MODERN war, in placing a premium on mobility, has placed a premium on the Engineer. For it is the task of the Engineer to keep the routes of advance clear of obstacles which might impede the progress of the modern engines of war. This purely offensive role of the Engineer is in addition to all his conventional duties such as effecting demolitions and maintaining routes of communication.
But, even in his conventional dudes, the Engineer now proceeds with new equipment, new techniques, and new doctrines. It is literally true that one who knows only the Engineer unit of World War I would scarcely recognize the corresponding unit today.
As America learns to know its new Army better and better, these facts will become self-evident. Meanwhile, for living examples of the modern conception of the Engineer in battle, one can do no better than go to the records of the actual engagements in Europe.
Colonel Thompson's book takes us to the European battlefields, and throws the spotlight on the actions of combat Engineers:...including Warsaw, Bzura, the Upper Rhine, the Maginot Line and others. He also looks at mine-laying operations and pontooneering on the Loire and Seine.
