Where does the name sapper come from ? (Split from: MATH and COMBAT ENGINEERING)
- Thread starter watson
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 5
- Points
- 430
Watson, please review this post --> http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/24937/post-259412.html#msg259412
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 10
Maybe a supid question but what is a SAPPER? other then being an engineer why are they called that? thanks.
- Reaction score
- 25
- Points
- 430
I think I found the appropriate location for that question. The link is above, along with comments on others who have followed before in the folly you just perpetuated.
A
aesop081
Guest
Who is a sapper you ask,
THE TORCH
The sapper is a dark, sombre man who looks where he is threading, and talks most of the time about box girders and conduit pipes. He is an essential part of the army, and is gloomingly aware of it.
His life is a misery; he is obliged to work hard and incessantly, both in and out of action, he is "delousing" mines, and blowing wire, and demolishing bridges and repairing others, sometimes the ones he has at some earlier stage himself demolished (enough to sour anyone), fixing roads and performing a hundred other hazardous and somewhat energetic chores.
Out of battle there is no respite. In a quiet area, there are always roads for him to repair or an airfield for him to build. His bulldozers are never quiet, and on top of everything, he will find that Division wants a handball court built, or concrete floors put in the tents, or a new drainage system put in to baffle the anopheles.
This in all has a depressing effect on the engineer. It tends to make him jaundiced towards his fellow man. He suspects the hearty greeting is the forerunner of a request for 2 bags of cement or that inquiry after his health is to ease the blow of asking for a work party.
So the sapper retires into himself, trusting only sappers. That is why, i think, they are so gregarious, it is unusual to see a lone sapper, unless he is a man of inflexible will. As a rule they believe in strenght in numbers.
They seek sanctuary from other units, generaly guarding themselves with a strip of bad road, or a barbed wire fence or a maze of bulldozer tracks. They hide their stores from prying eyes, which might be seeking the odd sheet of galvanized iron or a sheet of plywood. The sapper is not susceptible to flattery. He does not blush when told how wonderful his explosives are; he does not turn away shyly when informed he lays a pretty minefield.
It is impossible to win his heart that way. He knows there is no glamour in his job; no breathtaking activity or glory. He know that he is the drudgery of the army; the scullery work, the janitor's job.
But he has satisfaction- he knows that in every operation, in every sphere of war, the army leans on him
THE TORCH
The sapper is a dark, sombre man who looks where he is threading, and talks most of the time about box girders and conduit pipes. He is an essential part of the army, and is gloomingly aware of it.
His life is a misery; he is obliged to work hard and incessantly, both in and out of action, he is "delousing" mines, and blowing wire, and demolishing bridges and repairing others, sometimes the ones he has at some earlier stage himself demolished (enough to sour anyone), fixing roads and performing a hundred other hazardous and somewhat energetic chores.
Out of battle there is no respite. In a quiet area, there are always roads for him to repair or an airfield for him to build. His bulldozers are never quiet, and on top of everything, he will find that Division wants a handball court built, or concrete floors put in the tents, or a new drainage system put in to baffle the anopheles.
This in all has a depressing effect on the engineer. It tends to make him jaundiced towards his fellow man. He suspects the hearty greeting is the forerunner of a request for 2 bags of cement or that inquiry after his health is to ease the blow of asking for a work party.
So the sapper retires into himself, trusting only sappers. That is why, i think, they are so gregarious, it is unusual to see a lone sapper, unless he is a man of inflexible will. As a rule they believe in strenght in numbers.
They seek sanctuary from other units, generaly guarding themselves with a strip of bad road, or a barbed wire fence or a maze of bulldozer tracks. They hide their stores from prying eyes, which might be seeking the odd sheet of galvanized iron or a sheet of plywood. The sapper is not susceptible to flattery. He does not blush when told how wonderful his explosives are; he does not turn away shyly when informed he lays a pretty minefield.
It is impossible to win his heart that way. He knows there is no glamour in his job; no breathtaking activity or glory. He know that he is the drudgery of the army; the scullery work, the janitor's job.
But he has satisfaction- he knows that in every operation, in every sphere of war, the army leans on him
NL_engineer
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
Watson, if you are a Combat Engineer, this should have been covered on your Sect Mbr course, or have taken the effort to find out.
and just cause I'm board, here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapper
http://www.wood.army.mil/sapper/content/history.htm
http://www.cmea-agmc.ca/about_us_e.asp
http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-Canada/art-eng-sig/engr.htm
Edited to add:
'Honi soit qui mal y pense’ [phrase that used to be on our cap badge] (French for ‘Evil be to him who evil thinks’) appears on a garter which surrounds the shield on the Royal Coat of Arms. This garter symbolises the Order of the Garter, an ancient order of knighthood of which the Queen is sovereign.
