Ubique!: Canadian Military Engineers—a Century of Service

Paul Dickson is a strategic analyst at the Directorate of Air Strategic
Plans, National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa.

The motto of the Canadian Engineer Corps is “Ubique:
‘Everywhere.’” It is an apt title for this volume commemorating
the addition of the Canadian Engineer Corps to the Permanent Active
Militia in 1903. (They were designated the Royal Canadian Engineers
[RCE] in 1904.) The intent of the authors is to show that military
engineers have been at the forefront of most of Canada’s “defence
and development.” To that end they survey the wide range of activities
that constitute the contributions of military engineers over more than a
century of service.

The RCE services are described by task: operations, national
development, and community service. In the section on national
development, RCE contributions are organized by province, and in that on
community service, by unit. The decision to eschew a chronological
narrative suggests that the expected, if not the intended, audience is
the RCE community. Indeed, the volume focuses on the collective
contribution of the RCE and includes no personnel anecdotes to liven the
story. That said, the reader is provided with a ready reference and
overview.

It is clear that military engineers do important and often dangerous
work. That 1500 died constructing plank roads in the Ypres Salient
during 1915–18 is testament to that. Whether tunnelling, clearing
mines, or constructing, their contributions are often overlooked in
traditional military histories, but the engineers are always critical to
mission success. Indeed, the authors document a number of important
projects and responses to emergencies to remind us of the important
domestic role the Canadian Forces continue to play. Military engineers,
as well as those interested in a quick introduction to a century of the
RCE, will find this is a useful volume.