Pioneer Corporal, 1897

This photo was taken in Malta shortly after the 1st Battalion was posted there. It was published in the Navy and Army Illustrated on 5th Feb 1897 with the following copy:-
There is a small body of men in every battalion known as pioneers. The regulation establishment is eleven men, one of whom must be a sergeant, and if possible a carpenter by trade. All those under his command are, when practicable, tradesmen, divided into the following ratio: 3 carpenters, 2 bricklayers (one able to plaster and another to slate), one smith, one mason, one painter and glazier, and two plumbers and gasfitters. The tradesmen required cannot always be obtained, and it is then necessary to appoint what are usually known as "handy men". Pioneers are mostly men of good character, selected on account of their being tradesmen or because specially adapted for the work they are called upon to perform. Before appointment they must be dismissed drill, but are not afterwards required to carry rifles except on musketry parades, and are thus not always so smart from a drill-sergeant's point of view as their comrades in the ranks.
In barracks they are employed in executing repairs, working in the carpenters' and other regimental workshops, in keeping all government roads and ground clean and tidy, and in the quarter-master's stores. On the march their position is at the head of the column and their duty to clear away any obstacle lying the way of advance.
When in camp their labours principally consist in building temporary structures for the use of the troops, and in action they are employed as ammunition carriers.
This pioneer corporal is in undress. The frock is red with a blue collar, changed from the 1891 version which had a red collar and blue shoulder straps. The field service cap is blue with the lion badge on the left side. This was introduced in 1896 to replace the glengarry.

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