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132-546: The Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers is the administrative corps of the New Zealand Army responsible for military engineering . The role of the Engineers is to assist in maintaining friendly forces' mobility, deny freedom of movement to the enemy, and provide general engineering support. The corps has been involved in numerous conflicts over the course of its history including World War I , World War II ,

264-582: A corps d'armée in 1815 for commanding his mixed allied force of four divisions against Napoleon I. When the British Army was expanded from an expeditionary force in the First World War, corps were created to manage the large numbers of divisions. The British corps in World War I included 23 infantry corps and a few mounted corps. The word was adopted for other special formations such as

396-734: A Royal Engineer tunnelling company on 17 September 1915, the government encouraged early enlistment to form the New Zealand Mining Corps. On 11 October, specialist tunnellers' training began on the Avondale Racecourse near Auckland . The tunnelling company numbered 16 engineering officers and 407 other ranks, plus one officer and two men from the Medical Corps , 19 men from the New Zealand Army Service Corps , and one man from

528-457: A MEF headquarters group, a Marine division, a Marine aircraft wing, and a force service support group (re-designated as Marine logistics group in 2005). The pre– World War II Red Army of the former USSR had rifle corps much like in the Western sense with approximately three divisions to a corps. However, after the war started, the recently purged Soviet senior command ( Stavka ) structure

660-639: A battalion were ever trained or exercised. Early in the Second World War, Canada's contribution to the British-French forces fighting the Germans was limited to a single division. After the fall of France in June 1940, a second division moved to England, coming under command of a Canadian corps headquarters. This corps was renamed I Canadian Corps as a second corps headquarters was established in

792-518: A communications regiment (or a separate battalion). In 1945, air defence corps could include 1 anti-aircraft artillery brigade or division. Air defence fighters operating within the limits of responsibility of the KPVO was transferred to the corps. By the end of the war, there were 14 KPVO in the Active Army, of which 5 corps continued to carry out the tasks assigned to them even after the war, and

924-544: A company of railway engineers, two sections of field engineers, and 26 signalers. Field engineers would be sent to Gallipoli with the New Zealand and Australian Division and then the Western front as part of the New Zealand Division . A total of four field engineer companies were raised during the war. In principle one field company was attached to each infantry brigade, but for the most part were under

1056-407: A corps is also a grouping of personnel by common function, also known as an arm , service , mustering or branch . In the British Army, an administrative corps performs much the same role – for personnel that otherwise lack them – as a ceremonial regiment . An administrative corps therefore has its own cap badge , stable belt , and other insignia and traditions. In some cases, the term corps

1188-577: A corps-sized formation in the First World War; the Canadian Corps was unique in that its composition did not change from inception to the war's end, in contrast to British corps in France and Flanders. The Canadian Corps consisted of four Canadian divisions. After the Armistice, the peacetime Canadian militia was nominally organized into corps and divisions but no full-time formations larger than

1320-500: A dedicated Cavalry Corps of three divisions and horse artillery assigned to the corps headquarters. In the early years of the war, field artillery was either part of an artillery reserve under direct army control or assigned to individual divisions. However, after the Battle of Chancellorsville the divisional artillery was placed under corps control, with each corps assigned a brigade of between four and six batteries commanded by

1452-660: A first exploration of the underground quarries in the Ronville and Saint-Sauveur districts of Arras on 5 November 1916. (For a map of the Arras underground system, see here .) While the New Zealanders were moving into place, the 184th Tunnelling Company began work on connection tunnels at Saint-Sauveur on 25 November 1916. Shortly afterwards, on 9 December 1916, 43 Māoris of the Māori Pioneer Battalion joined

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1584-614: A military organisation called the Defence Engineering Service Corps. The Corps of New Zealand Engineers suffered around 310 fatalities during the second world war. In 1947 the various administrative corps of the New Zealand Military forces were granted the prefix "Royal". It was argued by some generals that the earlier Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers had technically not been disbanded in 1908 and could be resurrected by simply transferring

1716-547: A number of aides-de-camp and a general staff of other officers. This staff consisted of a chief of cavalry, a chief of artillery, and representatives of the War Department 's various bureaus: an assistant adjutant general , a quartermaster , an assistant inspector general , a commissary of subsistence, an ordnance officer (all with the rank of lieutenant colonel ), and a medical director. However, there were no dedicated combat service support formations as part of

1848-480: A number of independent brigades or regiments and supporting units. The Chinese Republic had 133 corps during the Second Sino-Japanese War . After losses in the early part of the war, under the 1938 reforms, the remaining scarce artillery and the other support formations were withdrawn from the division and was held at corps, or army level or higher. The corps became the basic tactical unit of

1980-413: A numerically superior foe. This allowed Napoleon I to mass the bulk of his forces to effect a penetration into a weak section of enemy lines without risking his own communications or flank. This innovation stimulated other European powers to adopt similar military structures. The corps has remained an echelon of French Army organization to the modern day. As fixed military formation already in peace-time it

2112-592: A single New Zealand wireless troop and was part of India's Expeditionary Force D. The wireless troop was the only New Zealand unit to serve in the Mesopotamia Campaign . A number of other units were raised during the First World War with similar roles to, but not part of, the New Zealand Engineers. The New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion provided a general labour force for construction and entrenching work. Attempts were made to convert

2244-399: A soldier as part of a specific corps (or sometimes individual battalion). This lanyard is a woven piece of cord which is worn on ceremonial uniforms and dates back to the issue of clasp knives in the early 20th century which were secured to the uniform by a length of cord. If a soldier is posted to a unit outside of their parent corps, except in some circumstances the soldier continues to wear

2376-484: Is Sapper , rather than private which is used in most other corps. Additionally any member of the corps can be informally referred to as a sapper. The official motto of the Royal New Zealand Engineers is "ubique quo fas et gloria ducunt" (everywhere, where right and glory lead). In practice, however, the phrase is split into two separate mottos, "ubique" and "quo fas et gloria ducunt". The motto

