The 72nd (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Engineer Regiment was a territorial regiment of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, for three periods between 1967 and 2014. The regiment was later reduced to squadron size and renamed as 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron within the 21st Engineer Regiment.

History

72nd Engineer Regiment

The 72nd Engineer Regiment was formed when the Territorial Army was re-organised in the 1960s. It was created from the

50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional ins ...

's engineer regiment and some other separate squadrons. Its first and only headquarters were at

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. From 1967 - 1992 it was assigned to the 29th Engineer Brigade. Both 103 and 188 Squadrons were assigned to the "Harrier Support Group" from 1972 - 1982. In 1999 the regiment was disbanded but one squadron remained 72 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Air Support Field Squadron which was a reserve air support squadron within the 71st Engineer Regiment. In 2006 the regiment was reformed and 72 Squadron became the new headquarters squadron. Under

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

the regiment will disband but the squadrons will be reassigned to other regiments. During its time, the regiment had the following structure; * Regimental Headquarters,

** Regimental Pipes and Drums of the Tyne Electrical Engineers (moved to 102 Battalion REME and later disbanded) * 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

(moved to 21 Engineer Regiment) ** 2 Troop,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

* 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

(moved to 32 Engineer Regiment) ** Troop,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

* 299 Parachute Squadron,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

(moved to

23 Parachute Engineer Regiment 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment is a Royal Engineers regiment in the British Army that was formed in 2003. It provides engineer support to 16 Air Assault Brigade in both the parachute and air assault role. The regiment is currently based at Rock ...

) ** 1 Troop, Hull ** 3 Troop,

72 and 103 (TEE) Field Squadron

Under the Army 2020 refine, 72 Engineer Regiment was disbanded with most of its units being re-designated and moving to other regiments. Part of the changes was the renaming of 72 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Air Support Field Squadron to become 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron. Another change, was the moving under control of 21st Engineer Regiment. Following this change, the squadron is now the reserve squadron of the regiment, supporting the 1st Strike Brigade. The squadron currently maintains 2 Troop in

, while the rest of the squadron is based in Heaton. Following the Field Army changed on 1 August 2019, the squadron was moved from the 21st Engineer Regiment to 71st Engineer Regiment (V) headquartered at

Leuchars Station Leuchars Station is a British Army installation located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the historic town of St Andrews. Formerly RAF Leuchars, it was the second most northerly air defence station in the United King ...

References

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Squadrons of the Royal Engineers Military units and formations in Northumberland Military units and formations in Newcastle upon Tyne Military units and formations established in 1967