British military geologists: through the Second World War to the end of the Cold War

Abstract

The mobile conflict of the Second World War demanded a greater range of British military geological expertise than hitherto, primarily in the North African, Italian and Northwest European campaigns but also in East Africa and the Far East, and in United Kingdom home defence. Most of the senior military geologists (W. B. R. King, F. W. Shotton, J. V. Stephens, W. A. Macfadyen, J. L. Farrington, D. R. A. Ponsford, W. T. Pickard) served with the Royal Engineers, principally on tasks relating to development of potable groundwater, quarrying for bulk aggregates and assessment of terrain for military purposes (including trafficability across beaches and siting of airfields). F. W. Anderson served in the infantry, but was seconded to guide research into the effects of aerial bombardment. All were temporary soldiers and returned to civilian life at the end of the war. Since 1948, however, the British Army has maintained continuity in geological expertise through officers of the reserve army (the Territorial Army or from 1953 to 1967 the Army Emergency Reserve), for peace-time engineering projects and active service in times of crisis, whether occasioned by military conflict or humanitarian need.