13th Engineer Regiment (13ER) is an Army Reserve unit of the

Royal Australian Engineers The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the military engineering corps of the Australian Army. The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Corps of Staff Cadets, Staff Cadets, Royal Australian Armoured C ...

of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. The regiment provides the

combat engineering A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) 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 tas ...

capability of the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

based reserve 13th Brigade. The regiment often supports the

Royal Western Australia Regiment The Royal Western Australia Regiment is a reserve infantry regiment of the Australian Army consisting of two battalions, the 11th/28th Battalion and the 16th Battalion. The regiment was raised in July 1960 as part of the reorganisation of the Au ...

History

The regiment was formed on 1 July 2022 from the 13th Field Squadron. 13th Field Squadron tracing its origins to the 7th Field Company formed in 1907. In 1909 it was renamed the 4th Field Company and changed again to the 6th Field Company in 1910, and finally the 13th Field Company on 1 July 1912. The unit's first major operation was constructing a suspension bridge over the

Helena River The Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and flows north-west to Mundaring Weir, Western Australia, Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed. ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in Western Australia. The Company was not deployed during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, although 100 of its personnel were attached to the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following United Kingdom of Great Bri ...

and served at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

with the 2nd Field Company and in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with the 6th Field Company. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Company served in Darwin in March 1943 before being deployed to

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

in October 1944, where its major assignment was the construction of a 10,000 ton jetty. It was disbanded after the war in 1946 until it was reraised as the 13th Field Squadron, Citizens Military Force (the precursor to the Army Reserve). It adopted the mascot of a 'little red devil' in the early 1960s, and was made part of the 13th Brigade on 1 February 1988.

Structure

The regiment consists of: *Regimental headquarters *13th Field Squadron *22nd Engineer Squadron The 13th Field Squadron consists of two combat engineer troops, a training troop and a support troop.

References

{{Reflist Engineer regiments of Australia Military units and formations of Australia in World War II Military units and formations established in 2022 Military Units in Western Australia