Chief Royal Engineer

The Chief Royal Engineer (CRE) is the official head of the Corps of Royal Engineers of the British Army.

Before the English Restoration a Chief Engineer was a pay grade and not defined. In 1660 Charles II appointed Sir Charles Lloyd, who had served in the English Civil War, as head of a new department of engineers.¹ The position was confirmed in a Royal Warrant (26 May 1716), which also authorised the formation of the Corps of Engineers.¹

When in 1802, Sir William Green, 1st Baronet retired, the office was abolished and Robert Morse became the newly created Inspector-General of Fortifications and of Royal Engineers (IGF).² Until 1855 the Inspector-General was attached to the Board of Ordnance and then was subordinate directly to the Commander-in-Chief.²

In 1862 the office was extended to Inspector-General of Engineers and Director of Work, keeping the affiliation in the former function while being now responsible to the Secretary of State for War in the latter.³ On the resignation of Edward Frome in 1869, both offices were separated for one year.³ The Director of Works was dropped in 1895 and the office was renamed to Inspector-General of Fortifications.⁴ It was again abolished in 1904 and replaced by the Director of Fortifications and Works.

In 1936 the post of Chief Royal Engineer was recreated and Sir Bindon Blood was appointed by King George V. Sir Bindon was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1860 and had a distinguished active career until he retired in 1907 aged 65. He was thus 94 years old when appointed Chief Royal Engineer. He resigned in 1940 and died a month later aged 97.

From 1941 until 2012 the professional head of the Corps was the Engineer-in-Chief (Army) (EinC(A)) who as 'Director of Royal Engineers', acted as the engineer advisor to the Chief of the General Staff (CGS) as well as to the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and other government ministries on matters of military engineering on behalf of the CGS. This post was disestablished following the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 and responsibility for the EinC's duties split between the Commandant Royal School of Military Engineering (heritage and training), Commander 8 Engineer Brigade (force generation matters) and the Corps Colonel RE (manning matters and first point of contact with external agencies).

The Chief Royal Engineer is head of the Corps of Royal Engineers and invariably a distinguished officer of the Corps; his tenure in the post is normally for a period of five years. He is responsible for seeing that the Corps' traditions and customs are preserved and the continuity of important matters of Corps policy. He keeps the Colonel-in-Chief informed on Corps matters and maintains contact with engineer units in the Commonwealth. He will have previously served as a Colonel Commandant and will continue to fill one of the vacancies.

• 1660–1661: Sir Charles Lloyd²
• Apr – Dec 1661: Sir Bernard de Gomme²
• 1661–1685: Sir Godfrey Lloyd²
• 1685–1702: Sir Martin Beckman²

vacant for nine years

• 1711–1714: Michael Richards²
• 1714–1742: John Armstrong²
• 1742–1751: Thomas Lascelles²

vacant for six years

• 1757–1781: William Skinner²
• 1781–1786: James Bramham²
• 1786–1802: Sir William Green, 1st Baronet²⁵

• 1802–1811: Robert Morse²
• 1811–1830: Gother Mann²
• 1830–1832: Sir Alexander Bryce²
• 1832–1834: Robert Pilkington²
• 1834–1845: Sir Frederick Mulcaster²
• 1845–1862: John Fox Burgoyne²

• 1862–1868: Sir John Burgoyne, 1st Baronet³
• 1868–1869: Edward Frome³

• 1869–1870: Sir John William Gordon³

• 1870–1875: Sir Frederick Chapman³
• 1875–1880: Sir Lintorn Simmons⁶
• 1880–1882: Thomas Lionel John Gallwey⁷
• 1882–1886: Sir Andrew Clarke⁸
• 1886–1895: Lothian Nicholson⁹
• 1891–1895: Sir Robert Grant¹⁰

• 1895–1898: Sir Robert Grant¹⁰
• 1898–1903: Sir Richard Harrison¹¹
• 1903–1904: William Terence Shone¹²

• 1904–1908: Richard Ruck¹³
• 1908–1911: Frederick Rainsford-Hannay¹⁴
• 1911–1918: George Kenneth Scott-Moncrieff¹⁵
• 1918–1920: Philip Geoffrey Twining¹⁶
• 1920–1924: Sir William Andrew Liddell¹⁷
• 1924–1927: Henry Fleetwood Thuillier¹⁸
• 1927–1936: Philip Gordon Grant¹⁹

• 1936–1940: Sir Bindon Blood²⁰
• 1940–1946: Sir Ronald Charles²¹
• 1946–1951: Sir Guy Williams²²
• 1951–1958: Sir Edwin Morris²³
• 1958–1961: Sir Kenneth Crawford²⁴
• 1961–1967: Sir Frank Simpson²⁵
• 1967–1972: Sir Charles Jones²⁶
• 1972–1977: Sir Charles Richardson²⁷
• 1977–1983: Sir David Willison²⁸
• 1983–1987: Sir Hugh Beach²⁹
• 1987–1993: Sir George Cooper³⁰
• 1993–1999: Sir John Stibbon³¹
• 1999–2004: Sir Scott Grant³²
• 2004–2009: Sir Kevin O'Donoghue³³
• 2009–2013: Sir Peter Wall³⁴
• 2013–2018: Sir Mark Mans³⁵
• 2018–2024: Sir Tyrone Urch³⁶
• 2024–present: Sir Christopher Tickell³⁷