28 Engineer Regiment (C-CBRN),

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 ...

is a regiment of the British Army that focuses on countering chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (C-CBRN) hazards in the environment. Its operational chain of command is 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group, under 8th Engineer Brigade as part of

Allied Rapid Reaction Corps The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a rapid reaction force maintained by NATO. It is capable of deploying a High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters at short notice for operations and crisis response. History The ARRC was created on 1 ...

History

28 Engineer Regiment was formed on 15 April 1951. It saw service in

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

, Libya and in Korea with the 1st Commonwealth Division in 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 ...

. In 1956, 28 Engineer Regiment deployed to

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

in support of the original

Operation Grapple Operation Grapple was a set of four series of British nuclear weapons tests of early atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs carried out in 1957 and 1958 at Malden Island and Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pa ...

. The primary task of the regiment was the construction of the airfield and the 'Main-Camp', from which nuclear tests would be facilitated. In January 1957, on completion of their tasks in the Pacific Ocean, a letter was received from the War Office announcing the disbandment of the regiment and the subordination of its sub-units. In 1971, the regiment was re-formed as 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment, coming under operational control of Commander, Royal Engineers, I (BR) Corps in West Germany, and equipped with the M2 Amphibious Bridging Equipment. In 1992, the regiment was re-organised under the

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces ...

reforms. 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment was re-roled as a general support regiment tasked with supporting the 1st Armoured Division with its amphibious commitment remaining but reduced to a single squadron (23 Amphibious Engineer Squadron). The regiment saw deployments to the former Republic of Yugoslavia, in 1995. It was also deployed on the initial invasion during

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

, Iraq in 2003. Before the initial

Army 2020 Army 2020 is the restructuring of the British Army in the early and mid-2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. The plan, as its name suggested, was intended to be completed by 2020, though most of its reorganisations ...

changes, the regiment was re-roled as a close support engineer regiment, attached to the 11th Light Brigade. In 2014 the unit was disbanded as a result of the Army 2020 reforms.

Reformation

The regiment reformed on 1 April 2019 as a counter-chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (C-CBRN) regiment with dismounted RE elements to be based at Rock Barracks in Woodbridge, Suffolk, whilst mounted RTR elements remain in Harman Lines,

Warminster Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021. The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...

, Wiltshire. The sub-units of 28 Engineer Regiment (C-CBRN) are: * 64 Headquarters & Support Squadron (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers, at RAF Honington * Falcon Area Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron,

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

, at Harman Lines, Warminster Garrison * 42 Field Squadron (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers, at Rock Barracks, Woodbridge * 77 Field Squadron (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers, at Rock Barracks, Woodbridge

The regimental emblem

The emblem on the 28 Engineer Regiment flag is a Christmas Island

Frigatebird Frigatebirds are a Family (biology), family of seabirds called Fregatidae which are found across all tropical and subtropical oceans. The five extant species are classified in a single genus, ''Fregata''. All have predominantly black plumage, l ...

emblazoned on a hexagon. The hexagon was used as an emblem by a number of Royal Engineer Special Warfare Groups in WW1, and draws inspiration from the chemical diagram for the

benzene Benzene is an Organic compound, organic chemical compound with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar hexagonal Ring (chemistry), ring with one hyd ...

ring, a chemical structure found in a large number of chemical warfare agents. The hexagon remains part of the symbology and iconography adorning identifying badges and emblems of CBRN units and organisations of many NATO partners. The Christmas Island Frigatebird is endemic to the Christmas Islands and was the motif for the original Operation Grapple on which 28 Engineer Regiment deployed.

References

{{reflist Regiments of the Royal Engineers Military units and formations established in 1951 1951 establishments in the United Kingdom NBC units and formations