3020's Affiliated Regiment

#1 Combat Engineer Regiment (1 CER), Edmonton, Alberta

HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN MILITARY ENGINEERS

1. The Boer War in 1899 impressed upon the Canadian Government the need for a permanent army. The General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia recommended the organization of a permanent corps of engineers and as a result the "Canadian Engineer Corps" was formed on 1 July 1903. In 1904 it was renamed the "Royal Canadian Engineers" and it had an establishment of 7 officers and 125 other ranks in 1906 when the last British troops departed Canada.

2. The "Great War" saw Engineers quickly dispatched to Europe with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Included with the Engineers were the railway companies and the forestry corps. In all more than 40,000 Sappers were involved in the fighting. After WW I demobilization resulted in an establishment of just over 200 members.

3. Declaration of war in 1939 resulted in RCE units being reorganized and re-equipped. In December 1939, the First Canadian Divisional Engineers were formed and dispatched to England. RCE units were involved in the majority of European operations, from Dieppe, North Africa, through Italy, France, Holland and Germany. By the end of the war the overseas RCE strength was 685 officers and 15,677 other ranks.

4. Sappers were again called to arms during the Korean conflict. Military Engineer involvement included road, airfield and camp construction, demolition work and bridging in particular.

5. The RCAF Construction Engineering Branch began in 1939 due to the magnitude of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Over the years it constructed immense numbers of hangars and other buildings, power plants, radar sites and runways and its mandate included fire fighting services. The RCN Civil Engineers also came into being at the start of WW II. Its chief works were the construction of bases and buildings and augmenting existing docking facilities. The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act in 1968 brought the engineers of the three elements together top form the "Canadian Military Engineer Branch" in 1971.

6. Military Engineers today serve the needs of the Canadian Forces at home and abroad. They are in the high Arctic, on peace-keeping duties with the United Nations and present to some degree on every base. They serve wherever the need arises, proudly proving that their motto "Ubique" has not been misplaced.

ROLE

7. The role of the Canadian Military Engineers (CME) is to conduct specialized military operations which contribute to the survivability, mobility and combat effectiveness of other arms and services, and which disrupt enemy operations.

LAND FORCES COMMAND (LFC) UNITS

8. Canadian Military Engineers serve virtually every CF establishment, and every CF Base and Station has a construction engineering section as an integral part of it. As well, there are several regular and militia engineer units tasked to provide combat engineering, vertical and horizontal construction capabilities.

9. The principal LFC regular units are:

  1. 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (1 CER), Edmonton, Alta;

  2. 2 Combat Engineer Regiment (2 CER), Petawawa, Ont;

  3. 4 Engineer Support Regiment (4 ESR), Gagetown, NB;

  4. 5e Régiment du G;enie de Combat (5 RGC), Valcartier, Que.

10. The LFC militia units are:

  1. 2 Field Engineer Regiment (2 FER), Toronto, Ont;

  2. 3 Field Engineer Regiment (3 FER), Westmount, Que;

  3. 8 Field Engineer Regiment (8 FER), Edmonton, Alta;

  4. 3 Field Engineer Squadron (3 FES), Ottawa, Ont;

  5. 6 Field Engineer Squadron (6 FES), North Vancouver, BC;

  6. 9 Escadron du Génie de Campagne (9 EGC), Noranda, Que;

  7. 10 Escadron du Génie de Campagne (10 EGC), Quebec, Que;

  8. 21 Field Engineer Squadron (21 FES), Flin Flon, Man;

  9. 33 Field Engineer Squadron (33 FES), Calgary, Alta;

  10. 44 Field Engineer Squadron (44 FES), Trail, BC;

  11. 45 Field Engineer Squadron (45 FES), Sydney, NS;

  12. 56 Field Engineer Squadron (56 FES), St. John's, Nfld.

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