Irish Army Corps of Engineers | |
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Irish: An Cór Innealtóirí | |
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Active | 1 October 1924 – present |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | Army Naval Service Air Corps |
Type | Military engineering |
Role | Camp construction, military bridging |
Size | Engineer battalion |
Part of | ![]() |
Garrison/HQ | 1st Engineer Group - Cork 2nd Engineer Group - Athlone Engineer Group, Logistics Base Curragh - Kildare Engineer Section, Air Corps - Casement Aerodrome Engineer Section, Naval Service - Haulbowline |
Website | www |
Insignia | |
Flag | ![]() |
Abbreviation | ENGR |
The Corps of Engineers (ENGR) (Irish : An Cór Innealtóirí) is the military engineering branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. The Corps is responsible for combat engineering, construction engineering, and fire fighting services within the Defence Forces. The main role of the combat engineers is to provide engineering on the battlefield; the Corps has successfully leveraged its skill and expertise in several of the Irish Army's deployments on United Nations operations.
Following the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922 General Routine Orders were issued which laid down the organisation of the first centralised Defence Forces. From an engineering point of view there were three particular problem areas to be overcome:-
To meet these requirements three (3) Corps were set up:
The Corps of Engineers was established and took over from these three Corps with effect from 1 October 1924. [1] In 1931 Field Engineer Companies and the School of Military Engineering were added to the establishment.
The Corps has a wide variety of roles, covering conventional warfare, and training for the Defence Forces. [1] With such a wide range of skills, the Engineer Corps provide a variety of support to the Army. This support includes anything from the provision of:
The Corps have seen active service in UNMIK), Somalia (UNOSOM II), Congo (ONUC), Lebanon (UNIFIL), Liberia (UNMIL) & Chad (EUFOR Tchad/RCA) - where the Engineer Corps was deployed to construct Camp Ciara in advance of a contingent of more than 500 troops.
Army engineers were deployed alongside personnel from the Naval Service and NSR in early 2020 as part of Ireland's response to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). [2] [3]
As in all aspects of society, legislative changes and technological advances have required workforces to become more specialised and more highly skilled. The Irish Defence Forces is no exception - requiring specialist skilled engineers.
Compared with Defence Forces in other countries e.g. British and French Armies, the number of engineers in the Irish Defence Forces is low, 5.5% against 8.8% and 12.8% respectively.
A military engineering vehicle is a vehicle built for construction work or for the transportation of combat engineers on the battlefield. These vehicles may be modified civilian equipment or purpose-built military vehicles. The first appearance of such vehicles coincided with the appearance of the first tanks, these vehicles were modified Mark V tanks for bridging and mine clearance. Modern military engineering vehicles are expected to fulfill numerous roles such as; bulldozer, crane, grader, excavator, dump truck, breaching vehicle, bridging vehicle, military ferry, amphibious crossing vehicle, and combat engineer section carrier.
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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.
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A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II.
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The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army. The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Staff Cadets, Armoured and Artillery Corps. The corps was formed by the amalgamation of the various colonial engineer corps of the states and territories of Australia in 1902 and since then has served in various conflicts including World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. The corps has also served on numerous peacekeeping operations and was heavily involved in the Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan.
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The Kent Fortress Royal Engineers (KFRE) was a volunteer Territorial unit of the British Army that saw service in both World Wars. They are notable for their successful actions in May 1940, when they destroyed substantial oil stocks and installations just ahead of the German advance, and in August 1944 during the assault crossing of the River Seine.
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The 1st Devonshire Engineer Volunteer Corps, later the Devonshire Fortress Royal Engineers, was a volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers whose history dated back to 1862. The unit helped to defend the vital naval base of Plymouth, and supplied detachments for service in the field in both World Wars. During the North African campaign in the Second World War, the unit's sappers distinguished themselves in bridging the Nile and clearing minefields during and after the Second Battle of El Alamein. Their successors served on the postwar Territorial Army until 1969.
This article represents the structure of the Irish Defence Forces as of May 2020:
The Corps of Engineers was established on the 1st October 1924