The War in the Far East- the Burma Campaign 1941-1945 IND4549

Madras Engineer Group (MEG), informally known as the Madras Sappers, is an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. The Madras Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Madras Presidency army of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. This regiment has its HQ in

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The Madras Sappers are the oldest of the three groups of the Corps of Engineers. The Madras Sappers were the only regiment of the Madras Presidency Army to survive unscathed the extensive reorganisations that took place between 1862 and 1928. The ''thambis'', as the troops of the Madras Sappers are popularly known, with their hallmark

Shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or Cap badge, badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, hackle ...

s have distinguished themselves in many battlefields around the world for more than 200 years. The Bangalore torpedo, a mine-clearing explosive device, was invented in the Centre at Bengaluru in the early years of the Twentieth Century.

Timeline

* 1780 – Created ''Madras Pioneers'' from two company of Pioneers (On 30 September 1780 at Madras Patnam) * 1831 – Renamed Corps of Madras Sappers and Miners * 1834 – Relocated HQ to

, where it remains today * 1876 – Receive prefix ''Queens's Own'' * 1903 – 2nd Queen's Own Madras Sappers and Miners, Renamed as part of the Kitchener Reforms * 1911 – Renamed 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners

History

The second half of the eighteenth century found the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

involved in the politics of India and in conflict with the French and a number of native states, amongst whom

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

and the remnants of the Mughal empire were prominent. The newly raised army of the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

was deficient of combat pioneers who were raised as 'ad hoc' companies and disbanded after the conflicts. The

First Anglo-Mysore War The First Anglo-Mysore War (1767–1769) was a conflict in Mughal India, India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the East India Company. The war was instigated in part by the machinations of Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II, Asaf Jah II, the Niz ...

highlighted this deficiency and led to the raising of two companies of the Madras Pioneers on 30 September 1780 at

Fort St George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress at the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English overseas possessions, English (later British Empire, British) fortress in India. The construction ...

. These men are the forefathers of the Madras Engineer Group of today and the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Madras Pioneers formed an integral part of the armed forces. Their principal job in active warfare was to dig 'saps' or 'trenches' which permitted

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

to be brought in range of enemy

fortifications A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

and to dig 'mines' which would explode creating a breach in the fort walls. As a result, Sappers and Miners was born. In addition, the sappers used to lead the way to the breach for the 'forlorn hope' and infantry to follow. They also built roads, bridges, fortifications, wells, and water supplies, and fought as infantry when needed. Since this group was constituted by the

, and formed part of the Madras Army, they were called the Madras Sappers. Likewise in 1803 and again in 1824, the Bengal Sappers and Bombay Sappers were formed in the other presidencies. The Madras Sappers recruited and trained ''small tough and wiry men'' from

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. These engineer troops fought in numerous campaigns in India at Sholinghur,

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the Britis ...

, Assaye (along with Major General Arthur Wellesley, later

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

), and also in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, China,

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and other places abroad. The Madras Sappers moved into

in 1834, when they were involved in a major part of the construction activities of the Civilian and Military buildings in Bengaluru. Their association with Bengaluru, where the center is located, continues to this day. The motto of the Madras Sappers is that common to all three regiments of the Corps of Engineers, Sarvatra (''Sanskrit:Everywhere'') the Indian equivalent to 'Ubique', the motto of 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 ...

Battle honours

Pre-World War I

* Carnatic (1781–82) * Sholinghur (1781–82) * Mysore (1792) * Seringapatam (1799) * Egypt (1801) * Assaye (1803) * Java (1811) * Nagpur (1819) * Mehidpur (1819) * Ava (1825) * China (1840) * Meanee (1843) * Hyderabad (1843) * Pegu (1852) * Persia (1856–57) * Central India (1858) * Lucknow (1858) * Taku Forts (1860) * Pekin (1860) * Abyssinia (1868) * Afghanistan (1878–80) * Egypt (1882) * Tel-el-Kebir (1882) * Suakin (1885) * Tofrek (1885) * Burma (1885–87) * Chitral (1895) * Malakand (1897) * Tirah (1897–98) * Punjab Frontier (1897–98) * Boxer Rebellion (1900)

World War I

* France & Flanders (1914–15) * Suez Canal (1915–17) * Egypt (1915–17) * Gaza (1917) * Megiddo (1917) * Sharon (1918) * Palestine (1918) * Baghdad (1915–18) * Mesopotamia (1915–18) * Tigris (1916) * Kut-el-Amara (1917) * India (1917) *Persia (1918) *N.W. Frontier (1914–15) * East Africa (1918)

World War II

* Mersa Matruh (1940–43) * Ngakyedauk Pass (1942–45) * Bishenpur (1942–45) * Meiktila (1942–45) * Tamu Road (1942–45) * Cassino I (1943–45) * Abyssinia (1940–41) * North Africa (1940–43) * Iraq (1941) * Syria (1941) * Malaya (1941–42) * Burma (1942–45) * Italy (1943–45)

Post Independence

* Zoji La (1948) * Basantar River (1971) * Jammu & Kashmir (1947-48) * Jammu & Kashmir (1965) * Punjab (1965) * Jammu & Kashmir (1971) * Punjab (1971) * East Pakistan (1971)

Symbols

The battle symbols of MEG are a sphinx to commemorate the victory in Egypt in 1801, an elephant for the victory in Assaye in 1803, a dragon for China (1848), a bighorn sheep for Zoji La (1948), and a tank for Basantar (1971).

Republic Day Parade

Madras Engineer Group have been actively participating in the annual

Republic Day Parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Kartavya Path, New Delhi. It is the main attraction of India's R ...

of India. MEG have been awarded the Best Marching Contingent three times in 1991, 1997 and 2017.

Gallery

Image:Egypt_(Sphinx).jpg, Sphinx symbol depicting the campaign in Egypt, 1801. Image:Assaye (Elephant).jpg, Elephant emblem depicting the Battle of Assaye, 1803. Image:China (Dragon).jpg, Dragon symbol depicting the campaign in China, during the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

, 1840.

Notes

Book references

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20091027133925/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9460/remem.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20071108123617/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/southasia/art-eng-sig/sm-mad.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20090725060217/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part10.htm
Sify.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madras Engineer Group * British Indian Army regiments Indian Army Corps of Engineers Indian World War I regiments Indian World War II regiments Military units and formations established in 1780 1780 establishments in British India E Regiments of the Indian Army