page_title: East Lancashire Royal Engineers
section_title: Low Countries
hierarchical_section_title: East Lancashire Royal Engineers / World War II / 42nd Assault Regiment / Low Countries
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 Churchill bridgelayers and AVREs with fascines move up at the start of Operation 'Veritable', 8 February 1945.
context_page_description: The East Lancashire Royal Engineers was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Engineers raised in Manchester in 1901. It became the engineer component of the 42nd Division of the Territorial Force, seeing service in Egypt, at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during World War I. In World War II it was in the Dunkirk evacuation with 42nd Division, and then converted to the armoured assault engineer role in 79th Armoured Division in North West Europe. Its duplicate unit served in Tunisia and Italy. The unit continues today as part of 75 Engineer Regiment in the Army Reserve.
context_section_description: Squadrons of 79th Armoured Division's regiments were often widely scattered and not under regimental control. For example, 617 Assault Sqn took part in Operation Switchback, the Canadian operations to clear the Breskens Pocket, and with 3rd Division against Overloon, where L/Sgt Finan won a bar to his MM for dropping his bridge with precision over the Molen Beek while under A/T fire, having to operate the mechanism from outside the tank. 16 Assault Sqn pushed a 60 feet (18 m) Bailey bridge on sledges to allow 7th Armoured Division to cross a river and advance after the capture of 's-Hertogenbosch, and then one of its AVRE bridgelayers laid and crossed a Small Box Girder (SBG) bridge as the first vehicle to enter Tilburg. On 4 November 51st (Highland) Division attacked towards 's-Hertogenbosch with support from 79th Division, including a troop of 222 Assault Sqn, which transported an SBG bridge across 4 miles (6.4 km) of difficult terrain and laid it successfully over a 28 feet (8.5 m) ditch to allow armour to cross.
  For the attack on the Geilenkirchen salient (Operation Clipper) the inexperienced 84th US Division came under British command, and was provided with 617 Assault Sqn's AVREs for support. One of its crews became the first sappers to enter Germany, though their vehicle was trapped in a cutting, lost its bridge, and remained on the German side of the frontier all night under fire. A troop of the squadron traversed an A/T ditch with a Fascine and an assault bridge, and became the first Allied troops into the town. Captain Ellis Shaw was awarded the US Silver Star after his troop knocked out five pillboxes in the Siegfried Line the following day.
  Early in 1945 the regiment took part in Operation Blackcock to clear the Roer Triangle, in which 16 and 222 Assault Sqns were deployed. On 17 January a troop of 222 Sqn laid three bridges for the attack on Susteren, while the other two troops operated with two columns formed by 8th Armoured Bde and 52nd (Lowland) Division. Meanwhile, two troops of 16 Sqn supported 43rd (Wessex) Division with fascines and assault bridges to cross the Saeffelen Beek; although one crossing proved impossible due to the thaw, the other was made. The third troop distinguished itself by pushing an 80 feet (24 m) Bailey bridge some 4.5 miles (7.2 km) on icy roads using a skid of their own devising to cross a crater north of Geilenkirchen. Captain Herbert Baynton-Jones of 222 Sqn was awarded an MC for dismounting to take control of an RE mineclearing detachment and then leading his troop of AVREs to attack a village with their petards.
caption: AVREs with SBG bridge and fascines move up during Operation Veritable.
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