Manchester

Our Territorial Army (TA) Centres are in Cheshire (Warrington), Merseyside (Birkenhead), Staffordshire (Stoke-on-Trent and Cannock) and Greater Manchester (Failsworth and Ashton under Lyne). Having moved from Failsworth in 2007, Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) is now well established in Peninsula Barracks, Warrington we also command Cheshire Garrison.

History

The Regiment was formed in1967, but, through our Squadrons, can trace its history to 1859:

• 1859/60 - The formation of 1st Lancashire Engineers (Volunteers) and 1st Cheshire Engineers (Volunteers) (now 107 (Lancashire & Cheshire) Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Volunteers)).
• 1908 - The formation of 1st/2nd North Midland Field Companies Royal Engineers (Volunteers) now 125 (Staffordshire) Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Volunteers).
• 1901 - The formation of the Fortress Companies of 3rd East Lancashire Engineers (Volunteers) now 202 Field Squadron Royal Engineers (Volunteers).

Role

Our official war role is to support 28 Engineer Regiment in Hameln, Germany through augmentation for Major Combat Operations.  However, in light of current stabilisation operations, our primary role is to provide trained and motivated soldiers to support Regular RE regiments deploying to Afghanistan, as well as to other Army units on operations around the globe. We have recently deployed over 200 soldiers on operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Cyprus and the Balkans. We also have a permanent role to assist the civil authorities in times of crisis, such as floods and foot and mouth disease.

Training

In peacetime, we can train with 21 Engineer Regiment  in Ripon; together with our own routine training and participation in major exercises in Canada, Kenya and Germany, this allows us to maintain a reasonable level of military engineering expertise. A great deal of time and effort is spent training our TA soldiers in basic military and engineering skills.

All recruits carry out basic military training before starting their trade training. Recruit training includes weekends at a Regional Training Centre and a 2-week course at Grantham, Lincolnshire. Trade training is carried out throughout the year at weekends or on specialised 2-week courses at Regular military establishments.