'''The Madras Sappers Museum & Archives''' depicts the history of the Madras Engineering Group also known as Sappers. The museum was established in the year 1979 and is situated in Karnataka, Banglore. [1] The Museum showcases the army artifacts, historical achievements, gallery of sapper generals, attires, armours, more than 4800 books and maps used by the regiment. [2] [3] Local public is not allowed to visit the museum and only people with special permission from the Indian Army are allowed to enter the museum. [1] The Museum also contains rare and Antique artifacts from the 18th and 19th Century and has history written on its walls. [2]
Some of the famed possessions of the Museum include the picture of three Indian Soldiers supporting the Banglore torpedo, [4] the Victoria Cross and five Indian Orders of Merit (IOM), which was highest honor by the British to Indian Soldiers at that time. [3]
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. They are also trained and equipped to serve as provisional infantry, fighting as such as a secondary mission. A sapper's duties facilitate and support movement, defense, and survival of allied forces and impede those of enemies. The term "sapper" is used in the British Army and Commonwealth nations and the U.S. military.
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.
A viceroy's commissioned officer (VCO) was a senior Indian member of the British Indian Army. VCOs were senior in rank to warrant officers in the British Army, and held a commission issued by the viceroy. Also known as "Indian officers" or "native officers", they had authority only over Indian troops and were subordinate to all British King's commissioned officers, Indian Commissioned Officers (ICO) and King's commissioned Indian officers (KCIO).
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.
Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in heart of the Vellore city, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India built by Vijayanagara kings. The fort was at one time the headquarters of the Aravidu Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire. The fort is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry.
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.
A pioneer is a soldier employed to perform engineering and construction tasks. The term is in principle similar to sapper or combat engineer.
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.
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.
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 16th Light Cavalry is a regiment of the Armoured Corps, a primary combat arm of the Indian Army. Prior to India gaining independence from the British in 1947, it was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1776 and is the oldest armoured regiment raised in India. The 16th Light Cavalry saw service in a number of conflicts ranging from the Second Anglo-Mysore War in 1781 to World War II. It has a number of battle honours including "Punjab 1965" earned during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
The Cavalry Division was formed in 1916 during First World War by units of the British Army and the British Indian Army stationed in India for service in Mesopotamia in the Mesopotamia Campaign. The Division was broken up in 1918, but its brigades then served independently.
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."
The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presidencies: the Bengal Army, the Madras Army and the Bombay Army. Initially, only Europeans served as commissioned or non-commissioned officers. In time, Indian Army units were garrisoned from Peshawar in the north, to Sind in the west, and to Rangoon in the east. The army was engaged in the wars to extend British control in India and beyond.
The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.
Abyssinia is a battle honour awarded to units of the British Indian Army and the British Army which participated in the 1868 campaign to free Europeans held hostage in Abyssinia by Emperor Tewodros II. The success of the expedition led to the award of this honour to units of the British Indian Army which had participated in the campaign. The units belonged, with the exception of the Madras Sappers, to the Bengal and Bombay Presidency Armies.
The term Madras Pioneers related to bodies of Pioneers as well as Sappers and Miners which were part of the Madras Presidency Army.
Madikeri Fort, also called Mercara Fort, is a fort in Madikeri, in the Kodagu district of the Indian state of Karnataka, first built by Mudduraja in the second half of the 17th century. Mudduraja also built the palace within the fort. It was rebuilt and restructured in granite by Tipu Sultan, and the site was then renamed Jaffarabad. Madikeri Fort is one of the many forts built or rebuilt by Tipu Sultan during his reign in the second half of the 18th century. In 1790, Dodda Vira Rajendra took control of the fort. The palace underwent renovations by Linga Rajendra II from 1812 to 1814. The British made additions to the fort in 1834. Notable structures in the fort include two stone statues of elephants at the northeast entry and a church in the southeast corner.