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The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers was a specialised armoured formation of the
By the end of October 1943, various engineer units had been renamed and transferred into the Brigade. This brigade comprised 3 Assault Regiments, each with 4 Assault Squadrons, plus an Assault Park Squadron. This structure remained unchanged up to the Normandy landings in June 1944.
The basic vehicle of the assault unit was the Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVREs). This was a Churchill tank with its turret modified or removed and to which were attached certain special equipments.
The Brigade was employed during the assault landings in Normandy, Operation Overlord and further used during the battle for the Roer Triangle (
The AVREs then turned their attention to the first line of land defences, using their spigot mortars, and with self-propelled guns providing artillery support. More Sappers landed to continue the clearance of the beaches. All the time, infantry were moving through into the growing bridgehead.
Several exits were open within an hour of the first landings, allowing the Armoured Brigades to start moving inland.
The Assault Regiments suffered their share of casualties. In some sectors, up to 50% of the flail tanks, AVREs and armoured bulldozers had been knocked out, with high casualties among the crews. But many of the objectives for D-Day had been achieved, which may not have been the case without 1st Assault Brigade R.E.
After Normandy, the Brigade was used in
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 ...
active in the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. It was formed in mid-1943 and its structure was three assault regiments of the Royal Engineers. It was assigned to the 79th Armoured Division
The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day.
Major-General Percy ...
in preparation for the Normandy invasion of 6 June 1944. The unit comprised armoured vehicles modified for specialist roles (also known as Hobart's Funnies
Hobart's Funnies is the nickname given to a number of specialist armoured fighting vehicles derived from tanks operated during the Second World War by units of the 79th Armoured Division of the British Army or by specialists from the Royal En ...
), intended to assist with the landing phase of the operation.
History
By the end of October 1943, various engineer units had been renamed and transferred into the Brigade. This brigade comprised 3 Assault Regiments, each with 4 Assault Squadrons, plus an Assault Park Squadron. This structure remained unchanged up to the Normandy landings in June 1944.
The basic vehicle of the assault unit was the Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVREs). This was a Churchill tank with its turret modified or removed and to which were attached certain special equipments.
The Brigade was employed during the assault landings in Normandy, Operation Overlord and further used during the battle for the Roer Triangle (Operation Blackcock
Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It was ...
), the Rhine crossings (''Operation Plunder
Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...
'') and the Elbe crossing
The Elbe crossing (german: Elbquerung) is a planned fixed transport link across the lower Elbe between Hamburg and the North Sea. The crossing is expected to enable the westward extension of the coastal Bundesautobahn 20 to join Bundesautobah ...
.
D-Day , Operation Overlord
Each of the three Infantry Divisions involved in the first assault on the British and Canadian front - Gold Beach, Juno Beach andSword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied Fr ...
- included two Assault Squadrons from 5 Assault Regiment and 6 Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers.
The objective of each pair of Assault Squadrons was to clear lanes across the beaches and to establish up to eight exits from the beaches onto the first inland road, suitable for tracked vehicles. This involved:
* removing beach obstacles, which were exposed at low tide, so that they were not a hazard as the tide rose.
* disarming and removing mines and other explosive charges from these obstacles
* breaching the sea wall, where one existed
* creating and maintaining ramps and firm access routes through the soft sand above the high water line
* removing knocked-out vehicles that were obstructing these exits
All this had to be done under fire from buildings on the seafront, and under mortar and artillery fire from further inland.
Each Assault Squadron was equipped with a number of Armoured Vehicles Royal Engineers ( AVREs) - which were Churchill tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, a ...
s, modified in various ways to suit the needs of Assault Engineers. In addition, the assault teams included a number of Sherman
Sherman most commonly refers to:
*Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name)
** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General
*M4 Sherman, a tank
Sherman may also refer to:
Places United St ...
'Crabs' from 30th Armoured Brigade - these were Sherman tanks, with a full-width, heavy duty, rotary chain flail mounted in front, which destroyed any mines in its path, thus clearing the lanes up the beach.
The AVREs then turned their attention to the first line of land defences, using their spigot mortars, and with self-propelled guns providing artillery support. More Sappers landed to continue the clearance of the beaches. All the time, infantry were moving through into the growing bridgehead.
