Local militia engineering companies 1855–1903 With the passing of the 1855 Militia Act, volunteer militia engineering companies formed within local militia units: • Halifax: two companies • Montreal: one company (1st Volunteer Militia Engineering Company) • Ottawa: one company • Quebec: one company
Creation Following the
Boer War the Canadian Government realized that the defence of Canada required more than just a single infantry battalion and a few artillery batteries as part of the permanent defence force. In 1903 The Royal Canadian Engineers were founded as the basis of the permanent military engineers, while the militia had the Royal Canadian Engineers created under the leadership of a former
Royal Military College of Canada officer cadet, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Weatherbe.
First World War , France, in 1918 One of the first tasks completed by the engineers after the declaration of war upon
Germany in 1914 was for the rapid development of the
Valcartier training site in
Quebec. At its peak size, 30,000 men were stationed here before the
1st Canadian Division was deployed to England. When the 1st Division arrived on the front in
Belgium they were accompanied by field companies of the Canadian Engineers (men recruited into the service after the start of the war were part of the Militia branch and not the regulars). These troops were responsible for the construction of defences, sanitation systems, water supplies, bridging, and assisting with trench raids. Canadian Engineers also served in the Middle East fighting the Turks. One of the most important functions of the
Sappers in the war was to dig tunnels for
mines underneath enemy trenches, with which to plant explosives to destroy them. At the
Battle of Vimy Ridge, and particularly at the
Battle of Messines, several such mines were used to win the battle. The Canadian Military Engineers contributed three tunnelling companies to the
British Expeditionary Force:
1st Canadian Tunnelling Company,
2nd Canadian Tunnelling Company and
3rd Canadian Tunnelling Company. One was formed from men on the battlefield, while two other companies first trained in Canada and were then shipped to France. The only
Victoria Cross the Canadian Engineers have ever received was earned by
Captain C. N. Mitchell for actions on 8 October 1918 at Canal de I'Escaut, north-east of
Cambrai. In total, more than 40,000 Canadians served as Engineers in the war, with 14,000 on the front on the last day of the war. , Cardiff of Sapper CE Avery, who died a week after the
Armistice in November 1918 On 1 June 2022, the perpetuation of
No. 2 Construction Battalion, CEF, was assigned to the CME, with
4 Engineer Support Regiment having the honour of publicly recognizing the perpetuation.
Between the wars On demobilization, the permanent force of Engineers was changed to 38 officers and 249 other ranks. As a matter of honour,
King George V, the
Canadian monarch bestowed on the organization the right to use the prefix
royal before its name in 1932. On 29 April 1936, the Militia and Permanent components were joined to form the
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers. On this date the Militia adopted the
cap badge used by the regulars.
Second World War in World War II. The Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers expanded dramatically in size to support Canada's war effort. On August 31, 1939, the Permanent Force engineers included 50 officers (with 14 seconded to other branches of the Canadian Army) and 323 other ranks; the maximum size of the Corps was reached in 1944, when it included 210 officers and 6283 other ranks. In keeping with
British Army practice,
company-sized units in the two armoured divisions were called "
squadrons" following
cavalry terminology. The following units were deployed in Canada and in Europe: •
1st Canadian Infantry Division • 1st Field Company • 3rd Field Company • 4th Field Company • 2nd Field Park Company •
2nd Canadian Infantry Division • 2nd Field Company • 7th Field Company • 11th Field Company • 1st Field Park Company •
3rd Canadian Infantry Division • 6th Field Company • 16th Field Company • 18th Field Company • 3rd Field Park Company •
4th Canadian Armoured Division • 8th Field Squadron • 9th Field Squadron • 6th Field Park Squadron •
5th Canadian Armoured Division • 1st Field Squadron • 10th Field Squadron • 4th Field Park Squadron •
6th Canadian Infantry Division in