"According to tradition, the Order was founded in 1348 by King Edward III, who is said to have picked up a garter dropped by the Countess of Salisbury at a court festival and gallantly tied it round his own knee, saying, 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' ('Shame on him who thinks evil of it'), words which today form the motto of the Order" [Adrian Room, Dictionary of England, 204]. Sellar and Yeatman offer another version of the tale: "Edward III had very good manners. One day at a royal dance he noticed some menaboutcourt mocking a lady whose garter had come off, whereupon to put her at her ease he stopped the dance and made the memorable epitaph: 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' ('Honey, your silk stocking's hanging down') and having replaced the garter with a romantic gesture and gave the illmannered courtiers the Order of the Bath. (This was an extreme form of torture in the Middle Ages.)" [1066 and All That, 41-42].
and just cause I'm board, here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapper
http://www.wood.army.mil/sapper/content/history.htm
http://www.cmea-agmc.ca/about_us_e.asp
http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-Canada/art-eng-sig/engr.htm
Edited to add:
'Honi soit qui mal y pense’ [phrase that used to be on our cap badge] (French for ‘Evil be to him who evil thinks’) appears on a garter which surrounds the shield on the Royal Coat of Arms. This garter symbolises the Order of the Garter, an ancient order of knighthood of which the Queen is sovereign.
"According to tradition, the Order was founded in 1348 by King Edward III, who is said to have picked up a garter dropped by the Countess of Salisbury at a court festival and gallantly tied it round his own knee, saying, 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' ('Shame on him who thinks evil of it'), words which today form the motto of the Order" [Adrian Room, Dictionary of England, 204]. Sellar and Yeatman offer another version of the tale: "Edward III had very good manners. One day at a royal dance he noticed some menaboutcourt mocking a lady whose garter had come off, whereupon to put her at her ease he stopped the dance and made the memorable epitaph: 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' ('Honey, your silk stocking's hanging down') and having replaced the garter with a romantic gesture and gave the illmannered courtiers the Order of the Bath. (This was an extreme form of torture in the Middle Ages.)" [1066 and All That, 41-42].
- Reaction score
- 79
- Points
- 680
NL_engineer said:
Correct translation is: shame upon him who thinks evil of it
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 110
Cdn_Aviator,
Nice post... as a Med Tech, one of the great joys is working with all the other trades. I'm by no means an expert, but have a great appreciation for all the Cbt Arms. I will not pick a favourite, for everyone has their job - but to blow a little smoke up the Sappers arse:
I've done embedded / integral med support primarily for the Infantry, and had the opportunity to "play" with the Engineers a few years back. I'm of the frame of mind, that to understand the job, I must participate as fully as possible, and I'd like the thank the Infanteers and Engineers who have let me play, and made sure I didn't drop heavy sh!t on myself.
With the Engineers:
I've helped build an MGB (I forget how many bays), frapped C4, and layed side by side with sappers as they cleared an exercise minefield...
With the Infantry:
I've been on mounted and dismounted patrols, assaulted a position, and defended a position, pushed lanes, and the like...
While working with the Infantry - I would have long days, long marches, and end the day tired.
But, I have never endured such constant, endless, physical exertion as I have with the Engineers. God Bless the Sapper - he is a noble beast, a workhorse, and has the ability to make all our jobs easier.
tlm.
Nice post... as a Med Tech, one of the great joys is working with all the other trades. I'm by no means an expert, but have a great appreciation for all the Cbt Arms. I will not pick a favourite, for everyone has their job - but to blow a little smoke up the Sappers arse:
I've done embedded / integral med support primarily for the Infantry, and had the opportunity to "play" with the Engineers a few years back. I'm of the frame of mind, that to understand the job, I must participate as fully as possible, and I'd like the thank the Infanteers and Engineers who have let me play, and made sure I didn't drop heavy sh!t on myself.
With the Engineers:
I've helped build an MGB (I forget how many bays), frapped C4, and layed side by side with sappers as they cleared an exercise minefield...
With the Infantry:
I've been on mounted and dismounted patrols, assaulted a position, and defended a position, pushed lanes, and the like...
While working with the Infantry - I would have long days, long marches, and end the day tired.
But, I have never endured such constant, endless, physical exertion as I have with the Engineers. God Bless the Sapper - he is a noble beast, a workhorse, and has the ability to make all our jobs easier.
tlm.
Similar threads
