Sapper

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Sapper (disambiguation).

Modern sapper equipment

A sapper, also called a

minefields
, preparing field defenses, and road and airfield construction and repair.

Sappers are also trained and equipped to serve secondarily as provisional infantry.[2]

Sappers facilitate and support the movement, defense, and survival of superordinate and allied forces, and impede those of enemies.

The term "sapper" is used in the British Army and Commonwealth nations, the U.S. military, and the militaries of other countries.

Historical origin

Sapper

See also: Sapping
Bombay Sappers and Miners
on duty in China in 1900. The mule carries the tools required for field engineering tasks.

A sapper, in the sense first used by the French military, was one who dug trenches to allow besieging forces to advance towards the enemy defensive works and forts over ground that is under the defenders' musket or artillery fire. It comes from the French word sapeur,[3] itself being derived from the verb saper (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). This digging was referred to as sapping the enemy fortifications. Saps were excavated by brigades of trained sappers or instructed troops. When an army was defending a fortress with cannons, they had an obvious height and therefore range advantage over the attacker's guns. The attacking army's artillery had to be brought forward, under fire, so as to facilitate effective counter-battery fire.

This was achieved by digging what the French termed a sappe

Vauban, the sappers began the trench at such an angle so as to avoid enemy fire enfilading the sappe by firing down its length. As they pressed forward, a position was prepared from which a cannon could suppress the defenders on the fort's bastions. The sappers would then change the course of their trench, zig-zagging
toward the fortress wall. Each leg brought the attacker's artillery closer until the besieged cannon would be sufficiently suppressed for the attackers to breach the walls. Broadly speaking, sappers were originally experts at demolishing or otherwise overcoming or bypassing fortification systems.

Miner

See also:
Mining (military)
First Afghan War
on 23 July 1839.

An additional term applied to sappers of the British Indian Army was "miner." The native engineer corps were called "sappers and miners," for example, the

Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners
. The term arose from a task done by sappers to further the battle after saps were dug. The saps permitted cannons to be brought into firing range of the besieged fort and its cannons, but often the cannons themselves were unable to breach the fort walls. The engineers would dig a tunnel from the forward-most sap up to and under the fort wall, then place a charge of gunpowder and ignite it, causing an explosion that would destroy the wall and permit attacking infantry to close with the enemy. This was dangerous work, often lethal to the sappers, and was fiercely resisted by the besieged enemy. Since the two tasks went hand in hand and were done by the same troops, native Indian engineer corps came to be called "sappers and miners".

Specific usage

Commonwealth of Nations

A sapper of the Royal Engineers watches as soldiers reinforce security at FOB (Forward Operating Base) Shawqat in Afghanistan.

Sapper (abbreviated Spr) is the

Royal Canadian Engineers, Royal Australian Engineers,[7] South African Army Engineer Formation, Jamaica Defence Force Engineer Regiment, and Royal New Zealand Engineers
. The term "sapper" was introduced in 1856, when the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners was amalgamated with the officer corps of the Royal Engineers to form the Corps of Royal Engineers.

During the course of the First World War, some Royal Marines also took the rank of Sapper. This was adopted as tradition in the Royal Marine Divisional Engineers of the Royal Naval Division.[8]

Australia

Main article: Royal Australian Engineers
Jisr Benat Yakub repaired (September 1918)

During the

Jacob's Ford). Here the retreating Ottoman and German rearguard had blown up the bridge's central arch, which was repaired in five hours by sappers attached to the Australian Mounted Division. While the light horse brigades forded the river, continuing the Desert Mounted Corps' advance to Damascus, the sappers worked through the night of 27/28 September 1918, to repair the bridge to enable the division's wheeled vehicles and guns to follow on 28 September.[9][10][11]

Canada

Main article:
Royal Canadian Engineers

In the Canadian Forces, sappers exist both in the regular force and reserve force. The rank of sapper is used instead of private trained to signify completion of the basic Engineer training course. Canadian sappers have been deployed in many major conflicts in recent history including World War I, World War II, the

Royal Canadian Artillery
.

