Thanks to the Depression Era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), when the US had to mobilize for WW2, there were already a considerable number of men who had experience in engineering to some degree or another. These men were also used to a quasi-military life style as it was the Army Corps of Engineers who were then, as they are now, in charge of large engineering projects.

Though many of these men has served with the CCC, they still went through basic and advanced training with the raw recruits. It was after this training that they were promoted a bit more quickly and put in charge of small groups and even larger units as NCOs. It was their previous training that was highly sought and many a 2nd Lt sought their advice on how to go about organizing the unit and taking care of mission objectives.

American combat engineers did all the same things that the German Sturmpioneers did. They built roads, set up temporary wooden bridges to replace those that were damaged or provided pontoon bridges when none were available. They set up demolition charges to take out obstacles and provided mine defusing and destruction to help pave the way clear in mine fields. They also helped to set up tactical ground works for defensive positions and provided emplacements for artillery.

However, there was one major difference. The US combat engineers were highly mechanized. They had access to equipment that the Germans could only dream about. Bulldozers, cranes, rock crushers, dump trucks and a myriad of other vehicles were available and used.

 In this book on combat engineers, author Gordon Rottman adds to his long list of Osprey titles, covering a brief chronology of the CCC, and the expansion of the combat engineer corps. This is followed by the concept of the group, its role in the area and the training of the men in the unit. This is followed by a section on recruitment and the equipment used by these men. The bulk of the book is on life in the field as well as some of the battles that the unit was involved in. Strictly speaking, combat engineers were not combat units, but there were times when they were called into helping defend an area. All of this is superbly illustrated by Adam Hook and an excellent collection of period photographs.

In all, another excellent book on one of the more interesting units of WWII.

July 2010

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