A Roll of Sappers
The Sappers have always been there. Now there is a book that puts them at the centre of the story. Have your name printed in the back of the hardback edition.
Two listings sit near the back of the hardback edition, after the Author's Note.
Roll of Sappers. Serving and former Royal Engineers. Name, optional service number, years served, unit. The way regimental honour rolls have always read.
Friends of the Corps. Civilian supporters and family members. Name only. For people who want to back the book and stand with the Corps without claiming a service record they don't have.
Sign up below. Free. No payment. No obligation.
31 July 2026. The file has to go to print after that. Names that arrive later go on the website roll instead. Not the same as being in the book.
The Royal Engineers build the way forward and break what's in the way of it. They have been there in every campaign of the British Army for the past three centuries. They have rarely been at the centre of the story.
This book is one attempt to put that right. The Roll of Sappers in the back is a way to say so plainly: the book is for the Sappers, so the Sappers should be in it.
Once a Sapper, always a Sapper.
Billy MacLeod served with the Royal Engineers from 1977 to 1986 as a Class 1 Combat Engineer. Born in Drumchapel, Glasgow. Founder of Veterans In Action. Awarded the MBE for his work supporting wounded and traumatised veterans.
A Sapper's Story is his second novel, and the first in a planned series following the Royal Engineers through the Second World War.
No. It is free to put your name on the Roll. The book itself is available to pre-order from 8 June onwards.
Only for the Roll of Sappers itself. Family, friends and supporters can go on the Friends of the Corps page. Both pages sit in the back of the hardback.
Service number is optional. If you provide it, it goes in the printed Roll alongside your name. If you don't, your name appears alone.
Veterans of the Corps, serving Sappers, descendants of Royal Engineers, and supporters of Veterans In Action. The aim is several hundred names.
No. The Roll is in the hardback edition only. The hardback has a dust jacket and is the right format for the gesture.
Names submitted after 31 July go on a Roll of Sappers page on the author website. Welcomed, but not in the book.
Only for the Roll of Sappers and Friends of the Corps printing, and, if you opt in to that consent, to be kept informed about the book and the series. We never share your data with anyone else. You can ask for it to be removed at any time.