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HISTORY OF THE

​ENGINEER SPECIAL BRIGADE

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, Col. Thomas J. Kane and eight U.S. Army Ordnance soldiers travelled to wartime England.  Their mission:  to study bomb disposal methods under the British Royal Engineers, who were contending with unexploded bombs (UXBs) from the menacing arsenals of the German Luftwaffe .
These nine men from Aberdeen Proving Ground were among the first pioneers of the U.S. Ordnance Bomb Disposal services, better known today as Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).
 
Returning stateside after a memorable tour, Col. Kane and his new cadre helped establish the Army Ordnance bomb disposal school at Aberdeen Proving Ground, responsible for training both Army and Air Force personnel in the valuable skills of bomb reconnaissance and actual disarming procedures
Envisioned as a national defence asset at the start of WWII,  Army Ordnance bomb disposal units did not realize their full potential until Kane's campaigning at the Pentagon resulted in overseas combat deployments toward the end of 1942.
 Three of Kane's original party -- Richard E. Metress, Joseph C. Pilcher, and Ronald L. Felton -- rose to command individual bomb squads.  More than 200 of these elite seven-man teams were dispatched across the globe, supporting combat missions, promoting security, and helping to rebuild war-torn nations, including Italy, Germany, the Philippines, and Japan.
In January 1942, Maj. (later Col.) Thomas J. Kane and eight others flew to war-torn England to study the latest in Axis bomb technology as well as the means to render safe these weapons. Kane, a 42-year-old Reservist from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania with several years of railway experience, later became the first commandant at Aberdeen’s BD School; his colleagues would serve as school instructors and squad officers. He would go on to serve Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as the supreme commander’s director of bomb disposal in the ETO.
Col. Kane's WWII significance expanded with his appointment to SHAEF as Gen. Eisenhower's Bomb Disposal officer.  Arriving in time to assist in planning for Operation Overlord, Kane sent three of his best squads ashore with the first wave on D-Day.
​Shrouded by secrecy and often credited to other services, the courageous deeds of U.S. Army Ordnance "disposal teams" have been largely ignored by military historians -- until now.
From D-Day to VE Day
For Operation Overlord, each "Special Engineer Brigade" assigned one Ordnance Bomb Squad.
Assigned to the 1st Engineer Special Brigade was the 23d Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squadron.
Assigned to the 5th Engineer Special Brigade was the 26th Bomb Disposal Squadron
In the past, army engineers and bomb disposal occasionally clashed over jurisdiction, but in 1944, they worked seamlessly together. Even so, the bomb squads lost at least one soldier to German gunfire and artillery on D-Day. Moreover, their distinctive vehicles with red mudguards offered tempting targets to German snipers.
 
In the past, army engineers and bomb disposal occasionally clashed over jurisdiction, but in 1944, they worked seamlessly together. Even so, the bomb squads lost at least one soldier to German gunfire and artillery on D-Day. Moreover, their distinctive vehicles with red mudguards offered tempting targets to German snipers.
While squads cleared ammo dumps across France and secured airbases, some gained reputations among combat divisions as troubleshooters. Capt. Joe Pilcher, another Kane disciple, had suffered serious injuries in a UXB blast in England. Against the odds, Pilcher survived to lead the 17th BD Squad from Normandy to Paris, where he received the Croix de Guerre for saving the Pont Neuf bridge, one of the French capital’s oldest landmarks. Pilcher also served during the Battle of the Bulge, which he later described as a “Bomb Disposal Man’s Picnic”. He also took part in a critical operation at the Schwammanuel Dam (for which the Army Corps of Engineers received the lion’s share of credit). Pilcher’s squad even supported the V Corps at Remagen Bridge and wound up in Czechoslovakia by V-E Day

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In early 1942, a small group of American servicemen, led by Major T. Kane, visited Ripon Barracks to train alongside the Royal Engineers at the Bomb Disposal School. With British support, Kane established his own copy of the Bomb Disposal School at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland back in the USA.
The vital role played by bomb disposal personnel was recognised by Queen Mary during WW2, and she designed a badge that is still in use today, worn with considerable pride by those who practice this dangerous profession. 
 Penllergaer House in Swansea, became the headquarters of the US 5th Engineer Special Brigade (ESB) on November 12th 1943, and was commanded by Brigadier General William M. Hoge. Its main purpose was for the D-Day landings, where it was part of the forces that landed on Omaha Beach, where on the 26 June it became the Omaha Beach Command. On July 11th. October 20th, 1945 the 5th Engineer Special Brigade returned to the United States of America and was deactivated at Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida.
With the ESB leaving at the end of the war, Penllergare House, was abandoned  with minor institutional use until in 1961 when it was finally blown up.


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