This Day in History

On this date in 1943, 2nd Battalion RCE began construction on the Royal Air Force Coastal Command Airfield at St.Eval, Cornwall.

On this date in 1943, Engineer units were conducting load trials to determine the best way to arrange their kit on trucks.

1943 - Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.

On this date in 1943, it was advised that the Geographical Section, General Staff had produced 1,942,316 printings of maps during the fiscal year 1942-43.

On this date in 1943, the Directorate of Engineer Development designed and tested the Load Class 40 Canadian Universal Bridging Trestle that was subsequently used on the Rhine crossings.

By this date in 1943, wartime construction with a value of 63 million dollars had been carried out in Canada by contract and military labour under engineer officers.

On this date in 1943, detachments from RCE 1st Canadian Corps Troops began reconstructing All Saints' Church in Mersham, England. This church had been destroyed by enemy bombing.

On this date in 1943, No. 1 Railway Operating Group RCE was called out on active service with Operating, Workshop, and Telegraph Companies under command.

On this date in 1943, 10 Field Company found that salvage of bridging material in Italy was a major task partly due to damage by weather conditions.

On this date in 1943, 1 Field Company was involved in training other arms in England in mine and booby trap warfare.

On this date in 1943, 10 Field Squadron reported bridging operations in Italy were often impossible due to heavy rains.

On this date in 1943, Lt C.F. Blair of 4 Field Park Squadron was actively engaged in Italy in that Engineer specialty of “scrounging material” - eventually acquiring 65 truckloads.

On this date in 1943, Captain George Burbidge of the 4^th Field Squadron, attached to Combined Operations HQ in Malta, was lost with other members of his party while conducting a beach recce in Sicily. This was their second mission and they had been inserted from a Royal Navy submarine.  

On this date in 1943, the 1st Battalion, RCE ice hockey team was runner-up for the Canadian Army championship for the second time.

On this date in 1943, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decide that 1st Canadian Infantry Division including RCE units 1^st, 3^rd, and 4^th Field Companies; 2^nd Field Park Company, a Detachment of 1 Tunnelling Company and HQ RCE would participate in Op HUSKY - the Invasion of Sicily.

On this date in 1943, Lt E.T Galway was awarded the George Medal and Spr J. Lorraine the British Empire Medal for their part in rescuing L/Cpl W.N. Hunt from a watery grave in England.

On this date in 1945, Lt Arthur Paul Beaven of the 9^th Field Company, led a group of tanks into the garrison at Kappelsche Veer in Holland at great danger to himself ensuring a Canadian victory. For this he was awarded a Military Cross.

On this date in 1943, Cpl Claude Radley, in England with 18 Field Company, penned the poem "Salute to the Engineers."

On this date in 1943, sappers comprised 10% of the Canadian troops that arrived in Algiers for service with the British Army in North Africa.

On this date in 1942, the Field Companies were assigned a series of demolitions to be carried out in the event of an invasion of England.

On this date in 1942, two Tunnelling Companys of the Royal Canadian Engineers completed their work in Gibraltar. They had removed approximately 4 tonnes per day for each shift worker.

On this day in 1941, British Special Operations Executive opened Camp-X in Whitby, ON under the auspices of Sir William Stephenson, DFC, MC, the Man Called Intrepid. Stephenson was born in Winnipeg and served in the Canadian Engineers during the First World War.

On this date in 1942, the Northwest Staging Route is formed as a unit to help connect Alaska and the Yukon by air with supply centres.

On this date in 1942, 1st Division engineers started training exercise SPINACH in England. Practising the rapid pursuit, 21 crossings were affected in ten days using all types of equipment.

On this date in 1942, 14th Field Company was employed constructing coastal defences near Amberley-Bogner Regis in England. Most RCE units had their turn at this work.

On this date in 1942, L/Sgt G.A. Hickson was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for action at Dieppe. He later was awarded the Military Medal for action in North Africa.

