One of the most important groups of soldiers to an advancing army is the combat engineer. These men are called upon to repair roads, build bridges, construct defensive positions, ferry troops and equipment across rivers where quick bridges are not able to be constructed and many more engineering  tasks. These men are also supposed to clear obstacles including bunkers and machine gun nests, often when they are occupied by the enemy. For these tasks, they use smoke grenades, explosives, and flame throwers to remove or kill the occupants.

Perhaps unlike Allied troops who performed these tasks, the Pioneers received very little specialty training before being assigned to a unit. Most if not all of their tasks were learned in the field. It also helped that these men were generally ones whose civilian occupation involved construction and other civil engineering tasks. What makes their building abilities so amazing, is that they did this all without the assistance of mechanized construction equipment, using the materials that were on hand or brought with them.

In this book on German Pioneers,  author Gordon Rottman covers a brief chronology on what it was like to be a young man in Hitler's Germany, followed by a section on recruitment and organization. We then get to look at how their training was conducted and then it is on to life within the unit. The unit's motivation and morale is next as well as how they were equipped. We then get to see how they operated while on campaign and the book contains some specific examples during different parts of the war. All of this is superbly illustrated by Carlos Chagas and an excellent collection of period photographs, some of them in full color.

In all, another excellent book on some of the less exciting, but very necessary components of warfare.

May 2010

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