Indian Army Pioneer Corps

Last updated
Indian Army Pioneer Corps
Active1758 – Present
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
BranchFlag of Indian Army.svg  Indian Army
RoleSupport, Logistics, Construction and Maintenance
Size16 companies
Motto(s)Shram Sarva Vijayee
(With Labour, everything can be won/ labor omnia vincit)
EngagementsWorld War 1
World War 2
Basantar
Shamshernagar
Keran
Tithwal
Kargil
Mushkoh
Operation Vijay
Operation Deewar
OP Pawan
OP Parakram
Indo-Pak Wars
Decorations Sena Medal ribbon.svg 3 Sena Medal

Kirti Chakra ribbon.svg 3 Kirti Chakra
Shaurya Chakra ribbon.svg 6 Shaurya Chakra

Presidential Colours
Pioneers of the British Indian Army. Left to right: 34th Sikh Pioneers, 12th Pioneers, 128th Pioneers, 81st Pioneers, 64th Pioneers, 61st King George's Own Pioneers, 48th Pioneers, 23rd Sikh Pioneers, 106th Hazara Pioneers, 34th Sikh Pioneers, 107th Pioneers (Water colour by AC Lovett in Armies of India, 1911) Indian pioneers.png
Pioneers of the British Indian Army. Left to right: 34th Sikh Pioneers, 12th Pioneers, 128th Pioneers, 81st Pioneers, 64th Pioneers, 61st King George's Own Pioneers, 48th Pioneers, 23rd Sikh Pioneers, 106th Hazara Pioneers, 34th Sikh Pioneers, 107th Pioneers (Water colour by AC Lovett in Armies of India, 1911)

The Indian Army Pioneer Corps or Pioneers is the operational logistics arm of the Indian Army. Though not a combat arm, the Pioneer Corps provide disciplined and well trained manpower where civilian labour is either not available or its employment is not desirable for reasons of security. Pioneer units are mostly committed in forward and operational areas. Although the Pioneer Corps were at one time the third largest troop in the Army and had a total of 26 Pioneer Companies even till 1999, today there are 21 Pioneer Units under various commands. [1] [2] [3] The Pioneer Corps Training Center (PCTC) is currently located in Bangalore. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Functions and roles

History

Pre-Independence of India

The origin of the Indian Pioneer Corps dates back to 1758 when the first Pioneer Companies was formed, the Madras Pioneers, Bombay Pioneers, Sikh Pioneer and the Hazara Pioneers. After being disbanded for many years, the Pioneer Corps was re-raised during World War-II in the following to provide semi skilled labour to work with Engineer units or tasks such as demolition, construction of roads, tracks bridges, defences & water supply and to provide unskilled labour where required. By the wars end a total of approximately 300,000 such workers had been engaged of which 21,000 were Indians. [8]

British Indian Army Sikh Pioneers building a new road on the most difficult section of the Ladder of Tyre in September/October 1918 during the pursuit of the Ottoman Yildirim Army British Indian Army pioneers at the Ladder of Tyre during WWI.jpg
British Indian Army Sikh Pioneers building a new road on the most difficult section of the Ladder of Tyre in September/October 1918 during the pursuit of the Ottoman Yildirim Army

Extensive use was made of pioneers in the British Indian Army because of the demands of campaigning in difficult terrain with little or no infrastructure. The twelve Indian Pioneer regiments in existence in 1914 were trained and equipped for road, rail and engineering work, as well as for conventional infantry service. While this dual function did not qualify them to be regarded as elite units, the frequency with which they saw active service made postings to pioneer regiments popular with British officers. [9]

The Pioneer Corps were disbanded in 1933 and their personnel mostly transferred into the Corps of Sappers and Miners, whose role they had come to parallel. It was concluded that the Pioneer battalions had become less technically effective than the Sappers and Miners, but too well trained in specialist functions to warrant being used as ordinary infantry. In addition, their major role of frontier road building had now been allocated to civilian workers. [10]

Post-Independence of India

The re-organization commenced in 1940 at Jhelum (now in Pakistan). Thereafter it became the Auxiliary Pioneers Corps in 1941 and subsequently the Indian Auxiliary Pioneer Corps with effect from 13 October 1942. 25 November 1941 is celebrated as the Raising day of the Pioneer Corp. An Indian Pioneer Corps was re-established in 1943 and now have 16 companies. [11] [12]

Operation Vijay

Two Pioneer Companies worked non-stop along with Border Roads Organization and ensured that the lines of communication on the Srinagar-Leh, the Jammu-Poonch-Rajouri and Jammu-Srinagar areas remained open at all times. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sapper</span> Soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties

The term sapper is a historical term for a combat engineer that remains in use to describe certain personnel in various armies. The term is used, for example, in the armies of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth nations and in the U.S. military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combat engineer</span> Soldier who performs military engineering

A combat engineer is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tasks as well as construction and demolition duties in and out of combat zones.

A Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed within one or several connected tubes. It is used by combat engineers to clear obstacles that would otherwise require them to approach directly, possibly under fire. It is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "Bangalore mine", "banger" or simply "Bangalore" as well as a pole charge.

