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Including The '''Bengal Sappers and Miners''' were part of the Indian Army Engineer Soldier Corps comprised the three armies of the Presidencies <ref name=REmus>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090725060217/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part10.htm The Royal Engineers Museum and Library “Corps History Part 10 - Indian Engineering Soldiers 1777-1947”]; Retrieved 17 Aug 2016</ref>:- *The [[Bombay Sappers and Miners]] (1777); *The [[Madras Sappers and Miners]] (1780) *The [[Bengal Sappers and Miners]] (1803) ''Not to be confused with'' The '''[[Bengal Engineers]]''' being Engineers of one of the Honourable [[East India Company Armies]]. By the 1740’s each military administration of each presidency had its own cadre of British engineer officers, they were titled:- the [[Bombay Engineers]], the [[Madras Engineers]] and the [[Bengal Engineers]] <ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090725060217/http://www.remuseum.org.uk/corpshistory/rem_corps_part10.htm The Royal Engineers Museum and Library “Corps History Part 10 – Engineers of the Honourable East India Company Army 1750-1862”]; Retrieved 17 Aug 2016</ref> The '''Bengal Sappers and Miners''' originated as the 'Corps of Bengal Pioneers' raised from two pioneer companies in 1803. It evolved into the 'Bengal Sappers and Miners' in 1819 on the absorption of the 'Company of Miners' (raised in 1808). In 1843 it absorbed into it's ranks the 'Broadfoot's Sappers' (raised in 1840). In 1847 it was renamed the 'Bengal Sappers and Pioneers' and in 1851 the 'Corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners'. Lord Kitchener's Reforms in 1903 saw it redesignated as the '1st Sappers and Miners' which was, again, altered in 1906 to '1st Prince of Wales's Own Sappers and Miners'. On the accession of George V to the throne in 1910 it was renamed '1st King George's Own Sappers and Miners' with the numerical nomination being dropped in 1923. In 1937 it was re-titled 'King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners'. In 1941 they became the 'King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners Group' of the Indian Engineersin 1946 the 'King George V's Group'of the Royal Indian Engineers<ref name =REmus/>. The senior Officers were British and the loosely organised military units were later combined into battalions with Indian officers commanding local troops. Officers were in the early years very conscious of the soldiers'local customs, caste rituals, dress, and social hierarchy.
Opening paragraphs added with reference to Royal Engineers Museum records clarifying 'Bengal Engineers'
[[Image:2nd Q.O. Sappers & Miners.jpg|250px|thumb|2nd Q.O. Sappers and Miners]]
[[Image:3rd Sappers & Miners.jpg|250px|thumb|right|3rd Sappers and Miners]]
== Chronology ==
*'''1803''' 1st company raised by Capt T Wood as Bengal Pioneers
== References ==
Our grateful thanks to The Royal Engineers Museum and Library, Prince Arthur Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME4 4UG, England for permission to cite directly from their website. Some records on websites do not give clear distinctions between the ‘Sappers and Miners’ and the ‘Engineers’.<references />
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