23 Para Engineer Regiment train alongside RAF Benson Personnel MOD 45166881

23 Parachute Engineer Regiment is a

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

regiment in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

that was formed in 2003. It provides engineer support to

16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, known simply as 16 Air Assault Brigade from 1999–2021, is a formation of the British Army predominantly based in Colchester, Essex. It makes up the Air Assault Task Force, a battlegroup held at high readines ...

in both the parachute and

Air assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy l ...

role. The regiment is currently based at Rock Barracks in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and consists of three regular squadrons and one Army Reserve squadron. As part of 16 Air Assault Brigade it can be called upon to deploy on operations across the globe at extremely short notice.

History

23 Engineer Regiment can trace its roots to the founding of the airborne forces of the Parachute Regiment and other related during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In July 1948, 23rd Field Engineer Regiment was formed in

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...

from the former 2nd Division Divisional Engineer regiment. In December 1948, the regiment moved to

Halen Halen (), formerly Haelen (), is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of Limburg, to the west of Hasselt. On January 1, 2018, Halen had a total population of 9,461. The total area is 36.29 km2 which gives a population de ...

and two years later moved to

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

. In September 1957, 2 Field Squadron was allocated to 6th Infantry Brigade and 5 Field Squadron to the 5th Infantry Brigade. In May 1958, the regiment was split and its headquarters became the new "Headquarters Royal Engineers, 2nd Division". Eleven years later in April 1969, it was re-organised into the new 23 Engineer Regiment at Osnabruck. The regiment served as infantry in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

from March - July 1972. In September 1976 the 2nd Division was re-organized as an armoured formation, and the regiment was broken up for the second time. In January 1983, at Osnabruck the regiment reformed and later took part in the trial of Close Support Troops. In 1991 the regiment, participated in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

supporting 4th Armoured Brigade. 39 Field Squadron provided Close Support Troops for each of the Brigade's 3 Battlegroups, whilst 73 Field Squadron acted as General Support to the Brigade. The regiment was later disbanded in 1993 as a result of 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 ...

. In 2001, 23 Engineer Regiment was tasked to provide engineer support to the newly formed

. The regiment was deployed for

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assi ...

and in September 2009 on their return from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

the regiment was granted the

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

of the town of Woodbridge. In 2015, the "Parachute" title was officially added to the name, although the unit had already been supporting

since its re-establishment, and a new flag was presented to the regiment to mark the occasion.

Death of Connor Morrison

on 23rd July 2022, a 20 year old sapper called Connor Morrison of the regiment died from heatstroke at Ipswich Hospital after collapsing during training. None of his squad were carrying water, no attempt was made to cool him down for at least half an hour after he collapsed, and none of his fellow soldiers had undertaken heat illness prevention training.

Organization

* 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment ** 12 Parachute HQ & Support Squadron – includes a dive team and a signal troop ** 9 Parachute Squadron ** 51 Parachute Squadron ** 70 Gurkha Parachute Squadron ** 299 Parachute Squadron ( Army Reserve), in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, Hull and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

Commanding Officers

Commanding Officers of the Regiment have included:

References

External links

23 Parachute Engineer Regiment
{{British Airborne Forces Airborne units and formations of the United Kingdom Regiments of the Royal Engineers 2003 establishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 2003 Royal Engineers