The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the

military engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

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 RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Staff Cadets,

Armoured Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat ...

and

Artillery Corps Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

. The corps was formed by the amalgamation of the various colonial engineer corps of the

states and territories of Australia The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

in 1902 and since then has served in various conflicts including

World War I 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 ...

World War II 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 ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The corps has also served on numerous peacekeeping operations and was heavily involved in the Australian contribution to the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

History

The origins of the Royal Australian Engineers date back to 15 November 1860, when the Corps of Engineers was founded in the colony of Victoria by Peter Scratchley. By 1876, five of the six colonies—New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia—had raised their own engineer units. These were amalgamated on 1 July 1902 as the Corps of Engineers. At this time, the corps consisted of field, fortress, telegraph, electric and submarine mining companies. After

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

the small regular engineer component was granted the prefix "Royal"; however, the

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

remained part of the "Australian Engineers".Dennis et al. 2008, p. 464. In 1911, the Australian Corps of Signallers was absorbed into the Engineers as the RAE Signal Service. Four years later, in July 1915, all members of the Survey Section RAE, separated to form the Australian Survey Corps. During this period the School of Military Engineering was established at Moore Park in Sydney. During World War I, there were approximately 40 engineering units raised as part of 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 ...

. These units included field engineering units, tunneling companies, railway units and signalling squadrons which served at Gallipoli, the Sinai, Palestine, France and Belgium. Following the end of the war the School of Military Engineering was disbanded. On 1 January 1925 the RAE Signal Service was separated to form the Australian Corps of Signals. This was followed in 1932 by the Survey Section separating to form the Australian Survey Corps. The regular Permanent Force and reserve Citizen Military Forces (CMF) engineer units were brought together in January 1936 as the "Corps of Royal Australian Engineers". In 1939 the School of Military Engineering was re-established at Steele Barracks in

Liverpool, New South Wales Liverpool is a suburb of South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, south-west of the Sydney CBD. It is the administrative seat of the City of Liverpool and is in the Cumberland Plain. History Indigenous Before Bri ...

. During the inter-war years the RAE maintained a force of 233 regular troops and a militia force of 1,750. With the outbreak of

, however, the corps was expanded greatly, eventually reaching a peak of 32,984 men in 1945. RAE units of the

Second Australian Imperial Force The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one ...

and

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

served in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, Malaya,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and Borneo campaigns. Following the end of the war, the size of the corps was once again reduced. Nevertheless, the various units and sub-units of the RAE have been deployed on many overseas operations since 1945. During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

there were no formed engineer units deployed by the Australian Army, although individual members of the RAE were deployed with the 1st Commonwealth Division. Later, RAE units deployed as part of the Australian commitment to the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cu ...

and the

. They have also been deployed overseas to carry out construction work in

. During the Vietnam War, the RAE maintained a force of about 1,000 personnel in South Vietnam where they served as part of the

1st Australian Task Force The 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was a brigade-sized formation which commanded Australian Army, Australian and New Zealand Army units deployed to South Vietnam between 1966 and 1972. 1 ATF was based in a rubber plantation at Nui Dat, north ...

. Following the end of the war the size of the Australian Army was decreased in line with the abolition of the

national service scheme The National Service Scheme (NSS) is an Indian government sector public service program conducted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India. Popularly known as NSS, the scheme was launched in Mahatma Gandhi's centen ...

and as a consequence of this and a number of lessons that came out of the deployment to Vietnam the RAE underwent a series of changes. One of the most significant changes came in 1972 and was the decision to establish full regimental sized engineer units, as opposed to squadron or company sized units. These units were initially known as Field Regiments but have subsequently become known as Combat Engineer Regiments. As a part of this restructuring the RAE was reorganised to raise one regiment for each brigade and the Corps lost its responsibility for maintaining water transport and engineering stores. Since the late 1980s members of the Corps have been involved in combat and peacekeeping operations in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

, Bougainville and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

as well as

Timor Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. On 1 July 1996 the RAE reabsorbed the Royal Australian Survey Corps.

Corps titles

Over the course of its existence, the corps has held the following titles: * July 1902 to September 1907 – "Corps of Engineers" * September 1907 to January 1936 – "Australian Engineers" * On 31 January 1936, the corps was given

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

, and was subsequently renamed the "Royal Australian Engineers".