Several exits were open within an hour of the first landings, allowing the Armoured Brigades to start moving inland.
The Assault Regiments suffered their share of casualties. In some sectors, up to 50% of the flail tanks, AVREs and armoured bulldozers had been knocked out, with high casualties among the crews. But many of the objectives for D-Day had been achieved, which may not have been the case without 1st Assault Brigade R.E.
After Normandy, the Brigade was used in Operation Blackcock
Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It was ...
, Operation Infatuate
Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the ...
and Operation Plunder
Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...
.
Assault Engineers after the War
Disbanding of 1st Assault Brigade
After the end of the Second World War,79th Armoured Division
The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day.
Major-General Percy ...
was disbanded in August 1945. The remaining Assault Engineer Regiment was disbanded in July 1957.
Reformation as 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment
The unit was briefly reformed as 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment in 1964 before a further reorganisation in 1969 reduced the Armoured Engineers to one squadron. In 1980, 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment was again reformed and was the largest tank regiment in the British Army. The Regiment was the only unit equipped with specialist Sapper tanks and heir to the traditions of past assault and armoured engineers. The regimental crest included the bull's head device of 79th Armoured Division. 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment had three squadrons each of four troops, a total of 72 tanks. Each troop had three AVREs and three AVLBs (bridge layers). These were more modern types, evolved from the original Churchill, but based on the newer Centurion and Chieftain tanks. As of 2008, Engineer Regiments attached to Armoured or Mechanised Brigades in theBritish 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 ...
have Armoured Engineer Squadrons included within their organisation.
Order of Battle
The Order of battle of the brigade during the war was:Joslen, p. 147 (day/month/year). * 5th Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers 26/11/43–22/4/45 ** 5th Armoured Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers 23/4/45–14/7/45 * 6th Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers 26/11/43–22/4/45 ** 6th Armoured Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers 26/11/43-24/4/45 * 42nd Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers 26/11/43–22/4/45 ** 42nd Armoured Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers 26/11/43–12/4/45 * 87th Assault Dozer Squadron, Royal Engineers 1/3/45–22/4/45 * 149th Assault Park Squadron, Royal Engineers 18/1/45–22/4/45 ** 149th Armoured Engineer Park Squadron, Royal Engineers 23/4/45–12/7/45 * 557th Assault Training Establishment, Royal Engineers 8/1/45–23/4/45 ** 557th Armoured Engineer Training & Experimental Establishment 24/4/45–12/7/45Commanders
Commanding officers of the brigade included: *Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...
Geoffrey Lionel Watkinson 26/11/43–12/2/45
* (Acting) Lieutenant Colonel J. K. Sheppheard 12/2/45–18/2/45
* Brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...
Philip Saint Barbe Sydenham 18/2/45–30/7/45
See also
*British Armoured formations of World War II
During the Second World War the British Army deployed armoured divisions and independent armoured and tank brigades.
Background
During the interwar period, the British Army examined the lessons learnt from the First World War; and a need was seen ...
Notes
References
*Further reading
*A.R.E. The story of the 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers 1943-1945 (1st Assault Brigade, 1945) 78p. Printed for members of the Brigade. *The story of 79th Armoured Division, October 1942-June 1945 (Germany : 79th Armoured Division, 1945) 314 p. *N.W. Duncan. 79th Armoured Division (Hobo's Funnies) (Windsor : Profile Publications, 1972) 70 p. (Profile book ; 3) *Geoffrey W. Futter. The Funnies : the 79th Armoured Division and its specialised equipment (Hemel Hempstead : Model and Allied Publications, 1974) x, 131 p. (A Bellona book) *David Fletcher. Vanguard of victory : the 79th Armoured Division (London : Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1984) 86 p. *Patrick Delaforce. Churchill's secret weapons : the story of Hobart's Funnies (London : Robert Hale, 1998) 256 p.See also
*List of British brigades of the Second World War
This is a list of British Brigades in the Second World War. It is intended as a central place to access resources about formations of brigade size that served in the British Army during the Second World War
World War II or the Sec ...
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20080206231149/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/biography/rem_bio_hobart.htm *http://www.unithistories.com/units_british/79ArmdDiv.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers 1 Assault 1 Engineer brigades of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945