Combat Engineering
25 CS Gp Minewarfare Symposium 3 March 2026
Maj Gen Carew Wilks CB CBE FIET FInstRE and Col (Retd) Don Bigger
REWW – Combat Engineer & Assault Pioneer Symposium – March 2022, Gibraltar Barracks.
Content, Lessons and Links
|
Mobility, Counter-Mobility and Survivability |
|||
|
Mobility
|
|
||
|
Counter-Mobility
|
|||
|
Survivability
|
|||
|
MOBILITY – Members only Video 0:00 – 1:03 hrs Bridging, Scatmin and Op Cabrit 8
|
|||
|
Tyro GSB – Overview, Current Capability |
|
Modular Gap Crossing – Overview and Trials |
|
|
Op Cabrit 8 |
Lessons learnt – Terrain |
Lessons Learnt – Tools |
Scatmin – Detection and Clearance
|
|
|
 |
|
|
COUNTER-MOBILITY – Members only video 1:04 – 2:51 Hrs
|
||
|
|
||
|
Railways and restricting movement. Damage the rails or damage the ground? Impact and approaches. Use of Demolitions and shaped charges |
Constructing Non-explosive barriers using CPTK. Pitfalls, problems and potential. |
Op Pitting – Adhoc and planned barriers. Managing a populace. |
|
|
|
|
“Cities are best conceptualised as ecosystems, and the implications of that for a more systemic and dynamic IPE which (for example) models the impact of interruptions to infrastructure and systems ‘flowing into’ the city…..Small teams can have an asymmetric impact in even a large city potentially without even entering the city – if the IPE modelling has identified critical nodes in critical systems.” David Kilcullen.
The WW2 St Nazaire Operation proved the benefits of targeted, relatively small scale attacks, and the greatest impact.
|
SURVIVABILITY – Members only video 2:51 – 3:57 hrs Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a definition of the requirements to enable development of a human being. If a force is to achieve its purpose the very first level of need is Physiological: food, drink, shelter and sleep are needed before anything else is achieved. A force that isn’t afforded this basic starting structure is doomed to failure. CWSS capabilities, productivity, pitfalls and potential. Come-back Cuplock.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Combat Water |
Askari |
Combat |
Expeditionary |
 |
|
|
|
Non-Equipment Bridging
From The Hellespont to Bluff Cove
Learning from Non-Equipment Bridging of the Past
SERGEANT C D CARR MInstRE
On 18 October 1914, the War Office received a dispatch containing the following:
During the night of the 13th and on the 14th and following days the Field Companies were incessantly at work night and day. Eight pontoon bridges and one foot bridge were thrown across the river [Aisne] under generally very heavy artillery fire, which was incessantly kept up on to most of the crossings after completion. Three of the road bridges, i.e., Venizel, Missy and Vailly, and the railway bridge east of Vailly were temporarily repaired so as to take foot traffic and the Villers Bridge made fit to carry weights up to six tons.
Do you have expertise in Combat Engineering that you’d like to share?
If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you!
Latest News
Buildforce – Military Skills and Professional Construction Careers
Articles
Leadership event March 2026
What we are looking for?
We are looking to hear from any who has any expertise or information on:
- History.
- In service experience.
- Potential developments.
How you can help
We want to hear your ideas and content that would be useful to feature on our website that will benefit the orgnisation.
If you have any experiences we want to hear from you.
Any write up of your experience and what you learn, along with any supporting images would be very helpful.
You can submit this via the button below.
SUBMIT HEREHelp us further the work of InstRE
Suggest events or resources that would help us build up our knowledge centre.