XV Corps, or 15 Corps, also known as Chinar Corps, is a Corps of the Indian Army which is presently located in Srinagar and responsible for military operations in the Kashmir Valley. It has participated in all military conflicts with Pakistan and China till date. Lieutenant General Amardeep Singh Aujla is its current Corps Commander since 9 May 2022 taking over from Lieutenant General Devendra Pratap Pandey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras Regiment</span> Regiment in the Indian Army

The Madras Regiment is the oldest infantry regiment of the Indian Army, originating in the 1750s. The regiment took part in numerous campaigns with the British Indian Army and the post-independence Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V. P. Menon</span> Indian civil servant (1893–1965)

Rao Bahadur Vappala Pangunni Menon, CSI, CIE was an Indian civil servant who served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of the States, under Sardar Patel.

The Bangalore Cantonment (1806–1881) was a military cantonment of the British Raj based in the Indian city of Bangalore. The cantonment covered an area of 13 square miles (34 km2), extending from the Residency on the west to Binnamangala on the east and from the Tanneries on Tannery Road in the north to AGRAM in the south. By area, it was the largest British military cantonment in South India. The British garrison stationed in the cantonment included three artillery batteries, and regiments of the cavalry, infantry, sappers, miners, mounted infantry, supply and transport corps and the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers. The Bangalore Cantonment was directly under the administration of the British Raj, while Bangalore City itself was under the jurisdiction of the Durbar of the Kingdom of Mysore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Army Corps of Engineers</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer (military)</span> Soldier tasked with engineering and construction

A pioneer is a soldier employed to perform engineering and construction tasks. The term is in principle similar to sapper or combat engineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Engineer Group</span> Military unit

The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency, and subsequently part of the British Indian Army during the British Raj. The Bengal Sappers are stationed at Roorkee Cantonment in Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombay Engineer Group</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras Engineer Group</span> Indian Army, Corps of Engineers regiment

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.

The 9th (Secunderabad) Division was an infantry division formation of the British Indian Army. It was part of the Southern Army and was formed in 1904 after Lord Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India between 1902 and 1909. He instituted large-scale reforms, including merging the three armies of the Presidencies into a unified force and forming higher level formations, eight army divisions, and brigading Indian and British units. Following Kitchener's reforms, the British Indian Army became "the force recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras Pioneers</span> Military unit

The term Madras Pioneers related to bodies of Pioneers as well as Sappers and Miners which were part of the Madras Presidency Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">106th Hazara Pioneers</span> Military unit

The 106th Hazara Pioneers was a pioneer infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They were formed in 1904 at Quetta from Hazara people. They were disbanded in 1933.

Military operations took place in Ladakh in 1948 during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between the Indian Army and Pakistani raiders infiltrated to capture the kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. The eviction of this invading force of tribal raiders, who enjoyed numerical superiority, better lines of communication, commanding high ground and superior logistics, was a major military achievement for the small force of Indian soldiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Command (India)</span> Indian army command

Western Command is a Command-level formation of the Indian Army. It was formed in 1920. It was disbanded following its demotion to an independent district and eventual merge with Northern Command to form the North-western Army. It was re-raised in 1947 following the transfer of Northern Command HQ to Pakistan. Until 1972, it was responsible for India's border with Pakistan in the North and West and the Chinese border in the North. The Command HQ is in Chandimandir, Haryana, about 5 km east of Chandigarh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military Farms Service</span> Military unit

Military Farms in India were set up to ensure a clean and continuous supply of cows milk to troops located in various garrisons across British India. After Indian independence, the Indian Army continued and expanded the service. The farms spread over 20,000 acres of prime defence land and had over 25,000 cattle. The 39 military farms are spread across India in cities such as Ambala, Kolkata, Srinagar, Agra, Pathankot, Lucknow, Meerut, Allahabad and Guwahati. But recently, after recommendations by the Shekatkar Committee, all military farms were shut in 2017, to cut costs and better utilise thousands of acres of prime defence land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Jammu and Kashmir</span> Overview of sports traditions and activities

Popular sports in Jammu and Kashmir include cricket, football and winter sports along with sports like golf, water sports, Ice stock sport and adventure sports. The National Winter Games have been held in Gulmarg in 1996, 2004 and 2009. The first Khelo India Winter Games were held in February and March 2020 in Leh and Gulmarg. Jammu and Kashmir won the most gold medals while the Indian Army team came second with 8 gold medals. The second edition of the winter games were also held successfully in Gulmarg in 2020 with Jammu and Kashmir coming first and Karnataka second.

References

  1. "Pioneer Corps presented Presidential Colours". The Hindu. 2006-11-25. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  2. Pike, John. "India - Army" . Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  3. Mishra, Rishabh (2015-06-24). "21 Different Branches Of Indian Army That Make It Such An Efficient Defence Force". TopYaps. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  4. Correspindent, Special (2015-06-22). "74 new recruits join Pioneer Corps". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  5. "WW-II Veteran Bids Goodbye at 95". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  6. "badge, headdress, Indian, Indian Pioneer Corps | Imperial War Museums". www.iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  7. "Pioneer Corps Training Centre".
  8. "Office of the PAO(ORs) PCTC Bangalore". www.paopctcblr.gov.in. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  9. "Indian Pioneer Battalions by Ó Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis". 1977.
  10. Brown, Norman Brown & Paul. "Royal Pioneer Corps & Royal Pioneer Association". www.royalpioneercorps.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  11. "Pioneer Corps Ethos". Indian Army Official Website.
  12. 1 2 "Pioneer Corps History". Indian Army.