On this date in 1942, 71 Beach Assault Team sappers and 98 Demolition Team Sappers landed on the beach at Dieppe. Only 18 returned to England.  Twenty 27 died on the beaches, in the boats, or later in hospital or in captivity.

On this date in 1942, the Royal Canadian Engineers were introduced to the Bailey bridge that was to replace the Inglis bridge they had been using.

On this date in 1942, the Canadian Petroleum Warfare Experimental Unit, RCE was formed. The unit carried out flame warfare experimentation.

On this date in 1942, the first Commandant of A6 Engineer Training Centre Chilliwack, Lt-Col Davies, marches to Vedder Crossing with 1200 troops brought by rail from Dundurn SK.

On this date in 1942, No 2 Tunneling Company was commended by the British CRE for breaking all records for drilling in Gibraltar by 36%. The average age of these sappers was 35.

On this date in 1942, Spr F.P. Hutchinson returned to 1st Field Company two years after being left behind in France after Dunkirk in 1940. He was awarded the first Military Medal to a Canadian in WW II.

On this date in 1942, the Field Companies training in England conducted surveys of slopes and water depth of possible enemy assault locations on England.

On this date in 1942, the 1^st Canadian Tunnelling Company completed its training at the Engineer Reinforcement Unit and began sending detachments across the UK to develop critical mineral deposits.

On this date in 1941, Lt L.G.S. Trorey presented a paper on mapping from oblique photographs - a procedure that Canadian Survey units were to excel in.

On this date in 1941, the 159-mile long Haines Access Road between Haines Alaska and Mile 1016 on the Alaska Highway was completed.

On this date in 1941, Lt J.M.S. Patten and Capt D.W. Cunnington removed an unexploded bomb from the Hawker Hurricane plant. For this action they were subsequently awarded the George Cross and the George Medal, respectively.

On this date in 1941, 3rd Field Company embarked for Spitzbergen where they destroyed wireless installations and coal depots to prevent the enemy using the site.

On this date in 1941, RCE units provided the Guard of Honour during an inspection of 1st Canadian Division by HM King George VI.

On this date in 1945, Lt Richard John Wesley Armstrong, 2^nd Fd Coy, RCE single-handedly removed charges from a bridge over the Noord Willems Canal covered by sniper and machine-gun fire opening the way for the 2^nd Canadian Division's advance into Groningen.

On this date in 1941, Maj-Gen Kenneth Stuart C.B. D.S.O. M.C [Late RCE] assumed position of Vice Chief of the Defence Staff. Promoted Lt Gen and appointed Chief of the General Staff on 24 Dec 1941.

On this date in 1941, No. 2 Tunneling Company arrived in Gibraltar to begin work on the tunnels and defensive works in The Rock.

On this date in 1941, No. 2 Tunneling Company RCE was authorized. The first Commanding Officer, Maj C.B. North RCE had previously served in the First World War. The CMEA sponsors The Tunnellers' Cup every year.

On this date in 1940, the first of 7000 members of the Canadian Forestry Corps arrived in Scotland to provide sawn lumber for the Allied Armies in Europe.

On this date in 1940, 6th Field Company departed its home station in North Vancouver for Debert, NS on its way to the Normandy battlefields.

On this date in 1940, Tommy Prince enrolled in the 1st Corps Field Park Company, RCE. He became Canada's most decorated native soldier.

On this date in 1941, Cpl James Hendry of No 1 Tunneling Company, RCE was killed in a massive explosion in Scotland while warning others to take cover and fighting an out of control blaze. Cpl Hendry was posthumously awarded the George Cross.

On this date in 1940, No 1 Tunneling Company, RCE was formed from an ad hoc detachment of Canadian hard rock miners working in England.

On this date in 1940, the 3^rd Field Company, RCE built corduroy roads in England using hand tools only due to lack of bulldozers.

On this date in 1940, intervention by the Engineer Commander of the 1st Canadian Division was necessary to obtain basic tools for the sappers to conduct training in England.