Pioneer (German military)

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The pioneers were the most demanding troops in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War because of the versatility of their skills and the resulting operational possibilities. They were called upon when bodies of water had to be overcome, be it by building or repairing bridges, pontoon bridges or jetties or with assault boats, when roads had to be made passable, when mines had to be cleared, when barriers of some kind had to be removed, when booby traps had to be removed, if blockages of any kind had to be removed or the blowing up of bridges had to be prevented. They were needed to take out bunkers and all kinds of field fortifications. They could also be used as infantry in crisis situations. In the second half of the war, the percentage of infantry operations increased. The infantry pioneers in particular were increasingly used for combat tasks. The regimental pioneer platoon of the grenadier regiments was often the last reserve available and was increasingly used as a “fire brigade”.

A pioneer (German: Pionier) is a soldier employed to perform engineering and construction tasks. The armies of ancient Rome already had specialized soldiers, skilled craftsmen known as fabri. The armies of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation knew pioneers or rather their role models since c. the end of the 15th century. The pioneer troop developed from three historical predecessors: the Sappeur (who built trenches and other types of cover), the Mineur (who handled explosives and mines) and the Pontonier (who built bridges).

Pioneer (known as Schneller) of the Landsknechte

History

Prussian (left) and Austrian Mineur and Sappeur soldiers
Book on uniforms and equipment

The first engineers, by today’s standards, were trained and employed as entrenchment builders in France and Germany from around 1500. The pioneers of the Landsknechte, German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period, served as carpenters, blacksmiths, wagonmen, bridge builders, entrenchment builders, gun barrel loaders, and so on. The Army of the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsarmee) as well as the Imperial Army (Kaiserliche Armee) used pioneers against the invading Turks, e.g. during the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and the Siege of Belgrade under Prince Eugene of Savoy (de) in 1717.

In the Prussian Army, the term Pionier, or pioneer, first appeared in the Regiment Pionniers. By royal decree, this regiment was formed on 8 January 1742 by Major General Gerhard Cornelius von Walrawe (1692–1773), King Frederick the Great’s master military architect.

The term Pionier in its modern military sense of combat engineer was used for the first time in 1810. At the suggestion of Lieutenant General Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst, the already existing Mineur and Pontonier companies were combined to form a corps of pioneers, or combat engineers. Due to the rapid pace of technological development, engineering equipment was continuously updated. At the same time, the personnel strength of the combat engineer force continued to increase, and from 1860, it had its own combat engineer battalions and colours.

As part of the reorganization of the Prussian military after the Peace of 1807, the reformer, Lieutenant Colonel August Wilhelm Anton Neidhardt von Gneisenau, was commissioned in 1809 to combine the previously independent Mineur, Pionier and Pontonier Corps as well as the fortress building masters (Festungsbaumeister) into an engineering corps (Ingenieurkorps). Between 1807 and 1914, 28 pioneer battalions were set up in the Prussian and German Imperial Army.

Advances in technology gave rise to new technical pioneering formations:

  • In 1830 ,the telegraph troop, from which a separate branch of troops, the later intelligence troop, emerged in 1899.
  • 1866 the railway pioneers
  • 1870 the airship troop (Luftschiffertruppe)

Other German armies also developed their own pioneer troops. The Army of Württemberg established the Sappeur-Kompanie on 1 May 1817. This company would become the basis of a Pioneer Corps serving the kingdom, the German Confederation and later the German Empire. On 1 October 1848, the Royal Saxon Army established the Pionier and Pontonierr units (two companies) which would become a battalion on 1 April 1867. The Electoral Saxon Army already had Pontonier troops in the 17th century. In 1899, it was renamed Königlich Sächsisches 1. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 12. The Hesse-Kassel Army, the Royal Bavarian Army (the Electoral Bavarian Army already had Mineur troops in the 17th century) and others also had pioneer troops.

In 1859, before the army reform, the pioneers consisted of a guard battalion (Garde-Pionier-Bataillon) and eight pioneer battalion with a total of 2,500 men. On 18 December 1872, as part of the reorganization of the German Army due to insights from the German-Franco War, the pioneer troops of Baden, Württemberg, Saxony and Bavaria were transferred to Prussian structures. According to the military convention with the North German Confederation of 21/25 November 1870, Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony had their own war ministry and general staff and were not incorporated into the Prussian Army.

Mineur

A Mineur was a pioneer soldier who had the task of digging a tunnel under the walls of the besieged fortress in order to use a large explosive charge to collapse the fortress walls or to provide unnoticed access for a possible surprise attack. Before the military branches were uniformed in modern armies, mountain miners in particular were recruited as Mineure in times of war. Counter-miners (Contre-Mineure) tried to repel the miners' attack through targeted counterwork.

