The commanding officer of The Electrical Engineers was Rookes Crompton (1845–1940), the electrical pioneer and founder of Crompton &amp; Co, one of the first large-scale manufacturers of electrical equipment. In earlier life he had been an infantry officer in the Rifle Brigade and the 57th Foot before going onto the Reserve List in 1880, but had spent much of his service in India designing military steam wagons. Early in the Second Boer War, Colonel Robert Baden-Powell improvised searchlights to deter night attacks during the Siege of Mafeking. Soon afterward Major Crompton led a detachment of the Electrical Engineers Volunteers to South Africa where they operated electric Arc lamp searchlights of his own design, the first use of such equipment by the Royal Engineers on campaign. The detachment served from April to October 1900 in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Crompton was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, Mentioned in Dispatches and made a Companion of the Bath for his efforts and was later given the honorary rank of colonel.