Why become a THUMPERHEAD

[sapperint]

As I sit here in my office contemplating my transfer to the Intelligence Branch, I began to think " Why would anyone want to become a THUMPERHEAD?"

17 long years ago I joined the great and glorious trade known in many circles as "Thumperheads." To me, a young know nothing lad, the family of Engineers was just what I needed. Great friends, great times( at the Miller ), and I got to play with explosives. Not to mention I got paid to do something I greatly enjoyed.

As I leave this great branch and family, I would like to know why everone else wanted to become a THUMPERHEAD?

 

[Spr.Earl]

Why did I become a Thumper Head?
Hmmm I‘m still wondering why!

In all seriousness because of the variaty of the trade,where else can you build a NSB and then blow it up,blow big hole‘s in road‘s and then repair them and the list goes on.

 

[Engineer Corporal]

You said it all Earl. CHIMO!

 

[pte anthony]

Why do they call the engineers thumper heads?

 

[Spr.Earl]

Can‘t tell you and if we did we would have to thump ya.

 

[pte anthony]

ok

 

[Spr.Earl]

Originally posted by Monger:
[qb] ok [/qb]

Only joking.
We are called "Thumper Heads" because of a certain tool we use for driving in picket‘s,fence post‘s etc which the nick name for is "thumper"
The proper name is a camoflet(sp),French is not my best language.

 

[Engineer Corporal]

Having to drive in all the pickets for a huge minefield on exercise is a sure way to know that your a thumperhead. Gah good times though..

 

[sapperint]

Ya nothing like driving in pickets or camo tubes at 0dark stupid hour in the pouring rain. But it was worth it when you got to blow the **** out of a road when putting in a huge crater group. :fifty:

 

[McG]

Originally posted by Spr.Earl:
[qb] the nick name for is "thumper"
The proper name is a camoflet(sp),French is not my best language. [/qb]

I don‘t know that a thumper has a formal name (picket driver maybe?). The camoflet was the hollow tube that we used a 4 man thumper to drive into the ground inorder to get explosives into the earth for craters or aids-to-digging.

 

[Spr.Earl]

Originally posted by sapperint:
[qb] Ya nothing like driving in pickets or camo tubes at 0dark stupid hour in the pouring rain. But it was worth it when you got to blow the **** out of a road when putting in a huge crater group. :fifty: [/qb]

Or building a bridge for the Civil Authorities that you know is going to stand for years and sitting back after a hard good build and see it with satisfaction and pride and say"I help build that" and go back with friends or family and tell them about it.

I have a few bridges here in the lower mainland that I help build and one or two are still standing today.

 

[Spr.Earl]

"I don‘t know that a thumper has a formal name (picket driver maybe?). The camoflet was the hollow tube that we used a 4 man thumper to drive into the ground in order to get explosives into the earth for craters or aids-to-digging."

McG I was taught the whole thing was a camoflet set and the thumper was the camoflet.?

I just tried a search on google and came up with nothing!

Makes for some good research.

I just looked it up in the dictionary and it‘s French for "Insult"

I can‘t find any other reference in regards to the Engineer application to camoflet
May be a Medieval Term like Sapper,which our name comes from Hmmm.?

 

[nbk]

Ohh thats a question I‘ve always wondered about. Where does the term "Sapper" come from? Is it from another language? Does it have to do with actual sap?

 

[Sh0rtbUs]

I was wondering along those lines nbk. Where does Sappers and Zipperheads originate from?

 

[Cpl. Williamson]

Its a Term used to denote troops who dug trenchs called saps aka the term sappers

 

[sapperint]

The camoflet set was as follows:

3 or 4 camoflet tubes
A Thumper ( which most often required 4 troops to use, trust me I have been on the hard end of the thumper for many years )
and some ends for the tubes to break the ground and keep dirt out of the tube.

This set was used before they came out with the SEV or used Beehives to pound in the cratering holes. It was and still is very labour intensive. I remember one time in Suffield it took 4 of us 6 hrs to pound in 3 tubes. :warstory:

 

[sapperint]

As for the term " Sapper " here is the best info I can give you. This is right out of the CME Customs and Traditions, the " RED BOOK ".

SAPPERS

2. The term â Å“sapperâ ? has been associated with engineers for many generations. The origin of this term lies in the French word â Å“sape,â ? meaning undermine. In medieval times when armies laid siege to a fortification, one of the common methods of breaching the defences was to dig a trench, or â Å“sap,â ? up to the base of the castle wall. A tunnel would then be dug under, or into, the wall. Once the tunnel was completed, a variety of methods were used to rupture the castle wall. Prior to explosives, the breach would be accomplished by replacing blocks of stone with wooden supports. The supports would then be burned causing a portion of the wall to collapse. After the discovery of gunpowder, a mine was used to breach the wall. This task was, of course, the responsibility of the engineers. In the French Army, digging a trench under fire was known as â Å“driving a sapâ ? and the men who did this were known as â Å“sapeurs.â ? Thus, the term â Å“sappersâ ? became associated with engineers.

If you want to know more on the history semd me an email and I will email you the whole RED BOOK as I have it saved on my computer.

 

[nbk]

Thats all very interesting. Thanks!

 

[sapperint]

just a note to all that asked for the red book

The file is too large to send via email but I am working on breaking it down into smaller files to send it. Hopefully it will work. :blotto:

 

[sapperint]

I have posted on the admin board to see if it is viable to post the red book on this site. We shall see whats gonna happen and wait it out.