The Bengal Sappers are one of the few remaining regiments of the erstwhile Bengal Presidency Army and survived the Rebellion of 1857 due to their "sterling work" in the recapture by the East India Company of Delhi and other operations in 1857–58. The troops of the Bengal Sappers have been a familiar sight for over 200 years in the battlefields of British India with their never-say-die attitude of Chak De and brandishing their favourite tool the hamber.[3][4][5]
The Bengal Sappers and Miners was originally the Corps of Bengal Pioneers, which was raised from two pioneer companies in 1803, part of Bengal Army of the Presidency of Bengal; one raised by Capt T. Wood at Kanpur as Bengal Pioneers in November 1803,[4] also known as "Roorkee Safar Maina".[13] In 1819, at the conclusion of Third Maratha War, a part of Bengal Pioneers merged with the Company of Miners (raised in 1808) to become the Bengal Sappers and Miners, and raised at Allahabad, with Captain Thomas Anburey as the Commandant. The remaining part of the Corps of Bengal Pioneers was absorbed in 1833.[4] In 1843 'Broadfoot's Sappers', which had been raised in 1840, merged into the Bengal Sappers and Miners.
In 1847 the Bengal Sappers and Miners was renamed Bengal Sappers and Pioneers, and in 1851 it became the Corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners. On 7November 1853, the regiment moved to Roorkee, where it has maintained its regimental centre ever since.[14]Lord Kitchener of Khartoum's 1903 Kitchener Reforms saw it re-designated as the 1st Sappers and Miners, which was again altered in 1906 to the 1st Prince of Wales's Own Sappers and Miners.
On the accession of George V to the throne in 1910 it was renamed 1st King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners,[15] with the '1st' being dropped in 1923, to make it King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners. In 1937 it was renamed King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners, and in 1941 they became the 'King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners Group of the Indian Engineers'. In 1946 it became the 'King George V's Group' of the Royal Indian Engineers. On Indian independence and partition in 1947, about half of the serving personnel were allocated to the Pakistan Royal Engineers. In 1950 they became the Bengal Centre, Corps of Engineers, after which they became the Bengal Engineer Group and Centre.[16]
The Indian Sappers and Miners,By Lieut.-Colonel E.W.C. Sandes D.S.O., M.C., R.E. (Ret.), Published by The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, 1948. Extracts
K.S. Calendar of battles, honours and awards: King George V's Own Bengal Sappers & Miners from 1803 to 1939, by Rhamat Ullan Khan, ca. 1944.
History and digest of service of the 1st King George's Own Sappers & Miners. Roorkee: 1st King's Own Press, (ca. 1911)
Regimental history of the King George's Own Bengal Sappers & Miners. Roorkee: KGO Sappers & Miners Press, 1937.
Corps reunion and the unveiling of the war memorial. (Roorkee: King George V's own Bengal sappers and miners group, R.I.E),1927.
History of the Corps of Royal Engineers, by Great Britain Army. Royal Engineers, Whitworth Porter. Published by Longmans, Green, 1952.
The Bengal Sappers 1803–2003, by General Sir George Cooper GCB MC and Major David Alexander. ISBN0-903530-24-4.
The Military Engineer in India, by Lt. Col. E.W.C Sandes. Reprint 2001, Original 1933. ISBN9781843420422.
First World War:
Cunningham, A.H., A Short history of the Corps of King George's Own Bengal Sappers & Miners during the War, 1914-1918. (1930)
Second World War:
Pearson, G., Brief history of the K.G.V's own Bengal Sappers and Miners Group, R.I.E., August 1939-July 1946. Roorkee: Pearson, 1947.
A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, and road and airfield construction and repair.
The Indian Army during British rule, also referred to as the British Indian Army, was the main military force of India until national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency Armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and the princely states, which could also have their own armies. As stated in the Imperial Gazetteer of India, the "British Government has undertaken to protect the dominions of the Native princes from invasion and even from rebellion within: its army is organized for the defence not merely of British India, but of all possessions under the suzerainty of the King-Emperor." The Indian Army was an important part of the forces of the British Empire, in India and abroad, particularly during the First World War and the Second World War.
Lieutenant-General Sir Fenton John Aylmer, 13th Baronet, was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was in command of the first failed efforts to break the siege of Kut in 1916. From a military background, Aylmer was commissioned into the Indian Army, and immediately involved in fierce fighting on the north-west frontier. In a singularly heroic action, still in his twenties, he helped rescue Townshend's garrison at Chitral, spearheading the relief column. For his valorous conduct he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and rapid promotion through the officer class.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Colclough Watson VC was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Major General William Spottiswoode Trevor VC was a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
James Dundas VC was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
General Sir Edward Pemberton Leach was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Colonel James Morris Colquhoun Colvin VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to a member of a British or Commonwealth force.
Major-General John Sydney Lethbridge CB, CBE, MC was a British soldier. He served as a commissioned officer with the Royal Engineers on the Western Front during the early years of the First World War and later in the Middle East. He spent much of the interwar period serving in British India. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he was posted to the British Expeditionary Force in France, later serving as Commander, Royal Engineers in the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. He spent the later war years as a staff officer. After the end of the war, he served in senior civil defence roles. He died in 1961, shortly after his retirement from the British Army.
Roorkee Cantonment is a cantonment town, in Roorkee, Haridwar district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and is one of country's oldest cantonments established in 1803, and the headquarters of Bengal Engineer Group since 1853.
The Battle of Ghazni took place in the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 23, 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War.
General Sir Bindon Blood, was a British Army commander who served in Egypt, Afghanistan, India, and South Africa.
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 (CME) is the premier technical and tactical training institution of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers.
The Bombay Engineer Group, or the Bombay Sappers as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency army of the British Raj. The group has its centre in Khadki, Pune in Maharashtra state. The Bombay Sappers have gone on to win many honours and awards, both in battle and in peacetime, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, both before and after Independence. The gallantry awards won include the British Victoria Cross and the French Legion of Honour before independence, as well as the Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra as part of Independent India. The Group has also made its mark in peacetime activities such as sport, adventure, disaster relief, aid to civil authority and prestigious construction projects.
Madras Engineer Group (MEG), informally known as the Madras Sappers, is an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Madras Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Madras Presidency army of the British Raj. This regiment has its HQ in Bengaluru. The Madras Sappers are the oldest of the three groups of the Corps of Engineers.
College of Military EngineeringPune (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 Services (BRES) and Survey is done here.
The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army and before 1895, the Bengal Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops of the Ottoman Empire.
The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presidencies: the Bengal Army, the Madras Army and the Bombay Army. Initially, only Europeans served as commissioned or non-commissioned officers. In time, Indian Army units were garrisoned from Peshawar in the north, to Sind in the west, and to Rangoon in the east. The army was engaged in the wars to extend British control in India and beyond.
The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
India 
