Bengal Sappers contingent to march in Republic Day Parade

A contingent of the 'BengalSappers' regiment will march in the Republic Day parade Tuesday at New Delhi, a Defence official said.

The Bengal Sappers contingent will be led by MajorPiyush Sharma, the only contingent commander in the 2021Republic Day parade to have been a recipient of the Sena Medal(Gallantry), the official said.

Raised on November 7, 1803, at Cawnpore, Bengal Sappershas earned the honor of 80 battle honors and 11 theatre honors, the official said.

The first parade commander of the Republic Day Parade in 1950 was a Bengal Sapper Officer, Lt Gen J S Dhillon, the spokesman said.

The military engineering regiment built the longest,1153 feet floating bailey bridge in any theatre of war during the 1944 Burma campaign.

He said that the contingent has four participantjunior commissioned officers (JCOs) who have represented India and brought laurels, among whom are Subedar Kapil Sharma, whowon the bronze medal in Rowing in the 2014 Asian Games andSubedar Sunil Kumar, winner of the gold medal in Rowing in theSouth Asian Games in 2014.