Pacific Command • 20th Field Company • 25th Field Company • 26th Field Company • 7th Field Park Company •
7th Canadian Infantry Division in
Atlantic Command • 15th Field Company • 23rd Field Company • 27th Field Company • 5th Field Park Company •
8th Canadian Infantry Division in Pacific Command • 21st Field Company • 24th Field Company •
I Canadian Corps • 12th Field Company • 13th Field Company • 14th Field Company • 9th Field Park Company • 1st Drilling Company •
II Canadian Corps • 29th Field Company • 30th Field Company • 31st Field Company • 8th Field Park Company • 2nd Drilling Company •
First Canadian Army • First Canadian Army Troops Engineers • 5th Field Company (unit code 1207) • 20th Field Company (unit code 1208) • 23rd Field Company (unit code 1209) • 10th Field Park Company (unit code 1210) • 2nd Canadian Army Troops Engineers • 32nd Field Company • 33rd Field Company • 34th Field Company • 11th Field Park Company • No. 1 Workshop and Park Company • 1st Field (Air) Survey Company • 2nd Field Survey Company • 3rd Field (Reproduction) Survey Company • General Headquarters (GHQ) and Line of Communication (LoC) Troops • 1st Mechanical Equipment Company • 1st Mechanical Equipment Park Company • 2nd Battalion • 3rd Battalion • 1st Road Construction Company • 2nd Road Construction Company • No. 1 Railway Operating Company • No. 1 Railway Workshop Company • Other units • 1st Chemical Warfare Company (in Canada, September 1942 – 31 August 1943) • 2nd Chemical Warfare Company (in Canada, September 1942 – 31 August 1943) • No.1 Tunnelling Company R.C.E. (in Gibraltar) • No.2 Tunnelling Company R.C.E. (in Gibraltar) The senior officers of the Corps in World War II were as follows: On 1 February 1968, the Canadian Army,
Royal Canadian Navy, and
Royal Canadian Air Force were
officially unified as the Canadian Armed Forces. As such the Royal Canadian Engineers, Royal Canadian Navy Civil Engineers and Royal Canadian Air Force Construction Division were amalgamated. However, the new branch went under the name Royal Canadian Engineers until 1973 when the branch was officially named as the Canadian Military Engineers. The present day structure of army field units was set on 17 June 1977 with the creation of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (1 CER), 2 CER, 4 ESR and 5 CER. The new regiments were each created from one of the squadrons of the former 1 Field Engineer Regiment.
21st century at
Royal Military College of Canada built in 2004 by members of the 2nd Field Engineer Regiment of Toronto to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Military Engineers The role of the Canadian Military Engineers has been expanding. The regular force component has been expanding the size of their units, due to the current missions of the Canadian Armed Forces. In April 1997, Canada's Primary Reserve reorganized into ten brigade groups and in November 1997, the first reserve combat engineer regiment was created by converting an armoured reconnaissance regiment. A number of years later the three field engineer regiments, and seven independent field engineer squadrons were reorganized into combat engineer regiments. Three Canadian brigade groups had more than one engineer unit, and one (
38 Canadian Brigade Group) did not have any units at all. Now the field engineer regiments have been redesignated or amalgamated to become combat engineer regiments, and the field engineer squadrons have either been amalgamated to make new combat engineer regiments or reroled as generic engineer squadrons. 38 CBG previously had 21st Field Engineer Squadron, based in
Flin Flon, Manitoba. It was however disbanded in 1995. In 2003, the
Fort Garry Horse in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, began hosting what became 31 Engineer Squadron in 2012. The brigade formed 46 Engineer Squadron in
Saskatoon in 2012, which was a subunit of the
North Saskatchewan Regiment until it gained full strength. Both squadrons are now subunits of
38 Combat Engineer Regiment. The
deployment in Afghanistan required considerable use of engineers for road clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, heavy equipment, and combat support. By the end of the deployment 16 members of the RCE had been killed in Afghanistan. In April 2013, the title
Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers was brought back for the army element of the branch. ==Customs and traditions==