Also known as "Combat Engineer Battalions", they were typically divided into four companies: A, B, C, and Headquarters and Service (H&S).[1]: Chapter 5
Best known for pontoon bridge construction and clearing hazards in amphibious landings, their duties also included serving as sappers 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 when required, they were armed with .30 cal. and .50 cal. machine guns, bazookas and grenade launchers.[1]
Combat engineers played important roles in numerous World War II battles, especially breaching the heavily fortified Siegfried Line protecting the German border and numerous defensive lines established by the WehrmachtinItaly, including the Gustav Line. Among the most familiar for their heroism and contributions to establishing key bridgeheads in Europe was at the Ludendorff Bridge 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[2] and recovery of stolen art and treasure subsequently returned to its original owners by the Monuments Men.[2]
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.[3][4]
^Obmascik, Mark (9 April 2019). The Storm on Our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War II. Simon and Schuster. ISBN978-1451678376.
