Engineers in Battle

By Paul Williams Thompson and E. Reybold

MODERN war, in placing a premium on mobility, has placed a premium on the Engineer. For it is the task of the Engineer to keep the routes of advance clear of obstacles which might impede the progress of the modern engines of war. This purely offensive role of the Engineer is in addition to all his conventional duties such as effecting demolitions and maintaining routes of communication.

But, even in his conventional dudes, the Engineer now proceeds with new equipment, new techniques, and new doctrines. It is literally true that one who knows only the Engineer unit of World War I would scarcely recognize the corresponding unit today.

As America learns to know its new Army better and better, these facts will become self-evident. Meanwhile, for living examples of the modern conception of the Engineer in battle, one can do no better than go to the records of the actual engagements in Europe.

Colonel Thompson’s book takes us to the European battlefields, and throws the spotlight on the actions of combat Engineers:…including Warsaw, Bzura, the Upper Rhine, the Maginot Line and others. He also looks at mine-laying operations and pontooneering on the Loire and Seine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Braunfell Books
• Release date: Jan 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781805230359

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© Braunfell Books 2023, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

FOREWORD 4

Illustrations and Diagrams 5

1—Diary of a Campaign 6

BRIDGING AND FIGHTING ON THE ROAD TO WARSAW 6

2—Assault Operation 11

CAPTURE OF FORT IX AT WARSAW 11

3—Barrier Operation 16

INFANTRY-ENGINEER ACTION NEAR THE BZURA 16

4—Diary of a Campaign 19

PANZER ENGINEERS THROUGH BELGIUM AND FRANCE 19

5—Canal-Crossing Operation 25

ACTION ON THE ALBERT CANAL NEAR BEERINGEN 25

6—Notes on the Unknown War 30

ACTION BETWEEN WEST WALL AND MAGINOT LINE 30

7—Ferrying on the Seine 33

DIVISIONAL ENGINEERS IN ACTION 33

8—Pontoneering on the Seine 37

CORPS ENGINEERS IN ACTION 37

9—River-Crossing Operation 44

ENGINEERS IN ACTION OVER THE UPPER RHINE (COLMAR) 44

10—Further Notes on the Unknown War 56

MINE-LAYING OPERATIONS 56

11—Assault Operation 62

CAPTURE OF FORT BOUSSOIS 62

12—Diary of a Campaign 69

RIVER CROSSINGS IN THE BATTLE OF FRANCE 69

13—Bridging Operation 78

PONTONEERING ON THE LOIRE 78

14—Post-Armistice Activities 83

FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE 41ST ENGINEER BATTALION 83

15—Diary of a Campaign 85

ON BICYCLES THROUGH HOLLAND 85

ENGINEERS IN BATTLE

BY

PAUL W. THOMPSON

FOREWORD

MODERN war, in placing a premium on mobility, has placed a premium on the Engineer. For it is the task of the Engineer to keep the routes of advance clear of obstacles which might impede the progress of the modern engines of war. This purely offensive role of the Engineer is in addition to all his conventional duties such as effecting demolitions and maintaining routes of communication.

But, even in his conventional dudes, the Engineer now proceeds with new equipment, new techniques, and new doctrines. It is literally true that one who knows only the Engineer unit of World War I would scarcely recognize the corresponding unit today.

As America learns to know its new Army better and better, these facts will become self-evident. Meanwhile, for living examples of the modern conception of the Engineer in battle, one can do no better than go to the records of the actual engagements in Europe.

Colonel Thompson’s book takes us to the European battlefields, and throws the spotlight on the actions of combat Engineers. The chapters of the book originally appeared as articles in The Military Engineer, monthly journal of the Society of American Military Engineers. While running in that magazine, the articles attracted much attention, not only on the part of professional soldiers, but also on the part of laymen. This book was the result. I commend it to anyone interested in the art of modern war—and particularly to anyone interested in the engineering aspects of that art."

E. REYBOLD,

Major-General,

Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army.

