Thanks Tom - I was actually referring to another, can't remember it's name, thankfully, thread, in which there was a little heat generated, and part of it seemed to be due to a misunderstanding of the term. This was dissipated by an explanation of how it was used in the RE, but there remained in my mind a puzzle about an alternative.

Anyway, I only remember a little of my father's Engineers version, from WW2, when the make up of the group may have affected the way it was sung. It was certainly repeatable to daughters.