Indian Army

Main article: Indian Army Corps of Engineers

The term "sappers", in addition to the connotation of rank of engineer private, is used collectively to informally refer to the

Bombay Sappers. Each of these groups consist of about twenty battalion-sized engineer regiments and additional company-sized minor engineer units. The three sapper groups are descended from the sapper and miner groups of the East India Company and later the British Indian Army of the British Raj
.

Israel

Main article: Israeli Combat Engineering Corps

In the

Combat Engineering Corps, but there are also infantry sappers, who are part of the infantry brigades and are organized in engineering companies
called פלחה"ן (palchan). These companies are integral part of the infantry brigades. Combat engineering corps sappers are arranged in battalions.

Each sapper goes through high level infantry training, which qualifies him as

combat engineering vehicle. Combat engineering commanders are qualified as "sapper 08" while combat engineering officers
are qualified as "sapper 11". Both go through additional advance training to gain the skills needed for high level sapper profession.

The Israel Police also maintains a bomb disposal specialist unit. All police sappers must graduate from a 10-month training program at the bomb disposal training center in Beit Shemesh, which includes operational exercises, theoretical studies, and fieldwork.[12]

Japan

Emperor Taishō and Gen. Uehara in 1915 (Taishō 4).

Imperial Japanese Army (IJA)

In Japan, Kōhei-ka (

ingénieur
system to IJA and authored the Kōhei Sōten (工兵操典, "Engineers' Manual"), is known as the "father of Japanese Kōhei" ("日本工兵の父").

Engineer Branch officers were considered technology specialists along with Artillery Branch (砲兵科) officers in IJA, except Technical Branch (技術科) officers who have an academic degree in science or engineering and developed military technology.

Selected Engineer and Artillery officers were educated at the Army Artillery and Engineering School (陸軍砲工学校). Artillery and Engineering School's Kōtō-ka (高等科, "Higher Course") was equivalent to the Army War College. Some Kōtōka graduates, like Lt. Gen. Takeo Yasuda, continued their studies as Rikugun Ingai Gakusei (陸軍員外学生) at Imperial University of Tokyo's Engineering Faculty and Science Faculty and obtained degrees. Due to the apparent importance of science and technology, Artillery and Engineering School was renamed Army Science School during World War II and was also studied by non-artillery and non-engineer officers.

Ordinary personnel at Engineer Branch are educated at the Army Engineer School (陸軍工兵学校) and other schools.

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF)

JGSDF Shisetsu-ka (施設科, "施設" literally means "facilities"), or Engineer Branch in English, is equivalent to the IJA Kōhei-ka. In accordance with the JSDF's nomenclature, this title was devised to avoid the character for 'soldier', which evokes the military.

JGSDF Engineer Branch personnel are educated at JGSDF Engineer School (陸上自衛隊施設学校).

France

Insignia of French military sappers

In France, sapper (sapeur) is the title of military

firefighters, both civil and military, (sapper-fireman or sapeur-pompier). Military sappers fall under the umbrella of the Engineering Arm or Arme du Génie. A related title is pioneer (pionnier), used only in the Foreign Legion
.

History

French Imperial Guard sappers, 1810

The French Corps of Engineers was created under the command of

Marshal Vauban during the late 17th century. Its members were called sappers if their function was to destroy enemy fortifications by using trenches or sape and miners if they engaged in tunnel warfare
or mine. The Corps of the Engineers was suppressed during two short periods (1720-1729 and 1769-1793) and sappers and miners were part of the Artillery regiments. In 1793, the Corps was reorganized into companies of miners and battalions of sappers, each assigned to a particular division.

Eventually, as the missions of the Corps grew more diversified, additional titles were used by combat engineers, such as

telegraph
sapper (sapeur-télégraphiste). In 1814, the companies of miners were integrated into the sapper battalions, themselves organized in Engineers Regiments (régiments du génie). In 1875, the distinction between miners and sappers was abolished and all members of the Corps of Engineers were titled sappers-miners, though only sapper was used in common usage. In 1894, the pontonniers or bridgemakers were transferred from the Artillery Corps to the Engineers, thus creating the title sapeurs-pontonniers. In 1909, the Engineering Arm of the Army Staff was entrusted the burgeoning Air Service (Aérostation militaire), its personal was titled sapper-airman (sapeur-aérostier). The titled was disused in 1914 when the Air Service took its independence from the Engineering Arm.

