Posted on Mar 8, 2020
Where does "Sapper" comes from? Combat Engineer History
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Combat Engineer
21B: Combat Engineer
Military History
Warfare
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 6
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As a retired Combat Engineer, this warmed my heart.
I've always heard a different source of the term- Medieval "sappers" used undermining and other methods to slowly break down castle walls and defenses, "sapping" the strength from the defense.
Trivia question- What was the "sappers battle"?
Stalingrad. The German assault forces were 50% infantry and 50% "pioneeren" (German combat engineers), the engineers blowing holes in walls, tunneling under streets, blowing floors and ceilings in apartments to move up and down apartment blocks without using stairwells, etc.
I've always heard a different source of the term- Medieval "sappers" used undermining and other methods to slowly break down castle walls and defenses, "sapping" the strength from the defense.
Trivia question- What was the "sappers battle"?
Stalingrad. The German assault forces were 50% infantry and 50% "pioneeren" (German combat engineers), the engineers blowing holes in walls, tunneling under streets, blowing floors and ceilings in apartments to move up and down apartment blocks without using stairwells, etc.
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WOW!, I always thought that Combat Engineers just blew things up, just to build it again. Lol
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SGT (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) - At Bragg, training to blow holes in roadways, blowing trees to block roads, and blowing small wooden bridges, I would do the blowing up, and the Combat Engineer trainees would replace the bridge and repair the roadways. Lol
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SFC (Join to see)
SGT (Join to see) We used to salvage sections of metal from boneyards in Germany to practice steel cutting charges. God they were some good days. :)
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SGT (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) - Ah, yes, I remember the Cheat Card specs for cutting steel, and placement of the charges, and how much C-4 to use.
Yes, the good days, and using C-4 to heat up our C-Rats.
Yes, the good days, and using C-4 to heat up our C-Rats.
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