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491st (2nd Home Counties) Field Company, Royal Engineers    2nd Home Counties Field Company, Royal Engineers was a unit of the Territorial Force based in St-Leonards-On-Sea and Bexhill, part of the Home Counties Divisional Royal Engineers. In February 1917 they were redesignated 491st (2nd Home Counties) Field Company. They saw action on the Western Front as part of 5th Division. 17th April 1915 5th Division Attack   1st of February 1916  4th of February 1916   10th of February 1916  MG Coys Join 4th of March 1916 Snow All Day 22nd of March 1916  Local Relief   19th of June 1916  Divisional Relief 2nd of July 1916 New Orders   13th of July 1916 Readiness to Move   15th of July 1916  Orders 19th of July 1916 Relief Carried Out   22nd of July 1916 Front Adjustment Completed   2nd of August 1916 A Relief and a Move 5th of August 1916 Divisional Dispositions 21st of August 1916  Training   25th of August 1916 Warning Order Issued   26th of August 1916  Into Action   27th of August 1916 Divisional Dispositions   31st of August 1916  Warning Order Issued   Sep 1916 In Billets 2nd of September 1916 Zero Hour Announced   8th of September 1916 Prepare to Move 21st of September 1916 Situation Normal   21st September 1916 Patrols Fired On    24th of September 1916 Foggy Night   27th of September 1916 Division Moves   30th of September 1916 Dispositions 2nd of October 1916  Reconnoitring the Line   Nov 1916 In Billets 8th of March 1917  Divisional Relief   20th of March 1917  Composite Division Formed   24th of March 1917 Pioneers On the Move 27th of March 1917 In Corps Reserve   2nd of April 1917  Positions   4th of April 1917 Orders for Moves   8th of April 1917 HQ Moves 12th of April 1917 Orders and Reliefs   13th of April 1917  A Push Forward   14th of April 1917 Orders to Move   25th of April 1917 Canadians Take Over Front   28th of April 1917 Rest and Training   2nd of May 1917 13th Inf Bde Moves 5th of May 1917  Wood Shelled   12th of May 1917 Bailleul Shelled   26th of May 1917 Quiet Day   9th of June 1917  A Relief   13th Jun 1917 Reliefs   14th Jun 1917 Working Parties   14th of June 1917 Relief   15th of June 1917   Relief Completed   17th of June 1917 Quiet Day   18th of June 1917   Aircraft Active   19th of June 1917  Quiet Day   21st of June 1917  Brigade Relief Completed   26th of June 1917  Quiet Day   1st of July 1917  Front Line Adjusted   5th of July 1917  Our Trenches Damaged   6th of July 1917  A Brigade Relief   10th of July 1917 A Raid Ordered   12th of July 1917  Back Areas Shelled    17th of July 1917 Quiet Time   18th of July 1917 Direct Hits Made   19th of July 1917   Situation Quiet    21st of July 1917 Back Areas Shelled   23rd of July 1917 Minenwerfer Active   26th of July 1917  Very Quiet    27th of July 1917  Gas Attack   29th of July 1917 Brigade Relief   1st of August 1917 MG Activity   3rd of August 1917   Snipers Active   4th of August 1917  Hostile Shelling   7th of August 1917  A German Raid   10th of August 1917 Mostly Quiet   13th of August 1917 Two Minute Barrage   16th of August 1917 MGs Active   19th of August 1917  Gas Drums Plan   22nd of August 1917 Railway Shelled   25th of August 1917  TMs Hit Oppy Wood   27th of August 1917 Quiet Time   31st August 1917 Quiet Time   3rd of September 1917  Quiet   5th of September 1917 Brigades on the March   6th of September 1917 Gas Shelling   7th of September 1917 Training   10th of September 1917  Division to Move 11th of September 1917  Artillery Marches 27th of September 1917  Orders Received 28th of September 1917  On the Move   4th of October 1917 Attack Launched   5th of October 1917 Quieter Night   17th of October 1917 Training   8th of November 1917 Fairly Quiet   12th of November 1917  Quiet Time   16th of November 1917 15th Brigade Entrain 19th of November 1917  Pioneers Move 23rd of November 1917 Division Ordered to Move 24th of November 1917 Field Coy Returns 26th of November 1917   HQ Closes and Re-opens 28th of November 1917 Entraining for Italy Dec 1917 In Billets 9th of April 1918 Orders 10th of April 1918  Relief Postponed 11th of April 1918 Movement Details 18th of April 1918  Artillery Active   19th of April 1918 A Raiding Party    22nd of April 1918  A Gas Attack   23rd of April 1918 Constant Shelling   25th of April 1918  Division Attacks   28th of April 1918 Artillery Quieter   3rd of May 1918 Enemy Artillery Active    4th of May 1918 Situation Quiet   10th of May 1918 Gas Shells Used    15th of May 1918 Our Heavies Busy    17th of May 1918 Active Artillery   22nd of May 1918 Enemy Active   23rd of May 1918 Quiet Night   30th of May 1918 A Relief   5th of June 1918  Brigade Relief   13th of June 1918  Brigade Relief Completed   15th of June 1918  Operation Proposed   20th of June 1918 Situation Unchanged   22nd of June 1918  Slight Activity   25th of June 1918 WO95/1510/4   29th of June 1918 Enemy Guns Active   1st of July 1918  Situation Unchanged   7th of July 1918  Gas Shelling   12th of July 1918 Back Areas Bombed   18th of July 1918  Our Guns Active   24th of July 1918  Relief Completed   28th of July 1918 Quiet    31st of July 1918 Relief Completed   4th of August 1918 Divisional Relief Ordered   9th of August 1918  Training   10th of August 1918  Training 13th of August 1918 Entraining Commenced 15th of August 1918  Training 18th of August 1918 On the Move   23rd of August 1918  Division Attacks   24th of August 1918  5th Division Co-operates   25th of August 1918 Brigades Move   26th of August 1918  Enemy Retreats   27th of August 1918 Quiet   28th of August 1918   Situation Unchanged   30th of August 