward as possible. The takeover from RAOC of responsibility for scaling of spares was completed. Long term plans for a REME Benevolent Fund, REME Association, REME Band, Officers' Club (later the REME Institution) the 'Craftsman' Magazine and Sports Association were made. DMEs and deputies were appointed to all major headquarters of the field army and deputy directors were appointed to all static command headquarters. Commanders REME were appointed to divisions and Brigade EMEs to brigades.
Almost at once the new organisation was tried out and proved successful at the Battle of Alamein, the first major operation after the Corps was formed. The re-organised recovery and repair system was thoroughly tested during the remainder of the war, during which REME grew to be the largest technical corps, extending its activities to include the manufacture of spare parts and special equipments on a large scale. In addition to its uniformed tradesmen the Corps employed thousands of civilian tradesmen of many different nationalities in its static workshops throughout the world.
REME reached its maximum strength in May 1945, approximately 8000 officers and 152,000 other ranks. The Indian EME, East and West African EME Royal Canadian, Australian, New Zealand EME, and South African Technical Service Corps (TSC) totalled another 185,000. Some 130,000 civilians were employed in EME Services in all parts of the world.
In the years immediately following the war, the Army in general and REME in particular lost many of their best tradesmen to civilian industry. At the same time equipment was becoming even more complex and the time was clearly ripe for further rationalisation of the systems of repair so as to eliminate waste and to make best use of the technical skill available.
In 1949 therefore, it was decided that "REME Phase II" should be implemented. This decision was published in Army Council Instruction 110 of 1949, and the necessary re-organisation was carried out in the various arms and services in three stages between July 1951 and January 1952. The main changes were:
REME's combined military and civilian strength is approximately 17,000. Over 4,000 volunteers in the Territorial Army wear the REME cap badge and, in so doing, make up individual and unit reinforcements to complete the NATO ACE Rapid Reaction Corps.
With minor exceptions only, REME is now responsible for the examination, modification, repair and recovery of all mechanical, electronic, electrical and optical equipment of the Army beyond the capacity of unit non-technical personnel.
In addition REME officers and soldiers, as part of the DLO, are responsible for the provision of technical advice on the design of equipment before it is manufactured to ensure ease of maintenance; for investigating defects in equipment in service and designing modifications to overcome them. Other responsibilities include the cataloguing and scaling of spares (forecasting the rate at which parts will wear and thus the quantity of replacements needed over a given period of time), the provision and management of technical publications and the management of all Army equipment and its associated spares.
| DATE | MILESTONE |
|---|---|
| 1914-1918 | RAOC did firearms repair |
| 1926 | RAOC now repaired armoured fighting vehicles |
| 1942 | REME formed using mostly RAOC personnel,this unified most repairs units |
| 1952 | REME was the major repair entity of The Army |
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