Traditions

Motto

The motto of the Royal Australian Engineers is ''Ubique'' (Everywhere), a motto shared with RAE's parent corps, the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. This motto was bestowed by King William IV in 1832 in recognition that both Sappers and Gunners were not entitled to carry Regimental Colours and typically served as small detachments instead of a whole unit. The original motto of the RAE, adopted at Federation was ''Facimus et Frangimus'' (We make and we break) and appeared on the engineer hat badge up until 1947 when it was replaced by ''Honi soit qui mal y pense''. It now only appears on the Corps Cipher. The current engineer hat badge features a leather garter adorned with a crown and the motto ''Honi soit qui mal y pense'' (Shame on him who thinks ill of it), mirroring the motto of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

. This honour was awarded to the RAE in 1947 for their efforts during World War II.

Sappers

The Royal Australian Engineers also adopted the Royal Engineers practice of calling their

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

soldiers "

Sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

s", in recognition of the fact that the very earliest engineers had been primarily concerned with driving saps (tunnels) both towards the enemy lines, and underneath fortifications.

Colours

Although the Corps does not carry official regimental colours such as those carried by infantry units, the basic Royal Australian Engineers colours are red (primary) and blue. Typically, however,

unit colour patch Unit colour patches (or simply known as colour patches) are a method of identification used by the Australian Army, used to indicate which unit a soldier belongs to. It is believed that the Australian system of colour patches is based upon th ...

es, consist of a red feature on a purple field. The banner or flag depiction of the colours consists of a red field with two horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom of the field. This, in keeping with the Corps of Royal Engineers, represents two rivers shown in blue with the red background representing all the lives lost to achieve the crossing. If a unit title is shown it is shown in yellow.

Waterloo Dinner

The Waterloo Dinner is an annual dinner for commissioned officers held by units of the Royal Australian Engineers, although some smaller units may permit other ranks to attend. It is traditionally held on or about 18 June in commemoration of the first dinner, held by members of the corps 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 ' ...

in 1915 to celebrate the completion of Watson's Pier at Anzac Cove. In recognition of the officer who led the construction of the pier, Lieutenant Stanley Watson, a signals officer within the Royal Australian Engineers, an officer of the Royal Australian Signals Corps attends each dinner as a guest. The name Waterloo was used because the first dinner was observed on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

Current roles

The RAE provides

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 ...

, construction, and other technical support to the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

. Its main roles are to provide mobility, counter mobility and sustainability capabilities to the Australian Army and its allies. This means enhancing the ability of friendly forces to move while denying movement to enemy forces. In order to provide these capabilities, engineers are required to conduct many tasks, including penetrating minefields, locating and disarming booby traps, clearing unexploded ordnance, conducting explosive demolitions, purifying water, surveying, and building and maintaining roads, airfields, and bridges. The Corps also performs the majority of the Australian Army's demolition tasks and is trained to fight as

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

if needed.

Current structure

The corps has both Regular and Reserve units, which are situated across the country within the Army's three regular manoeuvre brigades – the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, 3rd and 7th Brigades – and within the Reserve 2nd Division. The current Regular units are: * 1st Combat Engineer Regiment ( Darwin) ** 1st Field Squadron ** 9th Field Squadron ** 23rd Support Squadron ** Operational Support Squadron * 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment (

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

) ** 2nd Combat Engineer Squadron ** 7th Combat Engineer Squadron ** 24th Support Squadron ** Operational Support Squadron * 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment (

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

) ** 16th Combat Engineer Squadron ** 18th Combat Engineer Squadron ** 25th Support Squadron ** Operational Support Squadron * 6th Engineer Support Regiment (Amberley) ** 17th Construction Squadron ** 21st Construction Squadron ** 20th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron * School of Military Engineering (Sydney, Holsworthy), Combined Arms Training Centre * 12th Chief Engineer Works (Brisbane) * 19th Chief Engineer Works (Sydney, Randwick) * Special Operations Engineer Regiment (SOER) 1 CER laying down barbed wire in Queensland 2009-07-09

1 CER laying down barbed wire in Queensland 2009-07-09

The current Reserve (part-time) units are: * 5th Engineer Regiment (Newcastle/Sydney/Canberra) * 9th Combat Engineer Regiment (Adelaide) – one squadron only ** 3rd Field Squadron *

11th Engineer Regiment In music theory, an eleventh is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a fourth. A perfect eleventh spans 17 and the augmented eleventh 18 semitones, or 10 steps in a diatonic scale. Since there are only seven degrees in a diaton ...

(Brisbane/Greenbank/Rockhampton/Townsville) **11th Combat Engineer Squadron **35th Combat Engineer Squadron **104th Construction Squadron * 13th Engineer Regiment (Perth) **13th Field Squadron **22nd Engineer Squadron * 22nd Engineer Regiment (Ringwood East, Victoria)

Order of precedence

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * *