The Indian Army Corps of Engineers is a combat support arm which provides combat engineering support, develops infrastructure for armed forces and other defence organisations and maintains connectivity along the borders, besides helping the civil authorities during natural disasters.

College of Military Engineering, Pune College of Military Engineering (CME) is a technical and tactical engineering training institution of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. Training of Combat Engineers, Military Engineering Service, Border Roads Engineering Ser ...

(CME) is the premier technical and tactical training institution of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps consists of three groups of combat engineers, namely the

Madras Sappers Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, the

Bengal Sappers The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) (informally the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Ben ...

and the

Bombay Sappers The Bombay Engineer Group, or the ''Bombay Sappers'' as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers, Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Pres ...

. It has a long history dating back to the mid-18th century. The earliest existing subunit of the Corps (18 Field Company) dates back to 1777 while the Corps officially recognises its birth as 1780 when the senior-most group of the Corps, the

were raised. A group is roughly analogous to a brigade of the Indian infantry, each group consisting of a number of engineer regiments. The engineer regiment is the basic combat engineer unit, analogous to an infantry battalion. Besides the combat engineers, the Corps mans and operates major engineering organisations such as the

Military Engineer Services The Military Engineer Services (MES) is an inter-service organisation with military and civilian components of its officers and subordinate staff. MES is one of the oldest and largest government defence infrastructure-development agencies in In ...

, the

Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is now a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring ...

(BRO), the

Married Accommodation Project Consequent to the promise made to the Indian Armed Forces by the Government of India, the Married Accommodation Project, or MAP, was begun to construct married accommodation for the three services, with a view to remove over a period of time the co ...

and the

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of Cartography, mapping and surveying.

History

The Campaign in Burma, April 1945 SE3891

The Corps of Engineers is one of the oldest arms of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. The origin of the Corps dates back to 1780 when the two regular pioneer companies were raised in the Madras Presidency Army. Subsequently, the Group of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

were formed in their respective presidencies. These Groups came together when the British Indian Army was formed after 1857 and were later merged on 18 November 1932 to form the Corps of Indian Engineers. Engineer Groups initially consisted of field companies (a sub-unit organisation that exists to this day). Till 1911, the Sappers also had the duty of passing battlefield messages. Between 1911 and 1920, they handed this task to a batch of their own kinsmen who then formed the Corps of Signals. The Sappers also contributed the first batch of airmen when the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

was raised in 1932. From 1942-1945 officers of the Indian Railways were recruited into this Corps to participate in Britain's Burma Campaign.

Combat Engineers

In war, Combat Engineers provide mobility to own forces by constructing bridges, tracks and helipads; on the other hand, the Corps denies the same to the enemy by creating obstacles such as laying mine-fields and demolition of bridges. The need for accurate survey arose before combat engineering. Vast holdings had to be carefully delineated and mapped out, to plan the correct form of commercial extraction. By 1780, serious attention began to be given to the art of sapping and mining. Forts abound in the subcontinent, and to the forts the main defences withdrew for a protracted stand. On being invested, the siege (heavy) artillery including trench mortars or bombards went at it. The real work, not for the faint-hearted, went to the sappers who had to do the '

sapping Sapping is a term used in siege operations to describe the digging of a covered trench (a "sap") to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire. (verb) The purpose of the sap is usually to advance a besieging army's positio ...

' or mining. Sapping is the technique of accurately digging trenches, usually covered or zigzag, to cover one's approach to the point of assault. Corps of Engineers played a very important role on "OP Vijay" the Kargil war. The major Engineer Regiments which very actively took part were 108 Engineer Regiment as a part of 08 Mountain Division, 02 Engineer Regiment as a part of 03 Mountain Division, 106 Engineer Regiment as a part of 15 Corps and 112 Engineer as a part of 92 Mountain Brigade during operation than subsequently became the part of newly raised 14 Corps. The action areas and the commanding officers of these Engineer Regiments are appended below:- 1. 108 Engr. Regt. Commanded by Col. Rohit Mohan Chaudhri, and the Regt. operated in Drass sector under 08 Mtn. Div. The unit was awarded Battle Honour and theatre Honour. Was also awarded COAS Unit Citation for War. 2. 02 Engr. Regt. Commanded by Col. Krishnan, and operated initially in Drass sector than Chor Batala and Siachin sector under 03 Mtn. Div. The unit was awarded theatre honour 3. 106 Engr. Regt. Commanded by Col. I.P.S. Ahuja and operated in Drass & Kargil sector under 16 Corps HQ. The unit was awarded COAS UNit citation of war 4. 112 Engr. Regt. Commanded by Col. N.B.Saxena and operated in Daha & Ganasak sector under 92 Mtn. Bde. as brought in for operations from 33 Corps located from Sukhna. The unit was awarded COAS Unit Citation of war

Military Engineer Services

The Military Engineer Services (MES) are responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of all works, buildings,

airfields An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...