1918  Advance Continues   31st of August 1918  Counter-Attack   1st of September 1918  Attack Sucessful   2nd of September 1918 Strongly Defended 3rd of September 1918  Enemy Withdraws   4th of September 1918 Divisional Relief 5th of September 1918 Rest and Training 8th of September 1918  Rest and Training   17th of September 1918 Back Areas Bombed   18th of September 1918 Attack Commences   19th of September 1918 Enemy Guns Quiet   20th of September 1918  Quiet Time   22nd of September 1918 Field Guns Active   30th of September 1918  Divisional Relief   20th of October 1918    13th of November 1918 Resting 11th of December 1918 Order for March 10th of January 1919  Locations If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Want to know more about the Royal Engineers? There are:8720 items tagged Royal Engineers available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War. Those known to have served with 491st (2nd Home Counties) Field Company, Royal Engineers during the Great War 1914-1918. Kemp MC.. Douglas. 2nd Lt. (d.23rd Mar 1918) All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List Records of 491st (2nd Home Counties) Field Company, Royal Engineers from other sources. The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. 1st of September 2023 marks 24 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time. 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Announcements 18th April 2024     Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263925 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates, add a comment or ask a question. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. 261282 2nd Lt. Douglas Kemp MC. 470th Field Coy. Royal Engineers (d.23rd Mar 1918) Douglas Kemp was born in his grandparents’ home at 27, Princes Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight on 10th August 1892, the second child to Sydney Thomas Kemp and his wife Emily (nee Hayden). He spent his early years on the island, and from the age of 11 to 16 was educated at the Isle of Wight County Secondary School in Sandown. When he left school he became an articled apprentice for three years to a Mr. C. Mathews - a civil engineer, the Borough Surveyor of Ryde. During that time he was involved in estimating, and construction, and worked on sundry drainage, building and water supply schemes. (The 1911 Census shows him as living at home with his parents in Temple House, George Street, Ryde, where his occupation is given as being an architect's assistant). Having completed his apprenticeship, for twelve months or so, Douglas was paid 25 shillings a week by a Mr. Barton, and worked on some sanitary engineering, and a small town planning scheme in Ryde. In 1913 (probably around May) he moved to London, where up to July 1914 he was employed under the Borough Surveyor of Paddington, mostly reinforcing concrete on bridges. When war was declared in August 1914, he was working under Mr. Wilson (civil engineer) on the pier harbour at Thames Haven. Aged 17, Douglas first became a soldier in the Royal Engineers in October 1909 when he enlisted at Ryde as a Sapper in the Hampshire (Fortress) RE, Territorial Force. In June 1913, he transferred to the London Electrical Engineers RE (T) as a Sapper, qualifying as a "skilled electrician" in July 1914, and a "superior electrician" in August 1916. When the war broke out, Douglas was assigned to the 3rd Company, London Electrical Engineers and detailed to searchlight work at Dover. In December 1914, he was promoted to Acting 2nd Corporal, then in August 1915 to Acting Corporal. On 19th September 1915 he joined the British Expeditionary Force in France, where he spent some time attached to the 1/2nd Home Counties Field Company RE; and to the 1/3rd London Field Company RE in the searchlight detachment, where he was employed in general duties in the field. His rank as Corporal was made substantive on 2nd December 1915. On 12th May 1916, Douglas returned to England for searchlight work with the L.E.E. In June 1916, he moved to SE Section L.A.D. He returned in January 1917, shortly before being attached to the RE Cadet School in Deganwy, Wales. On receiving a temporary commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, he was discharged from the L.E.E on 31st March 1917. As that rank, he served with the 470th Field Company (renamed from 3/1st North Midland) RE (T) in France. On 9th of February 1918, Douglas was decorated with the Military Cross. The citation which was published in the London Gazette reads: "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During an enemy attack, he took charge of a party and held his position with great courage and coolness until reinforcements arrived. He then took part in a counter-attack and assisted in capturing an important trench which he held until relieved. He showed splendid initiative and determination at a critical time". The award of the Military Cross relates to the associated actions of the battle of Cambrai (20th November to 30th December 1917), when on 30th November 1917 the Germans launched an attack on the area surrounding the village of Gouzeaucourt. On the 21st of March 1918, when the Germans launched their Spring Offensive, Douglas was taken prisoner of war at Noreuil. He died from a leg wound on 23rd March 1918 whilst in a German field hospital at Quéant. He was buried in a mass grave in a German cemetery there, and is commemorated in the H. A. C. Cemetery in Ecoust-St. Mein. He was unmarried and had no children. Mark Swallow Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices.

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