The 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group, formerly 29 Engineer Brigade, is an engineer formation of the

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 ...

responsible for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search. Its headquarters were at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

History

The brigade had its origins as 29 Engineer Group formed in Glasgow in 1961. It was expanded and became 29th Engineer Brigade in 1967. By 1982, the brigade headquarters moved from Edinburgh to Imphal Barracks York with signals support at

Fenham Barracks Fenham Barracks is a military installation in Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne. History The site was acquired by the War Office from Newcastle Corporation in 1804 and, following the construction of three barrack blocks, became the home of units ...

in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Isby and Kamps wrote that around 1984-85 the brigade consisted of 72 Eningeer Regiment, 73 Engineer Regiment, 74 Engineer Regiment and 105 (V) Plant Squadron, with 72 and 73 Regiments supporting 2nd Infantry Division and 74 Regiment supporting 1st Infantry Brigade. In around 1989, the brigade's units included 71, 72, 73 Engineer Regiments, 105 Plant Squadron, 117 Field Support Squadron, and 873 Movement Lights Squadron. After 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, the brigade disbanded. In 1997, the brigade was reformed as 29 (Corps Support) Engineer Brigade from the Central Volunteer Headquarters, Royal Engineers. It was given responsibility for administering a series of Specialist Teams Royal Engineers ('STRE's). Its headquarters was established at Aldershot. It had been renamed 29 (Land Support) Engineer Group by 2008 and, because its main capability was Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), it had been renamed 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group by 2011.

Structure in 1997

The following was the structure when it was reformed as a corps support engineer brigade in 1997: * ''Royal Monmouthshire Militia Regiment, '''' Royal Engineers'' **''101 Militia Headquarters Squadron'' **''100 Militia Field Squadron'' **''108 ( Welsh) Militia Field Support Squadron'' **''225 (

City of Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

) Militia Construction Squadron'' **''143 Plant Squadron'' * ''75 (Lancashire and Cheshire) Engineer Regiment, (Volunteers)'', Royal Engineers **''201 Headquarters Squadron'' **''107 (

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and Cheshire) Field Squadron'' **''202 Field Squadron'' **''125 ( Staffordshire) Field Support Squadron'' * ''101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment, '''' Royal Engineers'' **''233 EOD Headquarters Squadron'' **''222 Field EOD Squadron'' **''221 Field EOD Squadron'' **''220 EOD Field Squadron'' * ''135 Topographical Squadron, Royal Engineers'' * '' Military Works Force, Royal Engineers'' After reformed as an engineer brigade for the ACE Rapid Reaction Corps, plans were made for the brigade to take under command other units from other ARRC engineer regiments. Therefore, under an operational deployment 101st (

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) Engineer Battalion, 5th (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

) Engineer Regiment (two battalions), 6th (

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) Engineer Regiment, and A ( Turkish) Engineer Company would all fall under its operational control.

Current Organisation

The brigade exists as 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group under 8th Engineer Brigade. The structure is as follows: * Headquarters at

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...

* 11 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Search) Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps ** Regimental Headquarters at

** 421 Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Search Squadron at

** 321 Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Search Squadron at

Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove or more simply JHC FS Aldergrove is located south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Alder ...

** 521 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron at Catterick, Chester and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

** 621 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron at

RAF Northolt ("Ready to carry or to fight") , pushpin_map = Greater London , pushpin_label = RAF Northolt , pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London , coordinates = , type = Royal Air Force station , code = , site_area = , height = , owner ...

, Shorncliffe,

and

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** 721 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron at

Ashchurch Ashchurch is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashchurch Rural, in the Tewkesbury district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England, east of the town of Tewkesbury, southwest of Evesham, north of Cheltenham, north-n ...

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, south ...

and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

*29 EOD&S Group Support Unit, Royal Engineers **Regimental Headquarters at Wimbish **Operational Support Group **Training Support Group **29 Group REME Workshop * 33 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Regiment, Royal Engineers ** Regimental Headquarters at Wimbish ** 49 Explosive Ordnance Disposal & Search Squadron ''(New Squadron)'' ** 58 Field Squadron ** 821 Field Squadron * 35 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers ** Regimental Headquarters at Wimbish ** 15 EOD Field Squadron ** 17 Field EOD Squadron ** 21 EOD Field Squadron * 101 (City of London) Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers (V) ** Regimental Headquarters at

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...

** 217 (London) Explosive Ordnance Disposal Field Squadron at Ilford,

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, and White City ** 221 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Field Squadron at

and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

** 350 (Sherwood Foresters) Air Support Explosive Ordnance Disposal Field Squadron at

Chilwell Chilwell is a village and residential suburb of Nottingham, in the borough of Broxtowe of Nottinghamshire, west of Nottingham city. Until 1974 it was part of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having been in Stapleford Rural District un ...

and Chesterfield ** 579 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Field Squadron at

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

, and

* 1st Military Working Dog Regiment ** Regimental Headquarters at Luffenham ** 101 Squadron at

** 102 Squadron ** 103 Squadron at

North Luffenham North Luffenham is a village in Rutland, in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 704, decreasing to 679 at the 2011 census. It lies to the north of the River Chater, east of Uppingham and wes ...

** 104 Squadron (V) at

** 105 Squadron (V) at

The group is tasked with " upportingboth deployed operations and Homeland Defence. The Group locates and disposes of conventional and improvised explosive threats. It provides technical expertise to ensure that the Army’s ammunition is fit for purpose and all forms of Search capability including Military Working Dog support."

Group Commanders

Group Commanders included:Regiments and Commanding Officers, 1960–
* 1997–1998: Col. Robert J. Griffiths * 1998–2005: Col. John M. Heron * 2005–2007: Col. Nigel H.W. Fenn * 2007–2008: Col. Stephen P. Hodder * 2009–2012: Col. Jonathan A.H. Welch * 2012–2017: Col. A. Gareth Bex * 2017–2018: Col. Adam D. McRae * 2018–2021: Col. Daniel A. Reyland * 2021–Present: Col. Brian K. Howard

Notes

References

Sources

External links

The Royal Engineers Journal, September 1982
- proposed reorganisation of Royal Engineers, including role switch for 29 Engineer Brigade, 1983 Groups of the Royal Engineers Military units and formations established in the 2000s Group sized units of the British Army