An Engineer Combat Battalion (ECB) was a designation for a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

-strength

combat engineer 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 warfare, tunnel and l ...

unit in the U.S. Army, most prevalent during

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 ...

. They are a component of the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

. Also known as "Combat Engineer Battalions", they were typically divided into four companies: A, B, C, and Headquarters and Service (H&S). Best known for

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...

construction and clearing hazards in amphibious landings, their duties also included serving as

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 deploying and deactivating explosive charges and unexploded munitions, mapmaking, camouflage, and a wide variety of construction services supporting frontline troops. With a secondary mission of fighting 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 ...

when required, they were armed with .30 cal. and .50 cal. machine guns, bazookas and

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

launchers.United States Government War Departmen
''Engineer Field Manual'' FM-5-5, Engineer Troops, 11 October 1943
/ref> Combat engineers played important roles in numerous World War II battles, especially breaching the heavily fortified

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

protecting the German border and numerous defensive lines established by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, including the Gustav Line. Among the most familiar for their heroism and contributions to establishing key bridgeheads in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

was at the

Ludendorff Bridge The Ludendorff Bridge, also known as the Bridge at Remagen, was a bridge across the river Rhine in Germany which was captured by United States Army forces in early March 1945 during the Battle of Remagen, in the closing weeks of World War I ...

at the Battle of Remagen. Combat engineers also played roles in several unconventional operations, including the securing of elements of the German nuclear weapons program in Operation Big and recovery of stolen art and treasure subsequently returned to its original owners by the

Monuments Men The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section Unit (MFAA) was a program established by the Allies in 1943 to help protect cultural property in war areas during and after World War II. The group of about 400 service members and civilians worked ...

. In the Pacific Theater, the U.S. Army's 42nd Combat Engineers took part in the hard-fought high casualty Battle of Attu Aleutian Islands (1943) and the Battle of Manila, Luzon Philippines (1945), earning 2 Battle Stars. In the early morning of 29 May 1943, the 50th Combat Engineers were the first U S Army unit encountered by the last Japanese troops on the island, making a suicide charge toward artillery atop Engineer Hill. 50th Engineers fought back immediately and kept fighting while nearby combat units arrived.

Capabilities

A World War II era combat engineer battalion possessed both combat and combat support capabilities. These included, but were not limited to: *

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

( mobile, floating, fixed), rail, & road construction and maintenance *Conducting river crossings by pontoon/raft, motor-powered assault boats *

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

*Placing/de-arming

munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...

, including mines *Port & harbor maintenance and rehabilitation, including beachheads: :*Laying roads and unloading/loading supplies, vehicles & personnel from transport and cargo ships *

Camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

Water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

and

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

* Map production * Vehicle maintenance *Establishing/maintaining supply and

ammunition dump {{Commons cat Logistics Logistics logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (ec ...

s *Building

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

, depots, and similar structures *Rescue & road patrols, bridge and road

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

*Clearing of debris and wreckage *Unit defense and intelligence *Fighting as

when needed

US units

Combat Engineer Battalions in the U.S. military include: * 1st Engineer Combat Battalion * 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion *5th Engineer Battalion * 9th Engineer Combat Battaltion * 13th Engineer Combat Battalion * 14th Engineer Combat Battalion * 15th Engineer Battalion * 16th Engineer Battalion * 19th Combat Engineer Battalion * 20th Engineer Battalion * 23rd Engineer Battalion * 31st Engineer Combat Battalion * 41st Engineer Battalion * 35th Engineer Combat Battalion *42nd Engineer Combat Battalion * 50th Engineer Combat Battalion * 51st Engineer Combat Battalion * 57th Engineer Combat Battalion * 65th Engineer Battalion * 82nd Engineer Combat Battalion * 84th Engineer Combat Battalion * 114th Engineer Combat Battalion * 135th Engineer Combat Battalion *146th Engineer Combat Battalion *166th Engineer Combat Battalion *206th Engineer Combat Battalion *207th Engineer Combat Battalion *237th Engineer Combat Battalion *238th Engineer Combat Battalion * 244th Combat Engineers *246th Engineer Combat Battalion (WW II) * 248th Engineer Combat Battalion * 249th Engineer Combat Battalion *250th Engineer Combat Battalion (WW II) *254th Engineer Combat Battalion *257th Engineer Combat Battalion (WW II) *258th Engineer Combat Battalion *279th Engineer Combat Battalion *283rd Engineer Combat Battalion *284th Engineer Combat Battalion https://284thcombatengineers.com/ * 289th Engineer Combat Battalion * 291st Engineer Combat Battalion *296th Engineer Combat Battalion *298th Engineer Combat Battalion *297th Engineer Combat Battalion *299th Engineer Combat Battalion *305th Engineer Combat Battalion, 80th Infantry Division, Third Army https://lonesentry.com/S12/index.html *311th Engineer Combat Battalion, 8th Blackhawk Division, European Theater *315th Engineer Combat Battalion (WWII)web, url=http://www.90thdivisionassoc.org/History/UnitHistories/PDF/WW2/315%20Eng%20Bn.pdf * 372nd Engineer General Service Regiment(WWII) *402nd Engineer Battalion *554th Engineer Battalion * 864th Engineer Battalion *876th Engineer Battalion *1255th Engineer Combat Battalion * 1263rd Engineer Combat Battalion * 1269th Engineer Combat Battalion * 1288th Engineer Combat Battalion * 1695th Engineer Combat Battalion

References

{{reflist

External links

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersIV Corps Combat Engineers
Engineer battalions of the United States Army

Capabilities

US units

See also

References

External links