His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire, Mr Andrew Try joined civic and military guests in Newbury to mark a remarkable milestone in the history of the Royal Engineers (Geographic).

Between December 2024 and October 2025, the British Army’s three Regular Geographic Squadrons – 13 and 14 Geographic Squadrons, and 16 Geographic Support Squadron – each celebrate their 200th anniversaries.

With a proud association spanning more than 75 years, Newbury is widely regarded as the spiritual home of Military Survey and the Royal Engineers (Geographic). It was therefore chosen as the centrepiece for these bicentenary celebrations.

With the full support of Newbury Town Council, a special parade was organised to coincide with Armed Forces Day. The event also provided the opportunity to exercise the Freedom of Newbury, originally granted to the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1997. The parade was hosted by the Mayor of Newbury, with the Lord-Lieutenant and Commander Royal Engineers (Geographic), Colonel Alex Harris, as guests of honour.

The parade featured a contingent of 60 serving Royal Engineer (Geographic) soldiers and an almost equal number of veterans from the Military Survey/RE Geographic community.

The Standards of the Military Survey (Geographic) Branch and the Reading and West Berkshire Branch of the Royal Engineers Association were proudly paraded, with the Nottinghamshire Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers leading the march through the town.