2508-505: Is also used informally, for looser groupings of independent regiments and other units – and without many or any unifying regalia , military traditions or other accoutrements – such as the Royal Armoured Corps or the "Corps of Infantry". In Australia, soldiers belong foremost to a corps which defines a common function or employment across the army. The Australian Army has a system of coloured lanyards, which each identify

2640-480: Is an operational-tactical formation (in the past - the highest tactical formation) of the former Soviet Air Defence Forces and now Russian Air Defence Forces /Aerospace Forces. The purpose of the such a corps is to protect important administrative, industrial and economic centers and regions of the country, groupings of troops (forces) and military facilities within the established limits of responsibility against air strikes. In organizational terms, an air defence corps

2772-773: Is based at Linton Camp, and contains the Technical Training Wing and the Combat Engineer Wing. Since 1995 the school also provides firefighting training to personnel from the Royal New Zealand Air Force . Although not a part of the RNZE organisation the Engineer Corps Memorial Centre , Library and Chapel are also based at Linton Camp. The most junior enlisted rank of the Royal New Zealand Engineers

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2904-500: Is composed of three or four divisions. There are three types of corps in the Indian Army: strike, holding and mixed. The corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army. The Pakistan Army has nine manoeuvre corps, each commanded by a lieutenant general . Each corps is composed of at least two divisions. The corps HQ is the highest field formation in the army. The Polish Armed Forces used independent operational groups in

3036-410: Is mounted on a 8x8 HX-77 MAN truck . The system can bridge a twelve meter gap in ten minutes and is strong enough to support the weight of an NZLAV . In the late 2000s 2nd Engineer Regiment operated a troop of NZLAVs to support the then mechanized 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment . The NZLAVs were transferred to Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles in the early 2010s when 1st Battalion

3168-571: Is part of the district (or a separate army) of the Air Defence Forces. Also some air defence corps were separate. On the basis of individual corps, air defence zones or air defence corps areas could be created. The first KPVO were created in February 1938 for the air defence of Moscow , Leningrad and Baku (respectively 1st, 2nd and 3rd) based on anti-aircraft artillery divisions and air defence brigade ( 3rd KPVO ). The staff of

3300-489: Is the highest level of the forces that is concerned with actual combat and operational deployment. Higher levels of command are concerned with administration rather than operations, at least under current doctrine. The corps provides operational direction for the forces under its command. As of 2014, the active field corps in the US Army are I Corps , III Corps , and XVIII Airborne Corps ; their lineages derive from three of

3432-556: The 172nd Tunnelling Company , which was relieved in this area by the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company in May 1916. On 15 November 1916, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company ended its offensive mining operations and started preparations for the Battle of Arras (9 April – 16 May 1917). Henry Armytage Sanders was sent to France and met up with the New Zealand Tunnelling Company on 8 April 1917. Sanders took all

3564-543: The 1999 East Timorese crisis New Zealand deployed a battalion group, which contained an engineer troop, to East Timor as part of INTERFET . Following renewed unrest in 2006, the engineer were once again deployed to East Timor, eventually leaving in 2012. In 2003 New Zealand deployed the provincial reconstruction team to Afghanistan . Despite the name, the provincial reconstruction team was intended to provide security to Bamyan Province and thereby enable reconstruction by other organizations. The engineers deployed as part of

3696-697: The 1st Commonwealth Division . Engineers were also attached to the battalions of the New Zealand Regiment stationed in Malaya during the 1960s and supported various units of the 1st Australian Task Force during the Vietnam War . The engineers were also stationed in Singapore as part of a forward presence in Asia. The New Zealand engineers were initially part of the 28th ANZUK Field Squadron in

3828-530: The 1st Northumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers, which was a Territorial unit. The formation of twelve new tunnelling companies, between July and October 1915, helped to bring more men into action in other parts of the Western Front. Most British tunnelling companies were formed under Norton-Griffiths' leadership during 1915, and one more was added in 1916. On 10 September 1915,

3960-549: The 2011 drought and set up water filtration and reverse osmosis systems. The RNZE has also been active in disaster relief within New Zealand. The engineers were deployed to Christchurch within two hours following the 2011 earthquake . The RNZE were immediately tasked with repairing the city's water supply, but also supported the stabilization, repair and demolition of buildings and other infrastructure. The corps also assisted in clearing slips along State Highway 70 following

4092-519: The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake . The primary role of the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers is to provide mobility and counter mobility capabilities to the New Zealand Army. More generally, the corps provides military engineering support including construction, water purification and reticulation, CBRN defense , bridging, firefighting and demolitions. When not fulfilling an engineering role,

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4224-528: The 2nd New Zealand Division . The field companies first saw action in 1941 during the battles of Greece , and Crete and were mostly involved in the demolition of infrastructure to try and slow the German advance. During Operation Crusader the engineers mostly operated as infantry, but following the axis counter attack in 1942, were employed in the construction of minefields at the El Alamein line. During

4356-702: The ARVN corps areas. As of July 2016, the Army deactivated all corps headquarters save three CONUS based corps ( I Corps - Washington, III Corps - Texas, and XVIII Airborne Corps - North Carolina). In the 1960s, the Marine Corps activated the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) on Okinawa (based in California since 1971) and II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) in North Carolina, and re-activated

4488-721: The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in 1994. It is no longer a purely British formation, although the UK is the "framework nation" and provides most of the staff for the headquarters. A purely national Corps headquarters could be quickly reconstituted if necessary. It took command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan on 4 May 2006. Previously, it was deployed as the headquarters commanding land forces during