Firefighters

Sapeurs-pompiers de Paris (Paris Fire Brigade) on parade
See also: Fire services in France

The first fire company created by

French Imperial Guard, created in 1810. This company was tasked with the protection of the Imperial palaces after the tragic fire of the Austrian embassy in Paris on 1 July 1810. The Paris Fire Service (gardes-pompes), a civilian institution, was re-organized as a military unit in September 1811, becoming the Paris Sappers-Firefighters Battalion. Other cities kept or created civilian firefighters services but used the military ranks and organization of the Paris Battalion. In 1831, National Guard engineers companies became the reserve components of the Fire Services and kept their military organization even after the disappearance of the National Guard in 1852. Sapper-firefighter is the common title of the civilian and Paris firefighters in France, but the other military firefighters units, such as the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion
, do not use the sapper title, as they had no military engineers lineage.

Pioneers

Main article: Foreign Legion Pioneers (Pionniers)

Since the 18th century, every

beards
. In addition to their beards and axes, they traditionally wear leather aprons and gloves.

The pioneers units disappeared during the mid-20th c. century, their last appearance being the short-lived Pioneers Regiments of 1939–1944, a military public works service using the older draftees in the army. Only the Foreign Legion kept using a pioneer unit, mainly for representation duty. The current pioneer unit of the Legion reintroduced the symbols of the Napoleonic pioneers: the beard, the axe, the leather apron, the crossed-axes insignia, and the leather gloves. If the parades of the Legion are opened by this unit, it is to commemorate the traditional role of the pioneers "opening the way" for the troops. The pioneer unit is made up for parades of selected men taken in both the Infantry and the Engineers regiments of the Legion.

Greece

In the Hellenic Army, there is the "mechanic" or "Corps of Engineers" (μηχανικό; michaniko).[clarification needed]

Italy

The Italian Army uses the term "Guastatori" for its combat engineers, "Pionieri" for its construction engineers, "Pontieri" for its bridging engineers, and "Ferrovieri" for its railroad engineers.

  • 2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment
  • 32nd Alpine Engineer Regiment
  • 8th Parachute Assault Engineer Regiment

Portugal

In Portugal, the term "sapper" is used both in the military and in the civilian environment. In the

nuclear, biological and chemical warfare
.

The bombeiros-sapadores ("sapper-firefighters") are the civil municipal professional firefighters that exist in the main cities of the country. The largest unit of this type is the Regimento de Bombeiros Sapadores ("sapper-firefighters regiment") maintained by the

forest fires
.

Pakistan Army

In the

1971 War and Kargil War. It has completed the Pakistan portion of Karakoram Highway. The corps is taking part in Operation Zarb-e-Azb

United States Army

See also:
Sapper Tab
US combat engineer setting a charge in World War II

In the United States Army, sappers are combat engineers who support the front-line infantry, and they have fought in every war in U.S. history. For example, after the Battle of Yorktown, General Washington cited Louis Lebègue Duportail, the chief of engineers, for conduct that afforded "brilliant proofs of his military genius."

Designation as a "sapper" is also earned as an additional proficiency. The U.S. Army authorizes four skill tabs

Ranger Tab, and President's Hundred Tab
identify soldiers who have passed a demanding course of military instruction and have demonstrated their competence in particular specialties and skills.

