28 Engineer Regiment (C-CBRN),

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 head ...

is a regiment of the British Army that focuses on countering chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (C-CBRN) hazards in the environment. Its operational chain of command is

29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group The 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group, formerly 29 Engineer Brigade, is an engineer formation of the British Army responsible for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search. Its headquarters were at Aldershot. History The brigade had ...

, under

8th Engineer Brigade 8th Engineer Brigade (8 Eng Bde) is an engineering support formation of the British Army, which forms part of 1st (United Kingdom) Division. History In August 2001, Headquarters Royal Engineers, Theatre Troops was established as a subdivision o ...

as part of 1st (UK) Division.

History

28 Engineer Regiment was formed on 15 April 1951. It saw service in

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη ('' Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghaz ...

, Libya and in Korea with the

1st Commonwealth Division The 1st Commonwealth Division was the military unit that commanded Commonwealth land forces in the Korean War. The division was a part of the multinational British Commonwealth Forces Korea, with infantry units of the British Army, Canadia ...

in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. In 1956, 28 Engineer Regiment deployed to

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

in support of the original

Operation Grapple Operation Grapple was a set of four series of British nuclear weapons tests of early atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs carried out in 1957 and 1958 at Malden Island and Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the ...

. The primary task of the regiment was the construction of the airfield and the 'Main-Camp', from which nuclear tests would be facilitated. In January 1957, on completion of their tasks in the Pacific Ocean, a letter was received from the War Office announcing the disbandment of the regiment and the subordination of its sub-units. In 1971, the regiment was re-formed as 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment, coming under operational control of Commander, Royal Engineers, I (BR) Corps in West Germany, and equipped with the M2 Amphibious Bridging Equipment. In 1992, the regiment was re-organised under the

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

reforms. 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment was re-roled as a general support regiment tasked with supporting the 1st Armoured Division with its amphibious commitment remaining but reduced to a single squadron (23 Amphibious Engineer Squadron). The regiment saw deployments to the former Republic of Yugoslavia, in 1995. It was also deployed on the initial invasion during

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

, Iraq in 2003. Before the initial

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 ...

changes, the regiment was re-roled as a close support engineer regiment, attached to the 11th Light Brigade. In 2014 the unit was disbanded as a result of the Army 2020 reforms.

Reformation

The regiment reformed on 1 April 2019 as a counter-chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (C-CBRN) regiment with dismounted RE elements to be based at

Rock Barracks Ministry of Defence Woodbridge or MoD Woodbridge is a military installation located near the town of Woodbridge, in Suffolk, England. The site opened in 2006 and is operated by the British Army and incorporates both Rock Barracks and Woodbridge ...

in Woodbridge, Suffolk, whilst mounted RTR elements remain in Harman Lines,

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church o ...

, Wiltshire. The sub-units of 28 Engineer Regiment (C-CBRN) are: * 64 Headquarters & Support Squadron (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers, at

RAF Honington Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regim ...

* Falcon Area Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron,

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

, at Harman Lines,

Warminster Garrison Warminster Garrison is a military garrison of the British Army, on the edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. History The history of Warminster's military garrison can be traced back to Roman Britain, where a small camp was located on t ...

* 42 Field Squadron (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers, at

, Woodbridge * 77 Field Squadron (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers, at Rock Barracks, Woodbridge

The regimental emblem

The emblem on the 28 Engineer Regiment flag is a Christmas Island

Frigatebird Frigatebirds are a family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forke ...

emblazoned on a hexagon. The hexagon was used as an emblem by a number of Royal Engineer Special Warfare Groups in WW1, and draws inspiration from the chemical diagram for the

benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms ...

ring, a chemical structure found in a large number of chemical warfare agents. The hexagon remains part of the symbology and iconography adorning identifying badges and emblems of CBRN units and organisations of many NATO partners. The Christmas Island Frigatebird is endemic to the Christmas Islands and was the motif for the original Operation Grapple on which 28 Engineer Regiment deployed.

References

{{reflist Regiments of the Royal Engineers Military units and formations established in 1951 1951 establishments in the United Kingdom