The 302nd
ENGINEERS
by,
Gilbert H. Crawford
Thomas H. Ellett
John J. Hyland
CHAPTER IV.
ORGANIZATION 0F AN AMERICAN DIVISION.
BEFORE proceeding to describe the Baccarat Sector and the
work of the Regiment there, it will be well to describe
briefly the organization of an American division in 1918,
and the duties of the divisional engineer department.
Such a description will assist in the understanding of
the regimental history to follow.
An American division at full strength in 1918 was made up
of two brigades of infantry, each brigade consisting of
two regiments of about 3,600 men each. There was also a
brigade of artillery, consisting of two regiments of
light field artillery and one regiment of heavy
artillery. Three machine gun battalions were also
assigned to each division-one for each brigade and one as
a divisional reserve. In addition, a division included
one regiment of combat engineers, armed as infantry, one
battalion of signal corps and various trains, such as
supply, ammunition, engineer and sanitary trains.
In the 77th Division, these units were numbered as
follows:
JUNE, 1918.
77th Division Headquarters. .
302nd Engineers.
302nd Engineer Train.
304th Machine Gun Battalion.
302nd Field Signal Battalion.
HQ Trains and Military Police---
302nd Supply Train.
302nd Ammunition Train.
302nd Sanitary Train .
152nd Artillery Brigade.
304th Artillery.
305th Artillery.
306th Artillery.
153rd Infantry Brigade
305th Infantry.
306th Infantry.
305th Machine Gun Battalion.
154th Infantry Brigade.
307th Infantry
308th Infantry.
306th Machine Gun Battalion
The two infantry brigades of the
division were generally in the front line abreast of each
other. An engineer regiment was divided into two
battalions, each of three companies, and for the purpose
of cooperation with the infantry, one engineer battalion
was attached to each infantry brigade. As soon as the
77th Division was settled in the Baccarat Sector, the
first battalion, 302nd Engineers, was attached to the
153rd Infantry Brigade, and the second battalion to the
154th Infantry Brigade. Throughout the ensuing campaign,
these attachments continued.
As to the duties of combat engineers, they are many, and
vary with the military situation. The motto of the
military engineer should be, "Communications ready
on time." This motto applies particularly to mobile
warfare, when the ability of the army to move rapidly
depends upon the constant efforts of the engineers.
Roads must be made passable, bridges must be repaired and
built, paths cut, signs posted, etc. Anything which will
assist the movement of the infantry and the artillery is
properly the duty of the engineers.
In stabilized warfare, such as that on the Baccarat
front, the engineers made the minor road repairs required
near the front, planned and supervised the construction
of new trenches and dugouts, gas-proofed all dugouts,
mined bridges, put up barbed wire, made and placed signs
and did a multitude of other useful things. Colonel
Sherrill's orders were to comply with any request for
work, and to do our utmost to cooperate wholeheartedly
with the other arms of the service.