4620-554: The Australian Electrical Mechanical Boring and Mining Company was tasked with carrying out related repairs. A Canadian tunnelling unit was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France, resulting in 30 tunnelling companies being available by the summer of 1916. After New Zealand had become the first Dominion to agree the formation of

4752-799: The Australian I Corps was formed to co-ordinate three Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) units: the 6th , 7th and 9th Divisions , as well as other Allied units on some occasions, in the North African campaign and Greek campaign . Following the commencement of the Pacific War , there was a phased withdrawal of I Corps to Australia, and the transfer of its headquarters to the Brisbane area, to control Allied army units in Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW). II Corps

4884-687: The BEF at the Western Front that the Germans were mining to a planned system. As the British had failed to develop suitable counter-tactics or underground listening devices before the war, field marshals French and Kitchener agreed to investigate the suitability of forming British mining units. Following consultations between the Engineer-in-Chief of the BEF, Brigadier George Fowke , and

5016-934: The Dental Branch (Canadian Forces) and the Canadian Forces Medical Service of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group (CF H Svcs Gp). The Royal Canadian Army Service Corps transport and supply elements were combined with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps to form the Logistics Branch The Royal Canadian Army Service Corps clerical trades were merged with the Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps and

5148-520: The Ecaillon , two parallel rivers, separated from only two or three miles, in the southwest of Quesnoy . The New Zealand Tunnelling Company reinstalled the communication roads and railways above natural obstacles at Noyelles-sur-Escaut , Masnières , Cambrai, Solesmes , Saint-Waast and Romeries . After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 , the New Zealand Tunnelling Company stayed in France until

5280-438: The KPVO included: 4-6 anti-aircraft artillery regiments, 1 anti-aircraft machine-gun regiment, 1 searchlight regiment (or battalion), 1-2 regiments (or divisions) barrage balloons , 1- 2 regiments (or battalions) of visual observation, warning and communications ( VNOS ), and a separate communications battalion. From September 1938 to November 1940, the KPVO also included 1-2 regiments (battalions) of local air defence. During

5412-541: The Korean War , the Vietnam War and the war in Afghanistan . The corps consists of a single regiment, 2nd Engineer Regiment, primarily based at Linton Military Camp near Palmerston North . The first New Zealand European military engineering unit was an 82 man militia detachment employed as pioneers during the Flagstaff War in 1845-1846. It would be twenty years until the concept of military engineering

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5544-686: The Kosovo War in 1999 and also saw service in Bosnia and Herzegovina , commanding the initial stages of the IFOR deployment prior to that in 1996. Otherwise, the only time a British corps headquarters has been operationally deployed since 1945 was II Corps during the Suez Crisis . The structure of a field corps in the United States Army is not permanent. On the battlefield, the corps

5676-729: The New Zealand Army Pay Corps, a total of 446 soldiers. On 18 December 1915, the men of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company left Auckland on board the SS ; Ruapehu . After stop-overs in Montevideo and Dakar , the ship arrived at Plymouth on 3 February 1916. After further training in England, the unit was deployed to northern France. On 10 March 1916, the New Zealand tunnellers arrived in Le Havre , becoming

5808-625: The New Zealand Corps of Signals and the railway battalions were disbanded. In the same year the Corps of New Zealand Engineers were retitled as the Regiment of New Zealand Engineers, but reverted to the former name in 1923. During the Second World War the Corps of New Zealand Engineers provided engineering support to the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force . Three field companies, one for each brigade, were formed as part of

5940-415: The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade . The field engineers role involved constructing and repairing trenches, fortifications, bridges and digging wells. The Battle of the Somme in 1916 had shown that road transport was inadequate to move supplies and ammunition to the front line and to evacuate wounded. The Engineers were therefore required to build a light railway system close to the front line and in 1917

6072-400: The Officers Training Corps . Military training of teenage boys is undertaken at secondary schools through the Combined Cadet Force , in which participation was compulsory at some schools in the 1950s. Schoolboy jargon called the CCF simply "Corps". The British Army still has a corps headquarters for operational control of forces. I Corps of the British Army of the Rhine was redesignated

6204-447: The Royal Canadian Postal Corps to form the Administration Branch (later merged with the Logistics Branch ) Other "corps", included: Canadian Engineer Corps , Signalling Corps , Corps of Guides , Canadian Women's Army Corps , Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps , Canadian Forestry Corps , Canadian Provost Corps and Canadian Intelligence Corps . New Zealand Tunnelling Company By January 1915 it had become evident to

6336-401: The Royal cypher , "E II R", standing for " Elizabeth II Regina", encircled by a garter adorned with the motto "honi soit qui mal y pense" (shame on him who thinks evil of it) taken from the Order of the Garter . The collar badge worn by the Royal New Zealand Engineers is a grenade with a scroll inscribed with "ubique". The New Zealand Tunneling Company instead used the Maāri translation of

6468-471: The Second Battle of El Alamein , the engineers played a vital role in clearing German minefields for the allied forces to advance through. The primary role of the engineers continued to be mine clearing during the allied advance across the Western desert and into Tunisia in late 1942 and early 1943. Other non-divisional engineer companies were also formed to support logistics and transportation. By 1940 seven railway companies had been formed and were involved in

6600-486: The freedoms of: Various sub-units have also been granted freedoms including: Administrative corps Corps ( / k ɔːr / ; plural corps / k ɔːr z / ; from French corps , from the Latin corpus "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I , the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies greatly, but two to five divisions and anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 are

6732-514: The 1st and 2/1st Battalions of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, respectively. The 3rd Field Squadron is based at Burnham Military Camp , while the and Emergency Response Squadron has one troop based at each of Linton, Burnham and Waiouru camps . The emergency response troops were formerly the camp fire brigades and provide emergency services to the military camps and the surrounding area. 25th Engineer Support Squadron provides disaster relief and civil support. The School of Military Engineering

