Bengal Engineer Group

The Indian Army Corps of Engineers is one of the oldest arms of the Indian Army, dating back to 1780, when the two regular pioneer companies of the Madras Sappers were raised, as a part of the East India Company's army.[http://indianarmy.nic.in/arms/index_engrs.htm Corps of Engineers - History] Indian Army Official website. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222190909/http://indianarmy.nic.in/arms/index_engrs.htm |date=22 December 2008 }} Prior to its formation, by 1740s officers and engineers from the Kingdom of Great Britain served in the Bengal Engineers, Bombay Engineers and Madras Engineers, formed with the respective Presidency armies, while British soldiers served in each of the Presidencies' engineering companies, namely the Madras Sappers and Miners, Bombay Sappers and Miners, and the Bengal Sappers and Miners.[http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part10.htm Indian Sappers (1740-1947)] Royal Engineers Museum. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031021943/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part10.htm |date=31 October 2007 }}[http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_res_service.htm Indian Army Service Records (up to 1947)] Royal Engineers Museum. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120090832/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_res_service.htm |date=20 January 2009 }}

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, also known as "Roorkee Safar Maina".[http://www.nih.ernet.in/sub%20files/other_org.htm THE BENGAL SAPPERS] National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913213446/http://www.nih.ernet.in/sub%20files/other_org.htm |date=13 September 2008 }} 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. 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 7{{nbsp}}November 1853, the regiment moved to Roorkee, where it has maintained its regimental centre ever since.[http://www.iitr.ac.in/institute/pages/Institute_Time_Capsule.html Institute Time Capsule] IIT Roorkee. 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,{{cite web|url=http://www.reubique.com/ism.htm |title=1st King George's Own Sappers and Miners - Officers & Non-Commissioned Officers and Men |publisher=Reubique.com |access-date=2016-10-08}} 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. Corps of Engineers, after which they became the Bengal Engineer Group and Centre.The first Indian to be awarded the Indian Order of Merit gallantry award, Sub Devee Singh was a Bengal Sapper.The first World War saw the Bengal Sappers in action in Aden, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Persia and France. The second World War saw them excel in North Africa, Italy, Malaya and Burma. For their courage and acts of valour, soldiers personnel of the Group were awarded a total of 39 Military Cross, 7 Indian Order of Merit, 22 Indian Distinguished Service Medal, and 42 Military Medal and the units of the Group won a host of battle honours. In 1950 the Bengal Centre Corps of Engineers participated in Jammu and Kashmir operations of 1948, Goa operations of 1961, Chinese war of 1962 and the Indo-Pak War of 1965 saw the Bengal Sappers Regiment at their very best with improvisation and innovation and these proved invaluable in the achievement of ultimate victory. Units of the Bengal Sappers rose magnificently to the demands made of them during the 1971 operations leading to the liberation of Bangladesh and the dismemberment of Pakistan. In many literatures, the operations in Bangladesh are best described as an "Engineers War", since ultimate victory depended to a large extent on the timely and skillfully executed passages of our forces across the innumerable obstacles in the riverine terrain of what was East Pakistan. The group units has also participated in major operations like "Operation Pawan, Operation Meghdoot, Operation Rakshak, Operation Parakram and Operation Snow Leopard.

The creation of India and Pakistan in 1947 was one of the most trying periods in the history of the Group. When existing assets of the Army were ordered to be shared on a two third-one third basis between India and Pakistan, the assets of Bengal Engineer Group were allotted to the Royal Pakistan Engineers. The greater part of the British Officers and units of the group, regimental funds and equipment thus went to Pakistan. The responsibility of the group fell to Col JS Dhillon, the first Indian Commandant who during the 1965 operations against Pakistan distinguished himself and moulded the Corps back into a supremely fit Sapper Group. When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited Roorkee in November 1949, he was so impressed by the achievements of the Bengal Sappers Centre that he chose Brig JS Dhillon to lead the first Republic Day parade in 1950.

In present day, Sappers are required in Indian Army operations to assist the infantryman to victory by using technical skills and resources to overcome an enemy entrenched behind seemingly impregnable and impassable obstacles or fortifications. They assist and maintain the tactical mobility of our own forces during war by quickly making bridges, roads, airfields and railways, often in the face of the enemy. They impede the enemy's mobility by laying minefields, demolishing bridges, cratering roads and blowing up logistic installations. The Sappers carry out a host of associated functions like provision of accommodation for troops and equipment upto the remotest areas, water supply and sanitation to ensure the Army's well-being. It is but natural that Sappers with such capabilities also provide aid to Civilian authorities during natural calamities like floods, earthquakes and maintenance of essential services. The troops of the Bengal Sappers have been a familiar sight for over 200 years in the battlefields of British India and post-Independence operations with their never-say-die attitude and living up to their motto of Sarvatra. {{cite web |title=King George V's Own Bengal Sappers and Miners |url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/southasia/art-eng-sig/sm-ben.htm |access-date=14 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030084535/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/southasia/art-eng-sig/sm-ben.htm |archive-date=30 October 2007 }}

File:Colonel thomas tupper carter-campbell of possil.JPG (Lord Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace, Argyllshire) Esquire Corps of Royal Bengal Engineers.|alt=]]

• Bhurtpore (1825),[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031029/nation.htm#1 Bengal Sappers' 200 yrs of valour] The Tribune, 29 October 2003.

