Can anyone help me out with this one? I have a photo of a memorial stone to the 9th Army Engineers on completion of the Chekka by-pass which was completed in one hundred days 3rd July - 10th Oct 1943. Units employed 66 C.R.E. Works 122 RD Constr COY R.E. 870 Mech Eqpt COY R.E. 12 FD Sqn S.A.E.C. 104 Well Boring Sec S.A.E.C. 7 Madras Engr Bn I.E. 1 Sikh Engr Bn I.E. 301 Fd Pk COY I.E. 1832 A.A.P.C. (E.A.) 1987 A.A.P.C. (BE.CH) 1850 A.A.P.C. (E.A.) 1855 A.A.P.C. (E.A.) This must have been a major constuction needing to employ all those units, but I can not seem to find any iformation on this whatsoever. Any ideas regars the abbreviations of the units as well?
I finally made a breakthrough with this one and it involved the Royal Engineers of New Zealand The slip on the Chekka headland, where the road and the railway clung to the face of a steep hillside, was inspected by geologists, Lebanese Public Works Department engineers and other officials having to do with earth movements, including the Commander, NZ Railway C and M Group, and the upshot was that on the last day of June the New Zealanders formally assumed responsibility for all work involved in the removal of the slip, or Job 901 as it was called officially. The intention was to remove the slip; to rebuild approximately 150 feet of railway retaining wall; to rebuild in concrete crib the damaged support wall on the outside of the road; to build a new crib wall along the toe of the slip for the full length of the damaged road; to drain the slip; to maintain road and restricted rail traffic. For Job 901 the Group would have under its command 870 Mechanical Equipment Company, 112 Mechanical Workshops Company and 250 unskilled native labourers. Finally, a bypass road around the Chekka bluff was to be surveyed by 9 Survey Company and built by Royal Engineers. The earthwork at the slip, 118,830 cubic yards solid measurement, was completed on 28 September. In the meantime final decisions had been made regarding the fate of all non-divisional units in the Middle East. In effect the – 465 – personnel of all ancillary units would be used as reinforcements for 2 NZ Division or returned to New Zealand and civilian life with the next furlough draft, irrespective of time of service overseas. In other words, the Railway Construction and Maintenance and Operating Groups, 18 and 19 Army Troops Companies, and 21 Mechanical Equipment Company would cease to exist. The probable departure date was advanced from December to the end of October, which left about three weeks for the restoration and rebuilding of the road and railway walls, drainage and general clearing up. These jobs were also finished before the end of October,
I know you posted this thread a while ago but I am new member on this site and was interested in the Chekka Pass. My great uncle was a Captain n the Royal Engineers in WW2 and was part of the team who built it. If found many photos in his attic including several of the memorial stone. From the captions on the back of the photos i understand the Indian Engineers built the road. Did you find out any additional information as I would be very interested as I'm writing a book? I found this Pathe video of the roads opening in November 1943 http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=49019943