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6864-440: The 5th Light Railway Operating Company was formed to specialise in these tasks. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company was also raised in 1915 and was the first New Zealand unit deployed to the Western Front, arriving in March 1916. It was initially involved in counter-mining at Vimy ridge and later dug out tunnels at Arras . During the Hundred Days Offensive the tunnelling company was retasked with bridge building, which included

6996-516: The Armour Branch continued to use the title Royal Canadian Armoured Corps , the Infantry Branch continued to use the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps designation, and the Artillery Branch uses the term Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery . When the Army, Royal Canadian Navy , and Royal Canadian Air Force were merged in 1968 to form the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Dental Corps and Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps were deactivated and merged with their Naval and Air Force counterparts to form

7128-447: The Army and Marines diverged in their approach to the concept of the field corps. The Army continued to group its divisions into traditional corps organizations in the Continental United States (CONUS), West Germany ( V Corps and VII Corps ), and South Korea (I Corps). However, during the Vietnam War , the Army designated its corps-level headquarters in South Vietnam as I Field Force and II Field Force to avoid confusion with

7260-415: The British Army enlisted experienced coal miners, many outside their nominal recruitment policy. The first nine companies, numbers 170 to 178, were each commanded by a regular Royal Engineers officer. These companies each comprised 5 officers and 269 sappers; they were aided by additional infantrymen who were temporarily attached to the tunnellers as required, which almost doubled their numbers. The success of

7392-488: The British government sent an appeal to Canada , South Africa , Australia and New Zealand to raise tunnelling companies in the Dominions of the British Empire . On 17 September, New Zealand became the first Dominion to agree the formation of a tunnelling unit. The Royal Australian Engineers formed four mining units for the British Expeditionary Force , all of which were operational by March 1916. Three were specialist companies of tunnellers ( 1st , 2nd , 3rd ), while

7524-410: The Civil War lacked standing organization at the corps and division levels, it moved swiftly to adopt these during the mobilization for the Spanish–American War in the spring of 1898. On 7 May, General Order 36 called for the establishment of seven "army corps" (repeating the nomenclature of the Civil War); an eighth was authorized later that month. Two of these saw action as a unit: the Fifth in Cuba and

7656-399: The Confederate corps at the Battle of Gettysburg , for instance, exceeded 20,000 men. However, for both armies, unit sizes varied dramatically with attrition throughout the war. In Civil War usages, by both sides, it was common to write out the number, thus "Twenty-first Army Corps", a practice that is usually ignored in modern histories of the war. Although the US Army in the years following

7788-433: The Eighth in the Philippines; elements of the First , Fourth , and Seventh made up the invasion force for Puerto Rico (the Second, Third , and Seventh provided replacements and occupation troops in Cuba, while the Sixth was never organized). The corps headquarters were disbanded during the months following the signing of the peace treaty (with the exception of the Eighth Army Corps, which remained active until 1900 due to

7920-452: The Great Patriotic War from November 1941 to April 1944 the air defence corps were renamed into air defence corps areas (such as the Stalingrad Corps Region ). The corps districts included up to 9 anti-aircraft artillery regiments and 14 separate anti-aircraft artillery battalions, up to 3 anti-aircraft machine-gun regiments, 1 searchlight regiment, 1 regiment (or division) of barrage balloons, up to 4 regiments (or separate battalions) VNOS, and

8052-481: The III Amphibious Corps (which had been deactivated in 1946) as III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) in South Vietnam (re-deployed to Okinawa in 1971). In 1965, all three MEFs were subsequently re-designated as Marine amphibious forces or MAFs, and in 1988 all three Marine Corps corps-level commands were again re-designated as Marine expeditionary forces (MEF). The MEF had evolved into a self-contained, corps-level, Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) consisting of

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8184-403: The Kitchener estate. The second Colonel-in-Chief was Prince George, Duke of Kent . The Duke of Kent held the position from 1938 until his death in 1942. The third and most recent Colonel-in-Chief was Queen Elizabeth II , who held the position from 1953 until her death in 2022. The Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers is allied with: The Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers has been granted

8316-610: The NRA having strength nearly equivalent to an allied division . The modern People's Liberation Army Ground Force group army ( 集团军 ) is the closest equivalent of a corps. After the military reforms of the early 2010s, a typical PLA group army consists of six combined arms brigades, plus additional artillery, air defence, engineering, sustainment, special operations and army aviation assets. Each formation contains approximately 30,000 combat troops and several thousands more supporting personnel. The French Army under Napoleon I used corps-sized formations ( French : corps d'armée ) as

8448-409: The NZEF historical photographs and designated these with serial numbers in the H series. He remained with the NZEF until January 1919, went back to England to be discharged on 8 March 1919. The British forces controlling Arras had decided to re-use the ancient underground quarries in the town to aid a planned offensive against the Germans, whose trenches ran through what are now the eastern suburbs of

8580-408: The New Zealand Tunnelling Company at Carrière Wellington. The Arras region is chalky and therefore easily excavated; under Arras itself is a vast network (called the boves ) of caverns, underground quarries, galleries and sewage tunnels. The engineers devised a plan to add new tunnels to this network so that troops could arrive at the battlefield in secrecy and in safety. The scale of this undertaking

8712-403: The New Zealand Tunnelling Company exchanged position with the 185th Tunnelling Company and moved to Roclincourt-Chantecler, a kilometre south of their old sector. On 7 April, the tunneling units of the German Army carried out their first underground offensive against the New Zealand Tunnelling Company. On 5 May, the New Zealanders responded by firing four mines under the German lines, which marked

8844-577: The Ronville quarries. Two weeks later, most of the work on the connection tunnels in the Ronville underground system was complete. On 24 January, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company began installing direction signs in the underground system. The next day, they started early works to organise a tramway line into the Ronville and Saint-Sauveur systems. By that time, the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers had constructed 20 kilometres of tunnels, graded as subways (foot traffic only), tramways (with rails for hand-drawn trolleys, for taking ammunition to

