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WR254596 Sergeant
JOHN HOGG
Royal Engineers 

By 

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, BSAE P.E., MinstRE
(February 2025) 

Figure 1. Cap Badge of the Royal Engineers (GVR).
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia) 

1. INTRODUCTION

John Hogg was almost 30 years old when he enlisted to serve in the Great War of 1914-1918.  He served as both an infantryman and an engineer soldier on the Western Front and was wounded in action.  He survived the war after serving for more than four years at the front.  Unless otherwise noted, the information provided in this narrative was taken from Hogg’s military service papers as shown in the REFERENCE section. 

2. FAMILY INFORMATION 

Hogg was born on 10 March 1887, probably in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1]  Unfortunately, as only one given name is shown in his military service papers and the surname Hogg is fairly common in Scotland, no definitive family information could be found for him on Ancestry.com.  What is known from his service papers is that prior to his enlistment in the Army his residence was 17 Stewart Terrace in Gorgie, Edinburgh and that he was working for what appears to be in his service papers as the “Northern Railway Company” as a Platelayer.  It is not known whether this is meant to be the Great Northern Railway Company or the North British Railway Company based in Edinburgh.

3.      PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION 

The following is a description of John Hogg at the time of his discharge from the Army in 1919.

4.  ENLISTMENT 

John Hogg enlisted as a Private in the Royal Scots on 2 September 1914.  At the time of his attestation he was assigned Regimental Number 13457.  On 6 September 1914 he was posted to the 12^th (Service) Battalion of the regiment. 

The 12^th (Service) Battalion had been formed at Edinburgh in August 1914, as part of Kitchener’s New Army.  The K1 units were the first to be formed.  Soon after its formation the battalion came under the command of the 27^th Brigade in the 9^th (Scottish) Division and moved to Bordon in Hampshire.  Hogg appears to have been one of the first men to be posted to this new battalion. 

5.      POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE

Bordon (1914-1915) 

Hogg’s training as an infantry soldier appears to have taken place in his battalion while at Bordon.  On 9 February 1915 he was appointed a Lance Corporal.  He remained at Bordon  until May 1915 when his battalion was deployed to France along with other 9^th (Scottish) Division units. 

France (1915) 

Lance Corporal Hogg went to France with his battalion on 11 May 1915.[2]  On 25 September 1915 it became involved in its first major action, the Battle of Loos.  In the Battle of Loos, notable for being the first battle in which British forces used poison gas, the 9^th (Scottish) Division assaulted the Hohenzollern Redoubt.  The division captured the strongpoint and then lost it to a German counterattack.  The attack on the redoubt was made by the 26^th and 28^th Brigades of the division, with the 27^th Brigade (Hogg’s brigade) in reserve.[3]  Despite its place in the division reserve, a total of 83 men in Hogg’s battalion were killed during the battle.  He was one of the lucky ones as he was only wounded.  He was evacuated to a Stationary Hospital in St. Omer on 26 September and was then sent home to Scotland for further treatment and a period of convalescence.  The men of the battalion who were killed in action at the Hohenzollern Redoubt is shown in ANNEX A.[4] 

No officers were lost at Loos on 25 September, but the casualties did include two Warrant Officers: a Company Sergeant Major and a Company Quartermaster Sergeant.  The remaining Other Ranks casualties consisted of 4 Sergeants, 4 Corporals, 11 Lance Corporals and 62 Privates. 

Figure 2.  The Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia) 

Glencorse (1915) 

On 30 September 1915, following a short period of additional treatment for what must have been a slight wound, Lance Corporal Hogg was posted to the Royal Scots Depot at Glencorse Barracks, Midlothian.  While he awaited posting to a battalion, Hogg got into a bit of trouble.  On 29 October he was reported by two non-commissioned officers (Sergeant Harley and Sergeant Giles) for being absent off furlough from tattoo until 2:15 pm.  On 1 November he was “admonished” and made to forfeit two days’ pay. 

On 18 November Hogg was posted to the 3^rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Royal Scots at Glencorse.  This battalion had been formed in August 1914 in Glencorse Barracks. It was a training unit of the Special Reserve and it remained in UK throughout the war.  While in this battalion Hogg committed another infraction.  He was reported by two NCOs (Sergeants Read and Skinner) for being absent off pass from tattoo until 6:45 pm on 31 December 1915, probably the result of too much celebration on New Years Eve.  On 5 January 1916 he was “severely reprimanded” by Lieutenant Colonel the Earl of Ellesmere[5] and was made to forfeit six days pay.

Figure 3.  Lieutenant Colonel John Francis Granville Scrope Egerton, Royal Scots,
4^th Earl of Ellesmere
(Image courtesy of Robert Berry) 

Figure 4.  Glencorse Barracks.
(Image courtesy of The Long, Long Trail) 

France (1916-1919) 

On 2 February 1916 Lance Corporal Hogg was posted back to the 12^th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots in France.  In March, while working in the trenches, Hogg injured himself and suffered a ruinginal hernia causing a bulging of the contents of the abdomen through a weak area in the lower abdominal wall.  The hernia probably was caused by lifting sandbags or heavy timbers for trench revetments.  This injury apparently limited his performance of duty as an infantryman in the trenches.  As a result, on 24 April 1916 he was transferred to the Royal Engineers.  This indeed was a smart move since as a railway platelayer in civil life he should have been posted to the Royal Engineers rather than to an infantry regiment from the first day of his service. 

Upon his transfer to the R.E. he was assigned Regimental Number 153239 and was posted to the 279^th Railway Operating Company, a unit that began operations in France on 17 March 1916.[6]  The date of his joining the unit was 25 April 1916. 

