The 36 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the
Corps of Royal Engineers within the
British Army. The regiment trace their history back to before
World War II as 36 Army Engineer Regiment. The regiment today is a general support engineer regiment provided force support within
12 (Force Support) Engineer Group
12 (Force Support) Engineer Group is an engineer formation of the British Army.
History
The group can trace its origins to 12th Engineer Brigade which was originally created to command the reserve Airfield Damage Repair regiments. In 1989 the b ...
.
History
36 Engineer Regiment's predecessor was 36 Army Engineer Regiment which saw service in
World War II. There is not much information written about this unit but it is known it was based in Germany when the war ended. In 1949, the regiment moved to
Invicta Park Barracks in
Maidstone,
Kent.
In 1951, the regiment moved to
Ripon and had the following structure:
* Regimental Headquarters
* 24, 57, and 58 Field Squadrons
* 20 Field Park Squadron
In 1955, the regiment moved to
Osnabrück where it joined the 11th Engineer Group. Following their move, the regiment was renamed as the 36 Corps Engineer Regiment as the group, 11 Engineer Group, was tasked with supporting the
1st Corps. In 1956, the regiment saw a deployment to the
Middle East with the
2nd (British) Corps during the
Suez Invasion. Upon returning from the Middle East the regiment moved back to Invicta Park Barracks in Maidstone. For one year, December 1958 – December 1959 the regiment deployed to
Christmas Island after
Operation Grapple.
In January 1969, the regiment was renamed as 36 Engineer Regiment and by 1974 deployed to Northern Ireland as part of the rebuilding process after the start of
Operation Banner. In the 1982
Falklands Conflict the regiment sent a detachment assigned to the
5th Infantry Brigade.
By 1992, the major
Options for Change reforms hit the armed forces. As a result of these major reforms the 11th Engineer Group was disbanded and the regiment joined the
1st (UK) Armoured Division
The 1st (United Kingdom) Division, formerly known as the 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division and the 1st Division, is a division of the British Army.
Divisional history (1809–1959)
The 1st Division was formed following the disbandment of ...
directly as a close support regiment for the
20th Armoured Brigade
The 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, previously the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is an armoured infantry brigade formation of the British Army, currently headquartered at Wing Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd (United Kingdo ...
. In 1994 the regiment deployed on
Operation Grapple 4. In 1995 the regiment took part in the camp building for the new
24th Airmobile Brigade
The 24th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army from the First World War. It was reraised during the Second World War, as the 24th Infantry Brigade (Guards). During various designations, the brigade was active throughout the C ...
. In 1999 the regiment joined the
5th Airborne Brigade
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...
and by 2002 supported the
16th Air Assault Infantry Brigade.
By the time that the
Delivering Security in a Changing World reforms were announced, the regiment was based at
Barker Barracks in the
Paderborn Area.
By this time the regiment still had the same role but had the following structure:
* Regimental Headquarters
* 9 Parachute Squadron, moved to
23 Engineer Regiment after reform
* 20 Field Squadron
* 69 Gurkha Field Squadron
* 61 Field Support Squadron, moved to 23 Engineer Regiment after reform
* 70 Field Support Squadron, joined in 2000
From October 2007 to April 2008 the regiment deployed to Afghanistan on
Operation Herrick VII
This is the Operation Herrick ground order of battle, which lists any British ground forces that have taken part in the duration of Operation Herrick between 2002 and 2014.
Operation Herrick 0-10
Operation Herrick began in 2002 on the end of O ...
, during which it was assigned to the
52nd Infantry Brigade.
In 2010, the original
Army 2020 reforms started and the regiment was re-titled as the 36 Search Engineer Regiment. In 2015, when the Army 2020 Refines were announced the regiment dropped the "search" title and was assigned to the
12 (Force Support) Engineer Group
12 (Force Support) Engineer Group is an engineer formation of the British Army.
History
The group can trace its origins to 12th Engineer Brigade which was originally created to command the reserve Airfield Damage Repair regiments. In 1989 the b ...
. As part of these reforms, it was announced that the rest of the units based in Germany were to be moved back to England. As a result the regiment moved to Invicta Park Barracks in Maidstone. The regiment is scheduled to move again by 2027, but it has not yet been confirmed exactly where.
The regiment now has the following structure:
* Regimental Headquarters
* 50 Headquarters and Support Squadron
* 20 Field Squadron
* 69 Gurkha Field Squadron
* 61 Field Support Squadron
In addition to these reforms, the regiment will be designated as a force structure unit and is to be paired with the
75th Volunteer Engineer Regiment.
Future
According to an answer by the then
Minister of State for the Armed Forces,
Colonel Mark Lancaster, the 67 Gurkha Squadron is to be formed by 2021 and the 68 Gurkha Squadron by 2023.
[{{cite web , url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-10-21/debates/EFD59BE0-E994-4523-B8BD-B251BB28A3CE/ArmyPersonnel , title=Defence Questions: Army Personnel , author= , date=21 October 2019 , website=hansard.parliament.uk , publisher=House of Commons Hansard , access-date=22 October 2019 , quote=I am delighted that, speaking off the top of my head, we currently have 69 and 70 Gurkha Field Squadrons serving in Invicta barracks in Maidstone. I am also pleased to be able to announce that the aspiration is to create 67 Squadron from 2021, and a second further Gurkha engineers squadron, 68 Squadron, from 2023]
Deployments
* Suez Invasion, Egypt (Invasion Support)
*
Operation Grapple, Christmas Island (Nuclear Bombs Experiments Support)
*
Operation Banner, Northern Ireland (Anti-Terrorist Engineering and Support)
*
Operation Herrick, Afghanistan (NATO Deployment)
*
Operation Trenton
Operation Trenton was the contribution of the United Kingdom in support of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). It was one of the largest UK operational deployments at the time, with over 300 military personnel committed to it, b ...
, South Sudan (United Nations Peace Keeping)
*
Operation Tosca, Republic of Cyprus (United Nations Peace Keeping)
* Operation Marmat, Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Earthquake Disaster Relief)
* Project Animoi, Falkland Islands (Infrastructure Upgrade and Support)
References
Sources
"British Army units from 1945 on - 36 Regiment". ''british-army-units1945on.co.uk''. Retrieved 2019-08-21.36 Engineer Regiment
Regiments of the Royal Engineers