8976-443: The Soviet air defence corps were also created. In June–July 1960, all KPVO were enlarged and consisted of: anti-aircraft missile regiments and brigades, air defense fighter regiments, radio engineering regiments and brigades, separate electronic warfare battalions, regiments and battalions of communications and logistics institutions. In many English-speaking countries and other countries influenced by British military traditions,

9108-408: The UK, with the eventual formation of five Canadian divisions in England. I Canadian Corps eventually fought in Italy, II Canadian Corps in northwest Europe, and the two were reunited in early 1945. After the formations were disbanded after VE Day, Canada has never subsequently organized a corps headquarters. Royal Canadian Army Cadets : A corps size in the RCAC is different everywhere, depending on

9240-445: The advance of the 4th New Zealand Armoured Brigade . The 3rd New Zealand Division , which served in the Pacific , also contained three field companies, even though the division's third brigade was never fully formed. These units were generally engaged in the construction of infrastructure behind the front line, although they did support the landing at the Battle of the Green Islands where they suffered their only combat casualties of

9372-414: The army. Major General George B. McClellan , for example, planned to organize the Army of the Potomac into corps of two or more divisions and about 25,000 soldiers. However, he delayed doing so, partly for lack of experienced officers, and partly for political reasons, until March 1862 when President Lincoln ordered their creation. The exact composition of a corps in the Union Army varied during

9504-492: The assault. In the meantime, German sappers were actively conducting their own underground operations, seeking out Allied tunnels to assault and counter-mine . On 14–16 March 1917, the German withdrawal on the Hindenburg Line ( Siegfried Stellung ) made it impossible to attack from the Ronville system. Despite this setback, electricity was installed and tested in the whole system beneath Arras by 3 April 1917, ready for

9636-408: The battalion into an engineering unit, but this proved to be impractical due to a shortage of adequately educated Maori officers. Three entrenching battalions were also formed in February 1918 from the recently disbanded 4th Infantry Brigade . The entrenching battalions were a reserve manpower pool for the remaining infantry brigades, but also provided a general labour force to the engineers. During

9768-629: The brigade pattern were created in the Belorussian Military District (Western TVD/Strategic Direction) and the 48th Separate Guards Army Corps in the Transbaikal Military District , but abandoned after a few years. The Soviet Air Forces used ground terminology for its formations down to squadron level. As intermediates between the aviation division and the air army were corps—these also had three air divisions each. An Air Defence Corps ('KPVO')

9900-549: The construction and operation of railways in Egypt and Libya. In 1942 the New Zealand engineers laid 400 km of new track across the western desert in 265 days and operated the first train to cross the El Alamein line following the breakout. Three forestry companies were formed in 1940 and were sent to England to fell and mill timber. By September 1942 the output of the New Zealand Forestry group exceeded that of all

10032-730: The construction of a 240 foot bridge across the Canal du Nord . Signals units, which were part of the Corps of New Zealand Engineers at this time, were attached to most units of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. The Divisional Signal Company served with the New Zealand Infantry, while the mounted signal troop was assigned to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. The 1st ANZAC Wireless Signal Squadron also contained

10164-522: The control of the divisional CRE . A small number of field engineers also served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . These sappers served in D troop (later NZ troop) of the 1st Field Squadron of the Australian Engineers . As part of the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division , they initially provided an engineering capability to the 2nd Light Horse Brigade , but were later assigned to

10296-774: The conversion of the Volunteer force into the Territorial Force. The New Zealand Railway Corps and the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Corps were both formed as independent corps in October 1911, but were brought under the Corps of New Zealand Engineers umbrella in July 1913. The first units of the New Zealand Engineers to be sent overseas as part of the Samoa Expeditionary Force , including

10428-422: The corps stable belt , which is red with two blue stripes, and the corps flag, which is similarly coloured and embroidered with the corps badge. The Colonel-in-Chief is the ceremonial head and patron of the corps. The position was first held by Lord Kitchener , who served in the role from 1911 until his death in 1916. Kitchener was himself a former Royal Engineer and some of the RNZE regimental silver comes from

10560-556: The corps formed during World War I (I and III Corps) and World War II (XVIII Airborne Corps). On 12 February 2020, it was announced that the Army was reactivating V Corps to bolster the presence of US forces in Europe. The first field corps in the United States Army were legalized during the American Civil War by an act of Congress on 17 July 1862, although the term had been used previously to refer to any large portion of

10692-487: The corps. This meant that either civilian workers had to be hired or line soldiers detailed from their units to carry out the necessary tasks. Initially, corps were numbered in relation to their field army, such as I Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. After a while these numerical designations became unique to each corps regardless of the army to which they were assigned. Although designated with numbers that are sometimes

10824-540: The course of the war the New Zealand Engineers suffered around 400 fatalities. Two members of the corps, Cyril Bassett (Divisional Signal Company) and Samuel Forsyth (attached to 2nd Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment ) were awarded the Victoria Cross . Following the war the Corps of New Zealand Engineers was restructured. In 1921 the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Corps became a separate corps,

10956-408: The deployment of new drafts of tunnellers for several months after the formation of the first eight companies. The lack of suitably experienced men led to some tunnelling companies starting work later than others. The number of units available to the BEF was also restricted by the need to provide effective counter-measures to the German mining activities. To make the tunnels safer and quicker to deploy,

11088-471: The dry Canal du Nord . Now, under VI Corps Troops RE, the two companies (14 officers and 310 men in total) built a Hopkins steel bridge across the canal between Hermies and Havrincourt . This was the largest heavy steel bridge erected on the Western Front during the war, with a span of 180 feet (55 m) above a 100 feet (30 m) deep gap; in total the bridge was 240 feet (73 m) long, launched by rollers. It took 80 three-ton lorry loads to bring up