To wear the Sapper Tab, a soldier must graduate from the

esprit de corps by training soldiers in troop-leading procedures, demolitions (conventional and expedient), and mountaineering operations. The course culminates in an intense field-training exercise that reinforces the use of the battle drills and specialized engineer techniques learned throughout the course. The course is open to enlisted soldiers in the grades of E-4 (P) (Army specialists and corporals on the list for promotion to sergeant) through E-7, cadets, and officers O-3 (Captain) and below. The course is primarily for U.S. Army and USMC combat engineers, but may be attended by all service members with an approved waiver.[14]

PAVN and Viet Cong

Sapper formation- PAVN/Viet Cong

PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) and Viet Cong sappers, as they were called by US forces, are better described as commando units. The Vietnamese term đặc công can be literally translated as "special task". Thousands of specially trained elite fighters served in the PAVN and Viet Cong commando–sapper units which were organized as independent formations. While not always successful due to lack of appropriate personal weapon types for combat and assault like other special forces
, they were still capable of inflicting heavy damage with their non-firearms arsenal. During the Vietnam War, they were armed with various types of bombs, mines, explosive charges, grenades and even steel-pellet mines which proved especially devastating. These are still the main weapons of the đặc công.

These elite units served as raiders against American/

Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975, where they seized key road and bridge assets, destroyed installations, attacked command and control nodes located deep inside enemy territory, planted explosives on U.S. water craft, and otherwise helped the PAVN's rapid mobile forces advance. A typical PAVN/VC đặc công organization is shown in the diagram. The raiding force was usually grouped into assault teams, each broken down into several 3–5-man assault cells. Overall, there were generally four operational echelons.[15]

An instance of a successful sapper attack conducted by the Viet Cong was the during the Battle of Fire Base Mary Ann. A small number of sappers, through surprise and deft coordination, conducted a successful attack on a superior US force. The battle was described as a "rampage of VC who threw satchels at the command bunker, knifed Americans in their sleep and destroyed all communications equipment.[16]

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire had an infantry corp named Lağımcılar Ocağı (literally: Sapper Corps). These infantries were used in most of the Empire's sieges, demolishing enemy fortifications and defences.

Honors

Sapper Island, St. Joseph Channel,

Algoma District, Ontario was named in honour of sappers, especially those who graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada.[17]
46°18′56″N 83°57′29″W / 46.31556°N 83.95806°W / 46.31556; -83.95806

In fiction

In the 1978 song by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, "Khe Sanh", the narrator (a fictional Australian army Vietnam War veteran) says "I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh". However, the only sappers or combat engineers present at the historical Battle of Khe Sanh belonged to US, South Vietnamese and (opposing) North Vietnamese units.

In the 2008 science-fiction novel The Last Colony, a fictitious "sapper field" technology is used to disrupt enemy weapons operation.

In popular culture

Rudyard Kipling's poem "Sappers" (1896)[18] detailed some of the duties of Sappers in the British Army of Victorian times. The notes on this poem[19] further explain the duties referenced.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Definition of SAPPER". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Sapper Leader Course :: FORT LEONARD WOOD". home.army.mil. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  3. ^ "What does sapeur mean in French?".
  4. ^ James, Charles (1816). "Sape". An Universal Military Dictionary, in English and French: In which are Explained the Terms of the Principal Sciences that are Necessary for the Information of an Officer. T. Egerton. p. 781. Retrieved 14 March 2018. Sappe not only signifies the opening which is made but also the act of sapping. Richelet, Boyer, and others write the word with one p, Trevoux, and Belidor with two; but the mere spelling of a word seems not to have been much attended to, even by the best French writers.
  5. ^ Brachet, Auguste (1882). "Sape". An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language: Crowned by the French Academy. Clarendon Press. p. 352. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018. Image of p. 352 at Google Books {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
  6. ^ "Roman military entrenching tool". Museum of London Prints. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  7. ^ Jobson 2009, p. 96.
  8. ^ "Sapper PLATER, FREDERICK JOHN". Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
  9. ^ Preston pp. 261–2
  10. ^ Carver 2003 p. 242
  11. ^ Falls 1930 Vol. 2 p. 568
  12. ^ Efraim, Omri (20 September 2011). "Israel Police get 1st female sapper". Israel News. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  13. ^ AR 670-1: Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Army, revised: 11 May 2012.
  14. ^ Sapper Course, US Army, archived from the original on 9 September 2006
  15. ^ Ott 1975, pp.1–42.
  16. ISBN 9781585446438
    .
  17. ^ Ontario History, Papers and Records, Vol. X, Ontario Historical Society, 1913. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  18. ^ "Sappers". 31 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Sappers". 31 March 2021.

Bibliography

External links
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