Overall: 12cm (4.7in) x 22cm (8.7in)
Indian silver. Large folding menu the form of a pair of crossed pioneer axes, the heads inscribed ‘3 / S&M To 107th Pioneers’ and ‘Kirkee July 1905’
Dating to the era of the Kitchener reforms, the presentation inscription may refer to the formation of the new 6th (Poona) Division at Kirkee, and in which the 3rd Bombay Sappers & Miners served before and during the First World War. Both 3rd Sappers & Miners and the 107th Pioneers saw action in the Somaliland Campaign of 1904, the former taking part in the defeat of the Mad Mullah’s dervishes on the Jidballi plain, and latter remaining in country until relieved by troops from India that autumn. The high reputation of the Sappers & Miners, which could trace its origins to the 18th century, is said to have rested on the quality of the Royal Engineer officers who competed to serve with them. Similarly the 107th Pioneers traced their origins to 1788 and won a string of battle honours as combat engineers. During the First World War both regiments served with distinction on Western Front and in Mesopotamia.