11220-409: The early 70s, but were later attached to 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment stationed in Singapore until 1989. The primary unit of the RNZE based in New Zealand during the 1950s was 1st Field Engineer Regiment which was to support the division sized 3rd New Zealand Expeditionary Force . With the end of compulsory military training in 1958 and the downsizing of the RNZE, the regiment

11352-524: The end of the Battle of Arras in May 1917, the unit focused mainly on creating deep dugouts beneath British trenches, which was continued into the winter months. On 5 November 1917, the unit witnessed the explosion of a damage ammunition stock at Wanquetin , some 7.5 miles (12.1 km) west of Arras. On 21 March 1918, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company was present at Arras during the large German spring offensive , and began work on trenches south-west of

11484-719: The eruption of the Philippine–American War ), and like the corps of the Civil War, their lineage ends at that point. During World War I, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) adopted the common European usage of designating field corps by Roman numerals . Several " corps areas " were designated under the authority of the National Defense Act of 1920 , but played little role until the Army's buildup for World War II. While some of

11616-457: The first New Zealand soldiers on the Western Front . Five days later they relieved the French 7/1 compagnie d'ingénieurs territoriaux in the "Labyrinth" sector of the Western Front between Roclincourt and Écurie in northern France. The German "Labyrinth" stronghold was located near Neuville-Saint-Vaast , between Arras and Vimy and not far from Notre Dame de Lorette . On 29 March 1916,

11748-542: The first formal combined-arms groupings of divisions with reasonably stable manning and equipment establishments. Napoleon I first used the corps d'armée in 1805. The use of the corps d'armée was a military innovation that provided Napoleon I with a significant battlefield advantage in the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars . The corps was designed to be an independent military group containing cavalry, artillery and infantry, and capable of defending against

11880-539: The first offensive underground action of the unit. During summer and much of autumn 1916, the unit further developed and expanded its mining to create an effective underground defence at Roclincourt-Chantecler. The unit seems to have shared the Neuville-Saint-Vaast sector with the 176th Tunnelling Company , which had moved to Neuville-Saint-Vaast in April 1916 and remained there for a considerable time, and

12012-649: The first tunnelling companies formed under Norton-Griffiths' command led to mining being made a separate branch of the Engineer-in-Chief's office under Major-General S.R. Rice , and the appointment of an 'Inspector of Mines' at the GHQ Saint-Omer office of the Engineer-in-Chief. A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from Welsh miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment , who were attached to

12144-856: The hat badge and lanyard of their corps (e.g. a clerk posted to an infantry battalion would wear the hat badge of the Royal Australian Ordnance Corps but would wear the lanyard of the battalion they are posted to). In Canada , with the integration of the Canadian Army into the Canadian Forces , the British corps model was replaced with personnel branches , defined in Canadian Forces Administrative Orders (CFAOs) as "...cohesive professional groups...based on similarity of military roles, customs and traditions." CFAO 2-10) However,

12276-496: The individual quarries after their home towns ( Auckland , Wellington , Nelson , Blenheim , Christchurch , Russell and Dunedin for the New Zealanders, and Glasgow , Edinburgh , Crewe and London for the Britons). Assault tunnels were also dug, stopping a few metres short of the German line, ready to be blown open by explosives on the first day of the battle . On 4 January 1917, the unit started putting in electricity in

12408-462: The large scale of combat, multiple corps were combined into armies which then formed into army groups . In Western armies with numbered corps, the number is often indicated in Roman numerals (e.g., VII Corps ). The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was raised in 1914, consisting of Australian and New Zealand troops, who went on to fight at Gallipoli in 1915. In early 1916, the original corps

12540-405: The line and bringing casualties back from it) and railways (a light railway system). The tunnel system could accommodate 24,000 men and was equipped with running water, electric light, kitchens, latrines, a small power station and a medical centre with a fully equipped operating theatre. In addition to this, conventional mines were laid under the front lines, ready to be blown immediately before

12672-416: The lower numbered corps were used for various exercises, the inter-war years corps served mostly as a pool of units. During that war, the Marine Corps organized corps headquarters for the first time, the I Marine (later III Amphibious Corps ) and V Amphibious Corps . The Army ultimately designated 25 field corps (I–XVI, XVIII–XXIV, XXXVI, and I Armored Corps ) during World War II. After the Korean War ,

12804-506: The material, and the total time to unload and erect the bridge was 104 hours. It was opened for traffic on 2 October and completed on 5 October. In the autumn of 1918, the unit constructed further military bridges that allowed the Allied troops to cross three main river obstacles: the Canal de l'Escaut , crossing Cambrai and going to the Canal de Saint-Quentin on the south, the Selle and

12936-752: The military component of the armed constabulary was converted into the Permanent Militia, establishing the first New Zealand regular military force. The Permanent Militia was much smaller than the Volunteer Force and in 1888 consisted of only two companies: the Permanent Artillery and the Torpedo Corps. The Torpedo Corps became the Submarine Mining Branch in 1896 and then No. 2 Service Company in 1897. It

13068-562: The mining specialist John Norton-Griffiths , the War Office formally approved the tunnelling company scheme on 19 February 1915. Norton-Griffiths ensured that tunnelling companies numbers 170 to 177 were ready for deployment in mid-February 1915. In the spring of that year, there was constant underground fighting in the Ypres Salient at Hooge , Hill 60 , Railway Wood , Sanctuary Wood , St Eloi and The Bluff which required

13200-593: The motto, "inga whai katoa", on their collar badges. The grenade badge has nine flames, in contrast to the very similar seven flame badge of the Royal New Zealand Artillery . The corps colours are purple navy and post office red which were reputedly the colours of the Board of Ordnance . They are also interpreted as representing the blue tunics worn by the Royal Engineers prior to 1813 and the red tunics which replaced them. The colours are reflected in