Austria

The pioneer troops of the Common Army (Gemeinsame Armee) were created in 1893 by merging the pioneer regiment set up in 1867 with the two k. k. genius regiments (Genietruppe was another term for Ingenieurtruppe) that had already been formed in 1851. However, the engineer troop's origins go back to the 18th century. From 1758 to 1801, the pioneers were only formed during wartime. In 1805, during the Coalition Wars, the pioneer corps was set up with a strength of three battalions, only to be disbanded the following year and reorganized as a pioneer division in 1806. In 1843, the pontoon battalion, established in 1767, was incorporated into the pioneers. On 1 February 1867, this troop became the k. k. Pioneer Regiment, after the equalization from 15 March 1867, the k. u. k. Pioneer Regiment.

The engineer corps, on the other hand, emerged from the mine corps, which was established in 1716 and was initially subordinate to the artillery, and the sapper corps, which was set up in 1760. In 1772, the miners were united with the engineer and sapper corps and in 1851 the two engineer regiments were established from this force. Four years later, the two regiments became the independent engineer battalions 1 to 12, which existed until 1860. In 1860, the battalions were disbanded again and two regiments were formed again. The regimental owner (Regimentsinhaber) of the 1st Engineer Regiment was Emperor Franz Joseph I from 1862 to 1893, while Archduke Leopold of Austria was the regimental owner of the 2nd Engineer Regiment for the same period.

World Wars

A Pionier from Sturm-Bataillon Nr. 5 in typical Stormtrooper uniform (tin figure)
SS-Verfügungstruppe Pioneer collar tabs

WWI

1914, still in a state of peace, 28 of 35 German pioneer battalions were Prussian. After mobilization in 1914, the pioneer troops of the German Army had 218 pioneer companies and 106 bridge trains with a total strength of 80,000 men. By 1918, a further 431 engineer companies and 46 bridge trains were put into service.

Structure
Imperial German Army pioneers (Pioniere) were regarded as a separate combat arm trained in construction and the demolition of fortifications, but they were often used as specialist infantry, serving the role of combat engineers. One battalion was assigned to each Corps.
  • The Guard Pioneer Battalion 1. (6 companies, each with 20 large and 18 small flame-throwers)
  • The Guard Pioneer Battalion 2.
  • The Guard Pioneer Battalion 3.
  • The Guard Reserve Pioneer Battalion – created from reservists who had been civilian firemen, the battalion was issued with experimental flame-throwers
  • 1st Bavarian Pioneer Battalion, First Bavarian Division (12 destruction squads)
  • 2nd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion
Prussian Army pioneer battalions:
  • 1 Prussian Pioneer Battalion of the Guards – 3 Field companies, one Reserve company
  • 12 Prussian Pioneer Battalions of the Line (18 officers, 495 men and 6 other people)
    • 2nd Pioneer Battalion at Stettin
    • 4th Pioneer Battalion at Magdeburg
  • Saxon Pioneer Battalion

WWII

German paratroopers from the Parachute Pioneer Platoon of the Assault Group “Granit” (Fallschirm-Pionierzug der Sturmgruppe „Granit“) after their victory of the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael 1940 (Sturm auf die Festung Eben-Emael in German)
Spanish Pioniere of the Wehrmacht's Blue Division navigate a river on an inflatable in late 1942 /early 1943

The pioneer troops were considered a branch of the Wehrmacht's fighting troops. During the Second World War, their importance within the Wehrmacht increased further due to motorization and Blitzkrieg strategy. During the war, the pioneer troops were significantly strengthened overall and special units were set up. In principle, each division had one engineer battalion and one bridge engineer battalion subordinate to it.

  • Infantry pioneers - as sub-units, they supported the infantry directly at regimental level in building field positions, with mine barriers in defense and in attack by clearing enemy wire and mine barriers,
  • Storm/assault pioneers - as independent units with a combat mission, especially against enemy fortifications and in local and urban warfare
  • Mountain pioneers - as independent associations, the mountain soldiers support the fight in and around field positions in the mountains and high mountains, also by setting up mountain cable cars for supply and in the construction of field positions in the mountains,
  • Parachute pioneers - structured as independent units and associations similar to the assault pioneers, supported the German paratroopers of the Luftwaffe,
  • Panzer pioneers - supported the tank and armored infantry troops,
  • Bridge construction pioneers with bridge construction crews for the construction of war and pontoon bridges,
  • Railway pioneers - served to restore and commission railway systems in the area near the front,
  • Fortress pioneers - have served as independent associations since the First World War to build expanded (concrete) field fortifications and fortifications
  • the Kriegsmarine had its own naval pioneers to repair port facilities,
  • The Luftwaffe has its own pioneering technical forces for the repair of runways.
Structure
German Army Pionier battalions:

