South African Army Engineer Formation

Cape Volunteers Engineer Corps

Military Engineers first made their appearance in South Africa during the Colonial era in 1859 the Governor of the Cape Colony authorised the establishment of the Cape Engineers (Volunteers), which in 1861 became simply the Cape Engineers. In 1865, the title was changed to the Cape Volunteer Engineer Corps, but in 1869, the Corps literally faded away. Ten years later in 1879, the Corps was resuscitated under the name Cape Town Volunteer Engineers. These sappers supported the ground forces during the Frontier Wars and even as far afield as Basutoland.

Natal Engineer Corps

In 1910, the Natal Engineer Corps was formed but ceased to exist in 1913, a year after the passing of the Defence Act in 1912. Just before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Cape Fortress Engineers were formed to relieve Imperial Troops occupied on sapper tasks in the fixed defences of the Cape Peninsula.

South African Engineer Corps

The South African Engineer Corps was established in 1922 when the Royal Engineers withdrew from South Africa with the rest of the British Army garrison.^[2] The Cape Fortress Engineers was disbanded in 1933 and two more Field Companies were formed in 1935 and numbered one to six, being located in order at: Durban, Uitenhage, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

World War 2

During the period 1940 - 1945, the SA Army Engineer Corps which had started the war with a strength of 54 officers and 585 sappers, rose to the strength of approximately 16 000 men belonging to over 70 different companies or units.

Union Defence Force World War 2 era Engineer Corps Cap badge

In the development of the Corps, three aspects of military engineering had to be considered and the obvious sapper groups were the Base, Lines of Communication and Field or Fighting Groups, each with its own particular tasks but motivated by the basic requirements of maintaining the mobility and comfort of the ground forces.^[3]

Hence, the 70 different units covered the whole spectrum of military engineering, such as:

• close support Field Companies and their Field Park Companies,
• Road Construction Companies,
• Railways,
• Harbours and Tunneling Companies,
• Survey Companies,
• Water Supply and Treatment Companies,
• Workshop and Engineer Stores Units and Chemical Warfare,
• Bomb Disposal and Camouflage Units, in all, 31 different functions and disciplines.

Post World War 2

The Active Citizen Force was resurrected in early 1946 and Government Notice 1540 of 19 July 1946 announced the establishment and designation of several ACF units including two engineer regiments.

One of these regiments was 2nd Regiment S.A.E.C. which consisted of Headquarters 2nd Regiment S.A.E.C. and 1, 2 and 3 Field Squadrons and 8 Field Park Squadron.^{[4]:91 & 136} The regiment was disbanded in 1966 and 3rd Field Squadron became independent.

In 1957 the Mobile Battalion was established, which later became the Mobile Watch, then 1 Comp Construction Regiment, then 1 Construction Regiment before being disbanded in 1968.^[5]

UDF era 1 Mobile Watch Shoulder title

SANDF Pontoon Bridge

In 1962, the Regular Force was formed and 17 Field Squadron was created to support this force, stationed in Potchefstroom. However, in 1967 it was moved to Bethlehem and became a purely training unit. In 1974, it became two new squadrons, 24 and 25 Field Squadrons as support squadrons in the operational area of South West Africa.

In 1969, the Directorate of Engineers was established at Kroonstad, but in 1972 it was moved to SA Army Headquarters, Pretoria where it was developed to what it is today. In 1968, the 35 Field Park Squadron was established as a Regular Force Unit and in 1974 was renamed 35 Engineer Support Unit and stationed at Kroonstad. In 1975, the South West Africa Engineer Support Unit was formed and stationed at Grootfontein. Also in 1975, arising out of all the Survey and Printing activities of the Survey and Printing Units of World War II, the 47 Survey Squadron, a Regular Force Unit, was formed. This Unit trained all the National Servicemen posted to it and in turn fed the two DF Survey Units which had been established - the 46 Survey Squadron at Cape Town in 1959 and the 45 Survey Squadron at Pietermaritzburg in 1969

SANDF Pontoon Bridge and boat

1 Construction Regiment was re-established at the end of 1976 at Marievale near Springs, Gauteng and towards the end of 1977 was tasked with the construction of the Military Base at Dukuduku on the Natal North Coast. Subsequently, due to policy changes, its activities were confined to the operational area, in support of the SA Army, with great success.

In 1982 the Chief of the South African Army decided to create the SA Army Engineer Formation, with the Director of Engineers as Officer Commanding, which would give him increased functional and operational control over all Engineer units. On 26 November 1982, the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Johannes Geldenhuys presented the Command Directive for the formation to the Director of Engineers.

SANDF Husky mine detection vehicle

From Corps to Formation in the SANDF

With the creation of 'type' formations after the South African Defence Review 1998, the Engineer Formation was reformed and all units of the South African Engineer Corps were placed within a single-corps grouping.