13332-577: The numbers stated by the US Department of Defense. Within military terminology a corps may be: These usages often overlap. Corps may also be a generic term for a non-military organization , such as the US Peace Corps and European Solidarity Corps . In many armies, a corps is a battlefield formation composed of two or more divisions , and typically commanded by a lieutenant general . During World War I and World War II , due to

13464-424: The other forestry groups (British, Canadian and Australian) combined. Two of the forestry companies were disbanded in 1943 and the remaining one was sent to Algeria and then Italy, before also being disbanded in 1944. The 2nd New Zealand Division was deployed to Italy in 1943 and the new environment required the field companies to take on a new role as bridge builders. The New Zealand Engineers were soon proficient in

13596-480: The personnel of the New Zealand Engineers to it. This proposal was, however, rejected by the Army Board who determined that the RNZE had indeed been disbanded. The New Zealand Engineers were therefore granted the royal title on 12 July 1947, but due to a clerical error were listed by the abbreviated name, "New Zealand Engineers" (omitting "Corps of"), and subsequently became the Royal New Zealand Engineers. The error

13728-503: The place of the corps before and during World War II . An example would be Independent Operational Group Polesie . The groups, as the name indicates, were more flexible and showed greater capacity to absorb and integrate elements of broken units over a period of just a couple days and keep cohesion during the September Campaign than more traditional army units such as divisions, regiments, or even brigades. Wellington formed

13860-487: The provincial reconstruction team did not have any construction capability and only oversaw work by contractors from other governments and agencies. The provincial reconstruction team was withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2013. Although New Zealand did not join the American-led coalition which invaded Iraq in 2003, RNZE sappers were deployed to Iraq in 2004 to provide humanitarian and reconstruction support. A RNZE troop

13992-501: The rapid construction of both pontoon bridges and modular Bailey bridges . The construction of these bridges was critical to the advance of allied forces and instrumental in the crossing of major rivers such as the Sangro , Senio , Santerno and Po . In March 1945 an armoured engineer squadron was also formed. The squadron was equipped with a range of specially modified Sherman and Valentine tanks used for bridge laying and supported

14124-466: The rest of the corps were disbanded. In July 1947, all KPVO were renamed anti-aircraft artillery corps. In January 1949, part of these corps was reorganized into air defence areas. From December 1948 to January 1949, all anti-aircraft artillery corps were disbanded. In June 1954, for the defense of the main industrial and economic centers and regions of the USSR, 10 air defence corps were re-created. At

14256-905: The same as those found in the modern US Army, there is no direct lineage between the 43 Union field corps of the Civil War and those with similar names in the modern era, due to congressional legislation caused by the outcry from veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Spanish–American War . In the Confederate States Army , field corps were authorized in November 1862. They were commanded by lieutenant generals, and were usually larger than their Union Army counterparts because their divisions contained more brigades, each of which could contain more regiments. All of

14388-458: The same time, in addition to anti-aircraft artillery formations, fighter aviation regiments and divisions were included in the corps. Since the late 1950s, anti-aircraft artillery units have been replaced by anti-aircraft missile formations and formations of radio engineering troops. Searchlight and barrage balloon units were also abolished. In the Warsaw Pact countries, groupings similar to

14520-418: The secondary role of sappers is to act as infantry. To fulfil these duties the corps is equipped with a variety of engineering vehicles. At total of six JCB High Mobility Engineer Excavators have been acquired by the New Zealand Army, which include and armoured cab, enabling the corps to clear roads and obstacles in a combat environment. Bridging can be achieved using the rapidly emplaced bridging system which

14652-412: The senior-most artillery officer. In general, the other field armies tended to model their organization after the Army of the Potomac, including the gradual development of corps. Corps were commanded by major generals because Congress refused to promote officers past that grade (with the exception of Ulysses S. Grant to lieutenant general in 1864). To assist with their command, generals were allowed

14784-473: The size. The commanding officer can be a captain (Previously, Commanding Officers of a large corps could have been a Major, but that capability has been removed with the creation of CJCR Group Order 5511-1) The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) corps ( 軍團 ) was a type of military organization used by the Chinese Republic , and usually exercised command over two to three NRA divisions and often

14916-399: The start of the Battle of Arras on 9 April. On the first day of the battle , the New Zealand Tunnelling Company opened three tunnels located at the end of Saint-Sauveur system, allowing infantrymen to appear suddenly in the German trenches. Owing to the German withdrawal from their front line south-east of Arras, the unit also fired the only mine that was used on the Arras front on 9 April. It

15048-466: The town. From May to July, the unit returned to constructing underground shelters beneath the British trenches. The unit stayed in Arras until 14 July. On 15 July 1918, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company arrived at Marieux on the Somme , where it began constructing dug-outs beneath the British trenches. On 20 August, the unit ended its underground works in the sector. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company

15180-470: The town. The underground quarries were to be linked up by tunnels so that they could be used both as shelters from the incessant German shelling and as a means of conveying troops to the front in secrecy and safety. From October 1916, the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers had been constructing tunnels for the troops, including Carrière Wellington , a former underground quarry in Ronville near Arras . The New Zealand Tunnelling Company had carried out

15312-482: The war, the tank and mechanized corps were re-rated as divisions. During the reforms of 1956–58, most of the corps were again disbanded to create the new combined arms and tank armies. A few corps were nevertheless retained. The Vyborg and Archangel Corps of the Leningrad Military District were smaller armies with three low-readiness motorized rifle divisions each. In the 1980s "Unified Corps" on

15444-413: The war, though it usually consisted of between two and six division (on average three) for approximately 36,000 soldiers. After Ambrose Burnside was given command of the Army of the Potomac in November 1862, he reorganized it into three "grand divisions" of two corps and a cavalry division each, but this structure was abolished when Joseph Hooker took over February 1863. This also led to the creation of

