Richard Doherty looks at the valuable role played by the Royal Engineers during the Advance into the netherlands in 1944.
UBIQUE! The Latin word for ‘everywhere’ is a very fitting battle motto shared by the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers as it reflects the fact that wherever the British Army has fought, so too have the Gunners and Sappers. It was no less so at the famous struggle for Arnhem in 1944 in which Sappers played a critical role in the operation. The extent of the engineer’s contribution to Market and Garden may be appreciated by a brief look at the scale of personnel and vehicles involved. In total, some 9,000 men from both the Royal Engineers and the Pioneer Corps were assigned to take part, along with 2,277 vehicles, half of which belonged to the engineers.
The plan was to assemble a large force at Bourg-Leopold, Belgium, comprising the HQs of two Canadian and six Army Troops Engineers, each commanded by a lieutenantcolonel. This would include the HQs of three Army Groups, Royal Engineers (AGREs). The Sapper element of the British I Airborne Corps included 9th Field Company and 261st Field Park Company as well as four parachute squadrons. The RE component of XXX Corps was reinfor…
