History of the Royal Sappers and Miners, Volume 2 (of 2): From the Formation of the Corps in March 1712 to the date when its designation was changed to that of Royal EngineersConnolly, T. W. J. (Thomas William John)
History
History of the Royal Sappers and Miners, Volume 2 (of 2): From the Formation of the Corps in March 1712 to the date when its designation was changed to that of Royal Engineers
Connolly, T. W. J. (Thomas William John)
Great Britain. Army. Royal Sappers and Miners
In addition to these rewards, each non-commissioned officer and soldier,
to the extent of the above number, received a bronze medal inscribed
with his name, in a morocco case, to be kept as a token of useful
services rendered, and also a pictorial certificate signed by Prince
Albert.
The number of men sent to the Exhibition from September 1850 to December
1851, reached a total of 274 of all ranks. Sixty-eight of the number
reaped no advantage from the grant. Of these, twenty-four had been
removed to head-quarters for slight irregularity, two deserted, two did
not participate on account of indolence, thirty-three were only three
weeks at the Exhibition before it closed, and the remainder, seven men,
were removed after short periods of employment, in consequence of
illness.
Only one casualty occurred in the companies during their service under
the Royal Commissioners. Lance-corporal Thomas W. Noon had obtained
leave to visit his friends at Oxford, and was killed by a railway
accident at the Bicester station on the 6th September. Liberally
educated, and brought up to the profession of an architect and builder,
he promised to be very useful both as a non-commissioned officer and
foreman. In several situations of responsibility, he proved the
superiority of his attainments, and was consequently one of the first
men selected for duty in London. Mr. Wiltshire, under whom he was
employed at the Exhibition, bore testimony to the value of his services.
Much esteemed by his comrades, his melancholy end was deeply deplored,
and his remains, interred in the cemetery of St. Sepulchre, at Oxford,
were followed to the grave by a large concourse of mourners, among whom
were seven non-commissioned officers of the corps from the Exhibition.
In a funeral sermon, preached by the Rev. W. Mitchell, M.A., in
Hornton-Street Chapel, Kensington, was given a review of the history and
character of the deceased, which awakened interesting sympathies in the
crowded congregation.
The removal of the goods commenced immediately after the closing of the
Exhibition, and all the available sappers were for some weeks employed
in assisting the exhibitors and their assistants to pack their property,
and remove it from the building. Soon these duties, from the rapidity
with which the clearance was carried on, permitted a large force of the
corps to be withdrawn, and accordingly, the 22nd company quitted for
Woolwich on the 4th November, and the 5th company with the greater part
of Lieutenant Stopford’s detachment on the 11th November. Of the number
left, a few were employed in collecting and arranging specimens
presented to the Commissioners for the formation of a trade museum, and
gradually the numbers were reduced to twenty-four, and by the end of the
year to nine men only.
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