File:Ghuznee.jpg, First Afghan War.|alt=]]

;First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)

• Battle of Ghazni, Kabul 1842

;First Anglo-Sikh War

• Ferozeshah, Sobraon, Multan, Gujrat,

;Second Anglo-Sikh War

• Punjab

;Indian Rebellion of 1857

• Delhi 1857, Lucknow,

File:Bengal Sapper and Miners Bastion, in Sherpur cantonment, Kabul, Second Afghan War, c. 1879.jpg, Kabul, Second Afghan War, c. 1879.|alt=]]

;Second Anglo-Afghan War

• Afghanistan 1878–80
• Ali Masjid, Charasiah, Kabul 1879{{cite web|url=http://www.britishbattles.com/second-afghan-war/kabul-1879.htm |title=The Battle of Kabul 1879 |publisher=Britishbattles.com |access-date=2016-10-08}} Ahmad Khel,

;Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885–1887)

• Burma 1885–87

;Hunza–Nagar Campaign (1891){{Sfn|Nevill|1912|p=136-137}}

• Hunza (princely state)
• Nagar (princely state)

;Chitral Expedition (1895)

• Chitral{{cite web|url=http://www.devonheritage.org/Nonplace/DevonReg/Chitral1895-thefortundersiege.htm |title=Chitral 1895 - Fort Siege |publisher=Devonheritage.org |date=2009-07-31 |access-date=2016-10-08}}

;Tirah (1897–1898)

• Tirah

;Boxer Rebellion

• China 1900

;World War I

• France and Flanders 1914–15:
• La Bassée 1914, Festubert 1914, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Festubert 1915, Aubers, Loos
• Mesopotamia 1915–18:
• Defence of Kut al Amara 1915, Ctesiphon 1915, Tigris 1916, Baghdad, Khan Baghdadi, Sharqat, Kut al Amara 1917
• Aden
• Palestine 1918:
• Megiddo, Sharon
• Damascus
• Persia 1918
• North West Frontier India 1915 & 1916–17, Baluchistan 1918

;Third Anglo-Afghan War

• Afghanistan 1919.

;World War II

• Malaya 1941–42
• Kampar
• North Africa 1940–43
• Italy 1943–45{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081117052023/http://www.sikhspectrum.com/052005/sikhsoldiersitaly.htm Cassino Memorial]}}
• Cassino II
• Burma 1942–45
• Yenangyaung 1942, Ngakedaung Pass, Jail Hill, Meiktila.

;First Indo-Pakistani War

• Jammu and Kashmir 1947–48

;Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

• Jammu and Kashmir 1965
• Punjab 1965
• Rajasthan 1965

;Third Indo-Pakistani War

• East Pakistan 1971
• Jammu and Kashmir 1971
• Sindh 1971.

• Madras Engineer Group
• Bombay Engineer Group

{{Reflist|30em}}

Short Histories:

• 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. [http://www.newman-family-tree.net/Madras_S&M_p662-666.pdf 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. {{ISBN|0-903530-24-4}}.
• The Military Engineer in India, by Lt. Col. E.W.C Sandes. Reprint 2001, Original 1933.{{ISBN|9781843420422}}.

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.
• {{Cite book |last=Nevill |first=Hugh Lewis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_F8LAAAAIAAJ |title=Campaigns on the North-west Frontier |publisher=J. Murray |year=1912 |isbn=9780342594405 |language=en}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160122081457/http://indianarmy.nic.in/martyrs/home.jsp?status=&service=17&operation=&state=&hidrecord=10&subform=Search&subform=Search Martyrs of Bengal Engineer Group] at Indian Army
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090125144604/http://bsoaroorkee.org/trail4.htm The Bengal Snappers - Roorkee, Official website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071031021943/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part10.htm Bengal Sappers and Miners on the Royal Engineers website] Royal Engineers Museum
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071030084535/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/southasia/art-eng-sig/sm-ben.htm Bengal Sappers and Miners on Regiments.org]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172003/http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ccroyeng.htm Bengal Sappers and Miners and the Victoria Cross]

{{Indian_Army_Arms_and_Services}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bengal Sappers And Miners}}

Category:British Indian Army regiments

Category:Regiments of the Indian Army

Category:Indian Army Corps of Engineers

Category:History of the Bengal Sappers

Category:Honours of the Bengal Sappers

Category:Military units and formations established in 1803

Category:Haridwar district

Category:Indian World War I regiments

Category:Indian World War II regiments

Category:Bengal Presidency

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Category:1803 establishments in the British Empire