Illustrations and Diagrams

German Light Tank and Infantry Passing over Fixed Bridges

The Assault on Fort IX

The Capitulation of Fort IX, Warsaw, September 26, 1931

Barrier Operation in Poland

Route of the 57th Engineers in Flanders

Area Reconnoitered by Lieut. A

The Albert Canal Near Beeringen

Operations of 6th Engineers During Advance, June 9-10, 1940

Route of 41st Engineers to Les Andelys

Operations at Les Andelys

German Raft of Pneumatic Boats

German 18-ton Ponton Bridge Across the Meuse River Dinant

Rhine River Crossing Operation Near Colmar

Assault Detachment Pushing Storm Boat into the Water as Crossing Begins

Storm Boat Loaded with an Assault Detachment Crossing the Rhine

French Fortification After Artillery Fire

Assault Detachment Leaving Storm Boat After Crossing

German Mine Detector in Operation

Operations Against Fort Boussois

German Assault Party Advancing Through Wire

Crossing of the Somme, June 5, 1941

Route of Advance of the 88th Engineer Battalion

German Pioneers Constructing a Rope Bridge

Route of 41st Engineers From the Seine to the Loire

Route of the 2nd Company, 156th Engineer Battalion

1—Diary of a Campaign

BRIDGING AND FIGHTING ON THE ROAD TO WARSAW{1}

FROM the crossing of the Warta at the beginning of the invasion, to the final victory parade through Warsaw, the 31st Engineer Battalion was in the thick of the Polish campaign. The battalion appears to have been a divisional unit. As such, it consisted of a headquarters, three companies, a bridge train, and an equipment train. Two of the companies (the 1st and 2nd) were partly motorized (with the troops afoot, the platoon tools carried in horse-drawn wagons); the other company (the 3rd) was completely motorized. The strength of a company was plus or minus 200 officers and men. The bridge train carried equipage sufficient to build about 80 yards of 9-ton, or about 45 yards of 18-ton, P&T bridge. The equipage was carried on trailers, some of them drawn by 7-ton tractors.

The 31st Engineers and its Division appear to have been a part of the left wing of von Reichenau’s 10th Army. This wing crossed the border on September 1, the Warta a few days later, and certain of its mechanized (Panzer) units were at the gates of Warsaw on September 8 (but not beyond the gates). Thus, as has been indicated, the 31st Engineers was very much in the thick of a war of movement.

The first important mission to come the way of the 31st Engineers was the construction of an 18-ton P&T bridge over the Warta. This job must have reminded the troops of a peacetime exercise, since it was accomplished without enemy interference of any kind. It appears that the bridge was constructed the day following the first crossing of the river.

In any event, it was late afternoon when Captain A of the 1st Company reconnoitered the bridge site. The river was not more than 40 yards wide, and, since there was no enemy activity, the bridge itself occasioned no concern. However, the Captain looked less complacently on the road net: at either bridge end there was the matter of an approach to be built—500 yards over swampy, sandy Polish land. Meanwhile, the bridge train, which had been moving in the column far to the rear, was making its way slowly forward over the congested road. It arrived at the bridge site sometime during the night.

It appears that the entire battalion was employed on the project, probably with at least two companies working on the approaches. The bridge was closed at 6:00 A.M. the following morning, and traffic began to move over it soon thereafter. While traffic was moving, work on the approaches continued. That such work was necessary is indicated by the fact that the tractors of the bridge train had to be used to pull vehicles through the bad spots.

In the days following the crossing of the Warta, the 31st Engineers built one bridge after another. Some of these were with standard P&T equipage; others were trestle bridges improvised on the spot. The 3rd (motorized) Company, with its great mobility, was especially active during these days. It is mentioned as having built two bridges over the Liswarta (at Stary-Krshepize and Opatow) and one over the Biala Oksza (at Ostrowy). It is recorded that the conditions under which most of these bridges were built were similar to those described in the case of the bridge over the Warta—except that, in some cases, there was enemy activity involved.

It must have been about September 8 when the 31st Engineers began to move in the direction of Warsaw. Knowledge that they were advancing on the enemy capital was the occasion for new bursts of enthusiasm among the troops. Before long (by September 12) the battalion found itself bivouacked at Glosgow, 12 miles south of Warsaw and 9 miles west of the Vistula.

During this period of bivouac-before-Warsaw, the battalion accomplished many diverse missions. A typical one was that of the 3rd Company, which was sent down to Gora Kalwarja on the Vistula, there to rebuild a wooden trestle bridge, seven bents of which had been burned by the Poles. However, our chronicler chooses a reconnaissance mission of the 1st Company for more complete report.

Captain A of the 1st Company (whom we met on the Warta) had been given the mission of reconnoitering and reporting on the characteristics and conditions of a bridge over the Vistula at Swipri-Mil, 8 miles south of Warsaw. The Captain took along his platoon commanders and certain members of his headquarters. The party arrived at the bridge site at about 4:30 P.M. An infantry security post at the near end of the bridge informed them of the situation which, so far as the far bank was concerned, was one of uncertainty. For two hours, reported the sentry, there had been no sign there of enemy activity.

Concerning the bridge itself, several things were evident: it was a new wooden trestle structure; it was about a mile long; and, near the far bank, it was afire. Somebody explained that the Poles would come out at night, douse the spans with gasoline, then go back and set