Sapper
A sapper (of French sapper , Steinhauer ', also Italian. Zappa , Ax', comp. Sapie , Zapin ) was a siege pioneer or troops craftsmen.
In the Swiss Army and the British Army , “sapper” or “sapper” is still used today.
Etymology and areas of responsibility
Originally entrusted with the construction of saps , that is, trenches and approach trenches in front of enemy positions and fortresses, her craftsmanship predestined for the felling of trees, the removal of obstacles, the procurement of bulging posts and the construction of bivouacs and camps. A distinction must be regiment of carpenters called sappers infantry and cavalry of the combined in their own associations sappers from which, together with corps of engineers , miners and Ponto kidney in the 19th century, the engineering corps developed.
Regimental carpenters
Two to four soldiers were selected as carpenters from among the strongest and most technically skilled soldiers of a regiment of the infantry (in Napoleonic France and some other states also for parts of the cavalry). On the march, the sappers went at the head of the regiment to clear trees and other obstacles that were lying across. In addition to their normal armament, they received a long-handled carpenter's ax that could also be used for close combat and was carried over the left shoulder in a leather sheath on the march. A leather work apron with a hip belt was often worn. Since the sappers were assigned to the grenadier companies , they also wore their special grenadier caps . They usually kept these fur hats as special awards even when they were usually replaced by the shako in the grenadiers . In France during the First and Second Empire in particular , full beards were required for sappers, while the rest of the army did not have to wear beards or mustaches. Often professional badges were worn, e.g. B. in Napoleon's line infantry, two crossed red axes on the right upper arm. With the increase in engineering troops and the distribution of light bulking gear to all soldiers, these military specialists largely disappeared from the armies, but their tradition is actively maintained in some places. Even today , ax-armored, bearded sappers with leather work aprons lead the Foreign Legion contingent at the parade on July 14th in France . In Germany private, so-called sappeur trains maintain this tradition (similar to the rifle clubs or mountain riflemen ).
Independent sapper units
Since regimental carpenters were not enough for larger siege and entrenchment work and infantrymen assigned to support them or recruited or compulsory civil workers turned out to be unsuitable and / or unreliable, separate sapper units were set up in the 18th century.
Since the sappers came within the range of enemy firearms when digging approach trenches , so-called Sappenpanzer were issued in some armies . This consisted of a massive breastplate with or without leg pockets and a heavy sapper's helmet , often in the style of a Savoyard helmet . This protective clothing disappeared in the first half of the 19th century, but reappeared in the trench warfare of the First World War. The breastplate severely restricted the mobility of its wearer in trench warfare.
Prussia
In Prussia , with the reorganization of the army after the defeat of 1806, a uniform pioneer troop was set up, which also took on the entrenchment tasks. Most other states followed this example of the army reform of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau . From 1912 there were also battalions of the kuk sappers in the kuk troops .
Switzerland
In the Swiss Army, on January 1, 2004, the catenary and railway sappers who had previously been part of the military railway service were grouped into sappers and assigned to the pioneers ( called “ genius ” there).
British Army
In the British Army (the British land forces) the Corps of Royal Engineers is also called "The Sappers", and "Sapper" is the rank or salutation for members of the Royal Engineers with the rank of private ( soldier ) .
Sappers as the origin of the fire service in France
In Napoleonic France, sapper units also took on fire protection tasks. The sapper company of the Imperial Guard was z. B. also fire brigade in Castle Fontainebleau . For this reason, some professional fire brigades in France (e.g. those in Paris ) are formally part of the army , around a quarter of the professional firefighters belong to the military. The French name of the fire department ( sapeurs-pompiers ) is derived from these military roots.
literature
- Heinrich Blasek: Engineer, Sappeur and Mineur Corps., From its establishment to its unification in 1851 , Volume 1, Issue 2 of contributions to the history of the kuk Genie-Weapon, Austria. War Ministry, LW Seidel, 1898.
- Carl Edlem von Bundschuh: Handbook of all since the military year 1767, as the beginning of the military economy system existing in the Austro-Hungarian Army up to the end of the bourgeoisie. Year 1821, normal regulations , Volume 2, Haase, 1822. ( digitalisat online )
