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ORGANISATIONAL AND PERSONAL MILESTONES Establishment of the Border Road Organisation
GREF Centre The General Engineering Reserve Force Centre was raised under the aegis of the Bengal Sappers Centre on 01 April 1962 and started functioning independently in August 1962. Initially it was housed in PAC barracks near Dhandhera Railway Station and later moved inside the BEG Campus in February 1963. Concept of Langar Brigadier JS Dhillon introduced the concept of ‘Langar’- community dining arrangements for men to foster the spirit of camaraderie. Earlier, jawans used to get their rations and used to cook in small groups. Establishment of Central Building Research Institute
School of Military Engineering (SME), later christened as the present day College of Military Engineering (CME), was established at Roorkee under the aegis of BEG & Centre in 1943, making use of the facilities of the Thomson Engineering College and the Bengal Sappers Centre. It later shifted to its permanent location at Pune. Discovery of Hem Kund Sahib
Hawai Sipahi Bengal Sappers were first to contribute 10 ‘Airmen’ for the formation of the Royal Indian Air Force. These were later called, as the “Hawai Sipahi”. Appointment of Engineer-in-Chief
Gen Sir Bindon Blood joined the Bengal Sappers in 1871, and after 4 years of regimental soldiering was appointed to be the Commandant of the Centre from 1885-93. He is also credited with authoring what is popularly known as the “Bindon Blood Reforms for Reorganization of the Corps, 1885”. He died in 1940 at the age of 97. Establishment of Roorkee Engineering College A Bengal Sapper, Lt Robert Maclagon, supervised the establishment of Thomson Engineering College, Roorkee, which later came to be known as the University of Roorkee and now is an IIT. Starting with him, all Principals of the Thomson Engineering College from 1847 to 1916 were Bengal Sappers officers. Construction of Canal System in Northern India Troops of the elite Bengal Sappers and Miners commenced the Ganga Canal works in 1842 under the guidance of Col PT Cautley, the then Superintendent of Canals in the North Western Frontier Province and the Director of Ganga Canal Project. Approximately 500 Kilometers length of the Canal was completed in the year 1854. The Canal continues to provide water for irrigation to the entire region of the Western parts of Uttar Pradesh and certain portion of the newly created state of Uttaranchal. Ricard Starchey of Bengal Engineers proposed Betwa Canal in 1855 which got completed in 1885 and there after System of Canals in the Central India was completed in 1908. Bari Doab Canal, to link River Ravi to Satluj, from Madhopur with a view to irrigate areas in the general vicinity of Lahore and Amritsar was constructed during the period 1851-59 by Lt JH Dyas of the Bengal Engineers. Sirhind Canal to irrigate areas in Punjab was constructed by Lt Col HW Gulliver of the Bengal Engineers, between 1874 and 1882. Discovery of the Temples of Khajuraho
Pioneers of Survey in India Major James Rennell, a Bengal Sapper, was the first Surveyor General of India from 1767 to 1776. James, known as ‘Father of Indian Geography’, laboured in India for 13 years, during which he surveyed an area of about 30,000 square miles, stretching from the Eastern boundaries of Lower Bengal to Agra and from the Himalayas to the borders of Bundelkhand and Chota Nagpur. His contributions to the Survey of India have no parallel. James was destined to have a unique distinction, enjoyed by very few military engineers, for his bust occupies an honoured place in the Westminster Abbey, London. |
Maj
Gen K N Dubey was the first Director General of the Border Roads
Organisation and masterminded the planning and establishment of
this organisation for undertaking the tedious task of construction
of roads in our border areas. Later, on his promotion to the rank
of Lt Gen, he was appointed as Master General of Ordnance at Army
HQ, the first Sapper Officer to hold this appointment after partition.
Gen Dubey created another first of sorts when during his visit
to Japan he was conferred with the rank of a Cabinet Minister
to enable him to sign the contracts in conformity with the protocol.
He was also the first Sapper to have been awarded the Param Vishishth
Sewa Medal (PVSM).
Lt
Gen Sir Harold Williams, a Bengal Sapper, was the second Engineer-in-Chief
of the independent India. He was instrumental in establishment
of Central Building Research Institute at Roorkee and was appointed
as its First Director. Gen Williams was also a keen mountaineer
and a bird watcher. He led the first successful expedition to
Bander Punch (20.720 ft) at an age of 53 years. His abiding love
for Roorkee kept him here even after his retirement. He died on
17 October 1971, at the age of 74 years, at Mussoorie, and lies
buried at the cemetery, at Roorkee.
Hav
Modan Singh, member of a survey team was conversant with the description
of ‘Taposthan’ of the Tenth Guru, Shri Govind Singh,
as given in the scriptures. The exact location of this spot had
eluded all efforts, till he located the site that fitted the exact
description. With the help of another devotee, Sant Sohan Singh,
he laid the foundation of the present day ‘Tirthasthan’
in 1937 and opened the access through Govind Ghat. Dedicating
his life to this religious place he took to living in hollow of
tree trunks and surviving on meagre food, till his demise in 1960.
Gen
Sir Bindon Blood, a Bengal Sapper, was the first ‘Chief
Royal Engineer’ (equivalent to Engineer-in-Chief), when
His Majesty the King of England approved this new appointment
for the Royal Indian Engineers with effect from 16 October 1936.
In 1938 he was succeeded by Lt Gen JRB Charles, another Bengal
Sapper.
These
magnificent structures and monuments of Indian architectural supremacy
of ancient times had gone into oblivion and were covered under
thick forest canopy. Capt T Burt, a Bengal Sapper, during his
‘Shikar’ forays in the jungles of Central Provinces
(now Madhya Pradesh), located these in 1838 and re-established
lost links with our long forgotten heritage.
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