|
The first Canadian sapper to set foot in Sicily was Captain George Wheelock Burbidge of the 4th Field Company. Captain Burbidge was attached to Combined Operations HQ and was assigned to 3 Combined Operations Pilotage Party in Malta. These parties gathered information on proposed landing beaches usually under the noses of enemy coastal defences and patrols.
|
|
While the ground dictated that the infantry would bear the brunt of the battle, and indeed they did, the ground also dictated that the sappers would be front and centre in every action of the Sicilian Campaign. In less than two months, the Canadians would be on the Italian mainland and in a fight that would last into the winter of 1945 and become known as 'An Engineers War'. |
| The previous articles present the role of the Royal Canadian Engineers during Operation HUSKY, the Allied campaign to land on the island of Sicily and take it from the Axis Powers. Although the landings were almost unopposed, action along the line of march from the beaches at Pachino in the south, over the mountains to the town of Adrano in the north, was hard and deadly. On a man-for-man basis, the RCE took casualties at a rate second only to the infantry. |
Peacekeeping activities for the Royal Canadian Engineers began in earnest when the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was authorized on 4 November 1956 for deployment in Egypt. This first United Nations Emergency Force was established to secure an end to the Suez Crisis between Egypt, Israel, Britain and France. The plan envisaged the deployment of UNEF on both sides of the armistice line. Egypt accepted receiving the UN forces, but Israel refused. Lieutenant General Tommy Burns, formerly a Roral Canadian Engineer officer, was appointed Force Commander.
Mankind has been beset by the threat of floods since time immemorial. The Canadian Military Engineers have played a major role in limiting the damage from these inundations. In the Spring of 1948, the lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia was threatened by a major flood. By 1 June, a state of emergency was declared by the Province and control over the emergency operation was passed over to the Canadian Army.
By LCol K. Holmes, CD (Ret'd)
On this day in 1991, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment provided medical treatment and refuge to 1,200 American soldiers after an explosion in a U.S. Army ammunition depot in Kuwait. The Regiment received a Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for its actions.
Six Nations Onondaga marathon runner Tom Longboat wins the 11th Boston marathon in a record time of 2:24:24. In 1909 he wins the title of Professional Champion of the World.
Prior to the Great War, Tom Longboat was arguably one of the most famous athletes in the world at the time. He served as a Sapper in the 107th Pioneer Battalion as a Dispatch Runner on the Western Front. He was wounded twice and once was wrongly reported killed. He would survive the war.