15576-616: The war. A small number of officers were also seconded to the British Indian Army and took part in the Burma Campaign . A large number of engineering units were formed in New Zealand to defend against a potential Japanese invasion. A total of 13 companies were formed and attached to the 1st , 4th and 5th divisions . A further 19 companies were formed by mobilising the Public Works Department as

15708-610: Was also formed, with Militia units, to defend south-eastern Australia, and III Corps controlled land forces in Western Australia . Sub-corps formations controlled Allied land forces in the remainder of Australia. I Corps headquarters was later assigned control of the New Guinea campaign . In early 1945, when I Corps was assigned the task of re-taking Borneo , II Corps took over in New Guinea. Canada first fielded

15840-574: Was apparently unable to handle the formations, and the armies and corps were integrated. Rifle corps were re-established during the war after Red Army commanders had gained experience handling larger formations. Before and during World War II, however, Soviet armoured units were organized into corps. The pre-war mechanized corps were made up of divisions. In the reorganizations, these "corps" were reorganized into tank brigades and support units, with no division structure. Owing to this, they are sometimes, informally, referred to as "brigade buckets". After

15972-524: Was attached to 38th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers and repaired bridges, schools and water treatment plants in Basra . Over the last three decades RNZE sappers have deployed to a large number of pacific island nations, including the Cook Islands , Fiji , Samoa , Tonga and Vanuatu , to support disaster relief following cyclones . Additionally, the corps deployed to Tuvalu and Tokelau during

16104-459: Was converted to light infantry , but the engineers continue to have access to engineering NZLAVs when necessary. The Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers currently consists of a single regiment, 2nd Engineer Regiment, based at Linton Military Camp and contains both regular and reserve components. It is organised as follows: 2nd Engineer Regiment The 2nd Field, and 3rd Field and Emergency Response Squadrons provide combat engineering support to

16236-475: Was disbanded in 1962. The RNZE were organised as independent squadrons until the formation of 2nd Engineer Regiment in 1993. Since the 1980s the RNZE has been primarily deployed on peace keeping and disaster relief missions. An engineer section was attached to the New Zealand company group deployed to Bosnia to quell ethnic conflict from 1994 till 1996. The engineers continued to be deployed to Bosnia until as late as 2001 to support reconstruction. In response to

16368-416: Was enormous: in one sector alone four Tunnelling Companies (of 500 men each) worked around the clock in 18-hour shifts for two months. The work was difficult and dangerous. In the New Zealand Tunnelling Company alone, 41 tunnellers died and another 151 were injured during counter-mining operations against the Germans, whose own tunnellers sought to disrupt the Allied tunneling operations. The tunnellers named

16500-634: Was finally retitled as the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers on 7 January 1903 (backdated to 15 October 1902). This first rendition of the Royal New Zealand Engineers was short-lived and on 26 March 1908 the engineers were absorbed into the Electric light section of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. The New Zealand Engineer Volunteers continued to exist until 5 October 1911 when they became the Corps of New Zealand Engineers as part of

16632-542: Was located to the north-east at Blagny , and was a 1,000-kilogram (2,200 lb) charge, blown by the New Zealand Tunnelling Company at zero, 5.30 a.m. It destroyed two German dugouts, 46 metres (50 yd) of trench and a concrete pillbox. However, it also stunned and apparently buried some members of the 13th Royal Scots and impeded their assault temporarily. On 5 May 1917, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company began early development of tunnels beneath German trenches located between Gavrelle and Roeux east of Arras. After

16764-463: Was next involved in the Battle of Havrincourt , opening on 12 September 1918, which began the German retreat back to the Belgian border. On 27 September the company was joined by 565th (Wiltshire) Army Troops Company, RE , recruited from railwaymen and specially trained in building heavy bridges. This company had already suffered severe casualties building a ramp down the face of a retaining wall into

16896-594: Was originally granted to the Royal Engineers in 1832 and later adopted by the New Zealand Engineers. The badge of the New Zealand Engineers was a simple circle bearing the acronym "NZE" and the motto "quo fas et gloria ducunt", surmounted by the Royal crest . After attaining royal status in 1947 a cap badge identical to that of the Royal Engineers was adopted, except with the scroll inscribed with "Royal N.Z. Engineers" in place of "Royal Engineers". The badge contains

17028-509: Was rectified in 1953 and the formal name was changed to the Corps of Royal New Zealand Engineers. Throughout the cold war the RNZE were deployed overseas alongside New Zealand and other Commonwealth forces. A company of engineers served with Jayforce as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force of Japan and during the Korean War an engineer section was attached to the 28th Engineer Regiment of

17160-561: Was reorganized and two corps were raised: I ANZAC Corps and II ANZAC Corps . In the later stages of World War I, the five infantry divisions of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF)—consisting entirely of personnel who had volunteered for service overseas—were united as the Australian Corps , on the Western Front , under Lieutenant General Sir John Monash . During World War II,

17292-556: Was revisited by the colonial forces with the formation of the Volunteer Force in 1865. By the 1880s there were five volunteer engineer corps, including a torpedo corps ("torpedo" referred to undersea mines at this time). The engineers were disbanded in 1883, as adequate training could not be provided, but the Russian Scare of 1885 placed a new emphasis on costal fortifications and the engineer corps were revived. In 1887

17424-413: Was used almost in all European armies after Battle of Ulm in 1805. In Prussia it was introduced by Order of His Majesty ( German : Allerhöchste Kabinetts-Order ) from 5 November 1816, in order to strengthen the readiness to war. The Indian Army has 14 corps , each commanded by a general officer commanding (GOC), known as the corps commander, who holds the rank of lieutenant general . Each corps

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