2 Combat Engineer Regiment is a
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers; a subdivision of the
Canadian Military Engineers
The Canadian Military Engineers (CME; french: links=no, Génie militaire canadien) is the military engineering personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the branch that wear army uniform comprise the Corps of Royal Canadian Engi ...
. It is located at
Garrison Petawawa
Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army.
Garrison facts
The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ottawa ...
, and is part of
2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. 2 CER was redesignated from 1 Field Engineer Squadron in 1977.
Unit phrases - "Sea of Blue"
History
Formation
In 1903, following the
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
, the Royal Canadian Engineers were founded as the basis for the permanent military engineers and the Canadian Engineer Corps was created as a militia unit.
World War I
One of the first tasks given to the Canadian engineers after the declaration of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was the construction of the
Valcartier training site in Quebec. At its peak, 30,000 men were stationed there before the
1st Canadian Division
The 1st Canadian Division (French: ''1re Division du Canada'' ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very shor ...
was deployed. When the 1st Canadian Division arrived in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, they were accompanied by the Canadian Engineer Corps. These troops were responsible for the construction of defences, sanitation systems, water supplies, bridging, and assisting with trench raids. The engineers, known as Sappers, were also tasked with digging tunnels underneath enemy trenches and planting explosives to destroy the trenches. These tunnels were strategic in winning the
Battle of Vimy Ridge.
World War II
Canadian engineers spent the early phases of World War II building camps in Canada and as they deployed to the United Kingdom, turned their attention to building camps, defence work, roads and airfields in England. Sappers of the
2nd Canadian Division
The 2nd Canadian Division (2 Cdn Div; french: 2e Division du Canada) is a formation of the Canadian Army in the province of Quebec, Canada. The present command was created 2013 when Land Force Quebec Area was re-designated. The main unit housed ...
led the beach assault supporting the
Dieppe Raid and took the second highest number of casualties after the infantry. By 1942, divisional and corps engineers turned their full attention to the invasion of Europe. They were fully engaged in the
Sicilian and
Italian Campaigns, the
Normandy Landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
and the liberation of France, Belgium and Holland. The majority of their work consisted of constructing bailey bridges, clearing mines and booby traps and building communication networks and field defences.
Postwar to present
After the Canadian Forces unified in 1968, the Royal Canadian Engineers, Royal Canadian Navy Civil Engineers and the Royal Canadian Air Force Construction Division were amalgamated. The new branch went under the name Royal Canadian Engineers until 1973 when they were renamed the Canadian Military Engineers.
In 2017, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment celebrated its 40th anniversary; and at the same time, the 20th anniversary of the Neder Rijn Engineer Park. A reunion event was held 7–9 July 2017, which was attended by over 500 members of the CME family.
2 CER is part of this history of Canadian military engineers. It provides combat engineering support to 2 CMBG.
Organisation
It currently consists of:
* 23 Field Squadron
* 24 Field Squadron
* 25 Support Squadron
* 28 Administration Squadron.
References
Order of precedence
See also
*
Military history of Canada
The military history of Canada comprises hundreds of years of armed actions in the territory encompassing modern Canada, and interventions by the Canadian military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. For thousands of years, the area that woul ...
*
History of the Canadian Army
The history of the Canadian Army, began when the title first came into official use in November 1940, during the Second World War, and is still used today. Although the official titles, Force Mobile Command, and later Land Force Command, were used ...
Canadian Military Engineers Association
Engineer regiments of Canada
Military units and formations established in 1977
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