Bundeswehr

Pionier of the Bundeswehr

The Bundeswehr’s combat engineers, also known as Pioniere, support its own troops in operations at home and abroad with soldiers trained in construction and technology and through the use of special vehicles, machines, equipment and tools. At the head of the military branch is the General of the Pioneer Troops or General der Pioniertruppe, a title/position, not a rank. He is also the commander of the Army's Pioneer School and Technical School for Construction Technology, the central training facility for all pioneers in the Bundeswehr.

Pioneers are trained to search for and identify mines, booby traps and munitions on land and in inland waters. Specially trained soldiers from the pioneer troops and pioneer divers are able to neutralize or clear identified dangers. Pioneers improve the protection of their own troops and thereby increase their survivability. In built-up areas, the pioneers repair infrastructure, strengthen and fortify military facilities through structural measures. In undeveloped areas, they build field fortifications and cover to protect soldiers and military vehicles. This is about protection from shallow and steep fire, assassins as well as protection from direct attacks.

Thanks to the diversity in training and equipment, the pioneers are particularly able to meet the special challenges of modern, mostly multinational operations. The pioneers of the Bundeswehr have already proven their skills in numerous foreign and domestic disaster operations.

The tasks of the infantry pioneers are now carried out by Panzer pioneers, as well as by the infantry itself (extended infantry training). Luftwaffe engineers are tasked with repairing or building runways. They are part of the Object Protection Regiment of the German Air Force. The German Navy previously had its own engineer forces and was part of the Navy's amphibious group. The task was to create the structural requirements for landing operations.

Luftlandepioniere

Luftlandepioniere are airborne pioneer troops. There are currently two companies in the German Army: the airborne pioneer companies 260 in Saarlouis and 270 in Seedorf. Due to their equipment, both are able to provide direct engineer support for airborne units. In the Bundeswehr, the airborne pioneers, subordinate to the Rapid Forces Division, wear the wine red beret of the Fallschirmjäger with the plunging eagle.

In the picture a group of pioneers of the NVA lined up in front of the MTLB combat vehicle. This was equipped with a container for use in the pioneer troops, in which explosives and other engineer equipment were transported. In addition to the group leader (noncommissioned officer), the pioneer group also includes 5 to 6 pioneers and the MTLB driver (also noncommissioned officer).

National People's Army (NVA)

The army of East Germany had unarmed construction pioneers (Baupioniere were established in 1964) and conventional armed pioneers.

The land forces initially received four construction pioneer battalions, while the air force and navy received one each. They offered space for 256 unarmed military servicemen. The remaining members were regular soldiers of the pioneer troops. However, the company teams consisted either entirely of unarmed construction pioneers or of conventional armed pioneers. Until 1973, these units were also used to build military facilities. Later, at least the conscientious objectors were given comparatively “civilian” tasks in military facilities as gardeners, nurses in military hospitals or kitchen helpers.

Shortly after the construction units were founded, the need for this type of workforce grew rapidly. In 1966, four more battalions were formed. However, no conscientious objectors served in these units. Rather, they worked partly in secrecy on the construction of missile sites for the Soviet Red Army and on the heavily bunkered headquarters of the People's Navy (Volksmarine) near Rostock. On 1 December 1975, five new construction battalions were formed, including Pioneer Construction Battalion 22, which worked on almost all major construction sites in East Berlin in the following years.

Two battalions were permanently assigned to the Leuna, Buna and Bitterfeld chemical combines. In 1978, Waldemar Seifert became the new head of construction pioneering in the NVA. Under him, all construction units were again increasingly entrusted with the construction of military facilities, and work in the manufacturing industry fell significantly. The units were also assigned reservists and practiced building barriers and bridges in the event of war.

Shortly before the end of the GDR, there were eight construction regiments and ten heavy battalions. With the increasing economic crisis, from 1988 onwards, all soldiers in their third year of service had to work for the civilian economy. In 1989, shortly before the German reunification, around 10,000 soldiers were deployed in this way.

General der Pioniere (rank and position)

Main article: General der Pioniere

Quotes

  • Nowadays, the Bundeswehr no longer uses pioneers as regular infantry. But we, the Wehrmacht Pioniere, were used as assault groups because we knew how to handle explosives, could destroy obstacles, break through a corridor, and then rush into the trenches with flamethrowers and hand grenades. – Oberst a. D. Eberhard Heder

Further reading

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