Although his hernia was a problem for him while serving in the infantry, it is difficult to see how he could have satisfactorily performed as a platelayer in a railway company.  A platelayer or trackman was required to inspect and maintain the permanent way of a railway.  This required a good amount of walking and bending and sometimes hammering and lifting.  Doing this work with a ruinginal hernia could have been a problem for him, although the Army was gracious enough to supply him with a truss in June 1916. 

His skills and knowledge as a platelayer appears to have been recognized by his commanding officer.  Hogg was promoted Corporal on 1 July 1916 and Sergeant of 3 March 1917.  Now in a supervisory capacity he probably was less trouble by his hernia while performing his duty.  As a Corporal, Hogg played on the 279^th Railway Company football team.  The team won the IX Corps football match in 1916-1917 near Bailleul in northern France (see ANNEX B).  Apparently his hernia did not prevent him from engaging in sports. 

Renumbering of the Royal Engineers waterways, railways, road and quarrying troops took place in 1918.  The War Office authorized the renumbering of men serving in Royal Engineers transportation troops units. These new numbers had a “WR” prefix and Hogg’s new number became WR254596.

As the various campaigns and battles unfolded, R.E. Railway Companies were engaged all over the British sector, joined by Dominion R.E. Railway Companies. Close examination of the period maps bear testimony to miles of what was to be temporary track that crisscrossed the area. Howitzer Spurs, Ambulance Train Sidings, Tank Enablements and bridges were all constructed, in addition to the constant maintenance and line doubling. Work in progress was always a potential target for enemy artillery and also there were the attentions of the German Air Force to contend with.[7]

A primary objective of the railway companies was always to take standard gauge railways as close to the front as possible, to lessen the demands on light railway systems, horse transport and manpower. For the sappers, work could mean toiling around the clock, especially where lines had been cut by shellfire. Inevitably there were casualties; analysis of the records shows that 173 men from Railway Companies lost their lives.[8]  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission indicates that the 279^th Railway Operating Company lost four men during the Great War:

·         2^nd Lieutenant Robert Charles Hodson (8 May 1917)

·         WR125298 Corporal G. Heckingbottom (20 February 1919)

·         WR258601 Sapper William Wilson, (6 March 1919)

·         WR274991 Sapper A. Davies (14 January 1919)

From just the two Regular Companies in 1914, there would be a total of forty-five Companies engaged in standard gauge railway construction and operation, including other theatres such as Egypt and Salonica, by the end of hostilities. Most of the men in the R.E. Railway Companies, such as John Hogg, had enlisted for the duration of the war and were naturally keen to return home as soon as possible. However, there was still much line repair work to be done in order to restore the lines of communication now extending deeper into the areas formerly held by the Germans.[9]

Hogg served in the 279^th Railway Operating Company until the end of the war.  He remained abroad until early in 1919 and on 18 January 1919 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for “valuable service rendered with the Armies in France and Flanders.”[10]  

On 5 March 1919 John Hogg received a medical examination prior to discharge and he claimed no disability caused by his military service.  He was transferred to the Class “Z” Army reserve in London on 11 April 1919 and returned to his permanent residence at 17 Steward Terrace, Gorgie, Edinburgh.  The 279^th Railway Operating Company was disbanded on 30 June 1919. 

Figure 5.  17 Steward Terrace, Gorgie, Edinburgh in 2025.
(Image courtesy of Google Earth) 

NOTE: Number 17 is the building with the blue door and the red sign.

The following sections are presented in tabular form to summarize Hogg’s promotions, his time in service and the medals that he was awarded during his time in the Army.  They are provided to give the reader easy access to these aspects of his military career. 

6.  PROMOTIONS

John Hogg received the following promotions during his time in service:

7.      MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

John Hogg was awarded (left to right) the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and Meritorious Service Medal.[11] 

Figure 6.  The Medals of WR254596 John Hogg, R.E.
(Image from the author’s collection) 

7.  RELEASE FROM SERVICE 

John Hogg was released from active service on 11 April 1919.  His total service was reckoned as shown in the tables below: 

In Memory Of

Second Lieutenant

ROBERT CHARLES HODSON

279th Railway Company, Royal Engineers who died on 8 May 1917 Age 29

Son of Charles William Hodson. C.S.I. and Maria Hodson.

RO.VI.23 THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE

Remembered with Honour

NINE ELMS MILITARY CEMETERY, THELUS, FRANCE

I. B. 37.

COMMEMORATED IN PERPETUITY BY

THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION

ANNEX A

Fatal Casualties of the 12^th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots
On 25 September 1915 at the Battle of Loos

(Data from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

 ANNEX B 

Figure 7.  The 279^th Railway Company Football Team, 1916-1917.
(Image courtesy of The Sapper, November 1963)

REFERENCES 

Internet Web Sites 

1.      The Long, Long Trail: Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment).

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-scots-lothian-regiment/

2.      Royal Engineers Library of World War One Unit War Diaries.

Library – War – Diaries – WW1.pdf

3.      Wikipedia: Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actions_of_the_Hohenzollern_Redoubt

4.      Ellesmere Park Residence Association.

The-Earls-of-Ellesmere.pdf

5.      The Long, Long Trail:  Railway Construction Companies of the Royal Engineers.

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-corps-of-royal-engineers-in-the-first-world-war/railway-construction-companies-of-the-royal-engineers/ 

London Gazette 

The London Gazette, 18 January 1919, p. 979. 

Military Documents 

Medal Index Card. 

Periodicals 

The Sapper Magazine, November 1963, p. 145. 

Service Papers 

1. Cover for Discharge Documents (Army Form W3997.

2. Statement as to Disability (Army Form Z.22)

3. Medical History (Army Form B. 178).

4. Casualty Form – Active Service (Army Form B. 103).

5. Regimental Conduct Sheet (Army Form B. 120).

ENDNOTES