, dock installations, etc., together with accessory services such as military roads, water and electricity supply, drainage, refrigeration, furniture, required by the Army, Navy, Air Force & Coast Guard in India. It is one of the largest construction and maintenance agencies in India with a total annual budget to the tune of 13,000 crores. It has a large number of units and sub-units spread across the entire country to provide engineering support to various formations of Army, Air Force, Navy and DRDO. MES is an inter services organisation under the Ministry of Defence and has both Army and Civilian components of officers (mainly IDSE) and other subordinate staff.

Border Roads Organisation

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) consists of Border Roads Development Board and GREF. BRDB is headed by the

Defence Minister of India The Minister of Defence (''Rakshā Mantrī'') is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence Minister is one of the most senior offices in the Union Council of Ministers as well as be ...

as its Chairman and Chief of Army and Air Staff and Defence Secretary as its members and there are other members also and GREF is headed by Lt General of Corps of Engineers known as DGBR. BRO has made its own contribution to the nation by constructing national highways, airfields, buildings and bridges. The Border Roads, by constructing a large number of roads in once inaccessible areas of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

and

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

have contributed significantly to their economic development. The BRO was started on 7 May 1960. Its first DGBR was Maj Gen K N Dubey.

Decorations

Lt Gen Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

PS Bhagat of the Corps remains the first Indian Officer to have won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

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 opposin ...

. Another first in the same war, Subedar Subramaniam was awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

. Later, during operations in

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

soon after Independence, Major

Rama Raghoba Rane Major Rama Raghoba Rane, Param Vir Chakra, PVC (26 June 1918 – 11 July 1994) was an officer in the Indian Army. He was the first living recipient of the Param Vir Chakra along with Karam Singh, India's highest military decoration. Born ...

was awarded the

Param Vir Chakra The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India's highest military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime. Param Vir Chakra translates as the "Wheel of the Ultimate Brave", and the award is granted for "most conspicu ...

for making a passage through enemy minefields while crawling in front of a tank. Engineer units have been deployed abroad as part of UN Missions. The Corps of Engineers has to its credit one

, one

Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

, one

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, 38 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, two

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

s, 13

Kirti Chakra The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the ''pe ...

s, three

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

s, 88 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 25

Vir Chakra Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy on the battlefield and is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards a ...

s, 93

Shaurya Chakra The Shaurya Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthumously ...

s, six Yudh Seva Medals and many other awards. 9 Engineer Regiment became one of the youngest Engineer Regiment in world history to enter the battlefield and got as many as 12 decorations including 01 Mahavir Chakra, 03 Vir Chakra, 04 Sena Medal, 04 Mention in Dispatch at the "Battle of Basantar" in 1971. 107 Engineer Regiment gained an Indian Institute of Bridging Engineers award for constructing a bridge in

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

in 2001. 268 Engineer Regiment was raised in 1964. As of 2009 it is based 'somewhere in the western sector'. 69 Engineer Regiment was raised in 2005. As of 2006 it is based at

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

. Engineer regiments that served with the

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...

in Sri Lanka included the 3, 4, 8, 16, 51, 53, 110, 115 and 270.http://www.orbat.com/site/cimh/india/ipkf.html , Indian Peace Keeping Force orbat.com 8 September 2002

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande will be the first Chief of the Army Staff who is from Indian Army Corps of Engineers.

References

External links

*Indian Army
Corps of Engineers

Indian Sappers (1740–1947)

The Corps in the Second World War (1939–45)- Indian Engineers in the Western Desert, Italian and Burma Campaigns

Biography of Lord Kitchener

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corps Of Engineers (Indian Army) Military engineer corps British Indian Army regiments Indian World War II regiments Military units and formations established in 1777