This Day in History

On this date in 1940, 1^st Corps Field Survey Company sailed from Halifax on the Empress of Australia for service in Europe.

On this date in 1939, Headquarters RCE, 1st Canadian Division sailed from Halifax for England. By 30 Jan 1940 all elements of 1st Division Engineers had sailed.

On this date in 1939, the actual strength of the Permanent Force Engineers was 47 officers and 251other ranks.

On this date in 1939, the Engineer Searchlight Companies were transferred to the Royal Canadian Artillery.

On this date in 1936, 22 new Engineer units were announced; two Field Companies, six Field Park Companies, nine Army Troops Companies, two Anti-Aircraft (Searchlight) Companies, one Electrical & Mechanical Company, one Workshop & Park Company and a Corps Field Survey Company.

On this date in 1936, Maj.F.R. Henshaw was formally appointed the first Chief Instructor of the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering.

On this date in 1936, Spr G.L. Turner of 1st Field Company rode for Canada in the 100 km bicycle race in the 1936 Olympics.

On this date in 1936, King Edward VIII granted the title "Royal" to the Corps of Canadian Engineers.

On this date in 1936, 1st Corps Field Survey Company was formed. This was the last Canadian Engineers unit formed before the Engineers became the Royal Canadian Engineers on 29 Apr 1936.

On this date in 1935, Lt-Col M.A. Pope, RCE was selected to attend Imperial Defence College. He had previously been the first Canadian sapper officer to serve in the British War Office 1931-33.

On this date in 1935, His Majesty King George VI honoured the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers by becoming its Colonel-in Chief.

On this date in 1932, the first of 144 Unemployment Relief Projects was initiated. The RCE was the OPI and over 170,000 personnel were employed.

On this date in 1929, Maj-Gen A.G.L. McNaughton Chief of Defence Staff in a speech to the Military Engineers” Association of Canada provided a good insight into his understanding of the role of the engineers.

In 1928, we witnessed the revival of the Military Engineers Association and the continuation of its role of increasing the influence on Army Headquarters.

On this date in 1927, the Engineer Corps School in Halifax was granted the title of “Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering.”

On this date in 1926, Lt-Col J.P. Fell was appointed honourary Lieutenant Colonel of the 11th District Engineers, the first such appointment in the Canadian Engineers.

On this date in 1925, an earthquake in Quebec and Eastern Ontario damaged many old military masonry buildings - requiring extensive repairs.

On this date in 1921, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals became established and they took over the duties of the Canadian Engineer telegraph and wireless sections.

On this date in 1920, the Engineer Units (except for some Signals units) were disbanded by General Order 192. They had suffered 2004 fatalities during the war.

On this date in 1920, the School of Military Engineering was reopened in Halifax after the First World War.

On this date in 1919, the last draft sent out from the Engineer Training Centre at Seaford was to serve with the Graves registration organization in France.

On this date in 1919, the Canadian Railway Troops ceased operations - having won 530 decorations (14 being foreign) and 228 Mentioned in Dispatches.

On this date in 1919, the first drafts of 16th Field Company left Siberia. The rear parties were back in Vancouver by 18 June 1919 and demobilized by the end of June.

On this date in 1919, the Rawlinson Committee recommended that the Royal Engineers adopt the organization of the Canadian Corps on the basis of their success in the final stages of WW I.

On this date in 1919, Capt R.D. Adams was awarded the Military Cross for his action as part of the Allied force in Murmansk, Russia.

On this date in 1918, Canadian Railway Troops calculated that they had laid 1038 miles of broad gauge and 823 miles of narrow gauge and repaired 838/385 miles of railroad by the close of the year.

On this date in 1944, several officers and 750 sappers were transferred to the Infantry – an action that would later cause operational problems by the close of the year.

On this date in 1918, the main body of Engineers of the 16th Field Company arrived in Vladivostok.

On this date in 1918, the Seaforth Canadian Engineer Training Centre began training to prepare Sappers for the return to civilian life.

On this date in 1918, No. 3and 4 Canadian Army Troops Companies and Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Company moved into Germany with HQ Canadian Corps.

On this date in 1918, Engineer troops of the Canadian Corps were employed in clearing the routes leading into Germany for the Allied Armies.

On this date in 1918, at the end of hostilities, the strength of Canadian Engineers (excluding Signals and Railway troops) was 595 officers and 13,690 men.

On this date in 1918, Headquarters 3rd Brigade Canadian Engineers entered Mons while the rank and file were busy with spade, axe, and probe to clear the routes in the area.

On this date in 1918, the Canadian Railway Troops had a strength 491 officers and 14,390 other ranks with a daily strength of 9000 involved in construction.

On this date in 1918, Sgt A.G.B. Pratt and LCpl F.L. Breeze crawled forward under machine gun fire to cut the wires leading to a bridge demolition. Each was awarded the Military Medal for their action.

On this date in 1918, 6th Battalion Engineers completed Pont Rade, a light railway bridge across a canal near Wasnes that reduced traffic bottlenecks in the area.

On this date in 1918, Canadian Engineers became involved in a massive bridge building operation as the army moved forward on their front in France.

On this date in 1918, the advance party of 16 Field Company embarked on the Empress of Japan enroute to Vladivostok, Siberia.

On this date in 1918, Canadian Engineers were employed neutralizing mines and booby traps in Cambrai.

On this date in 1918, Capt C.N. Mitchell was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in preventing the destruction of a bridge at Pont d'Aire. Sgt Jackson and Spr Brewer the Distinguished Conduct Medal for their part in this action.

On this date in 1918, 1st Bridging Company Canadian Railway Troops was sent to Palestine to repair damaged bridges near Samakh.

On this date in 1918, an Inglis bridge was built on the Arras-Cambrai road - the first one erected by Canadians under shellfire.

On this date in 1918, the formation of the Brigade Forward Water Supply Sections Canadian Engineers was authorized.

On this date in 1918, four battalions of Canadian Railway Troops, having been employed on railroads between Arras and Amien, turned them over to the Railway Operating Department.

On this date in 1918, all engineer units in the 1st Canadian Corps came under the command of the Chief Engineer - an arrangement that provided effective support during the last 100 days of the war.

On this date in 1918, to meet the need for portable bridging, the Inglis bridge was introduced to replace the much heavier Hopkins bridge.

On this date in 1918, for the attack on Amiens, the Canadian Engineer Military Transport Company moved thousands of sandbags, shovels, picks, barbed wire, and planking in secrecy.

On this date in 1918, Brig W.B. Lindsay, CMG, DSO, was promoted Maj-Gen. He was one of the original seven officers serving when the Canadian Engineer Corps was formed.

On this date in 1918, Sgt T. Jackson, 2nd Battalion, a wrestler, and Spr Keeper, distinguished themselves in Corps sports events.

On this date in 1918, 7th Battalion won the baseball championship of 3rd Canadian Division.