Click on any of the units shown below to see detailed descriptions of their locations and operations, along with photographs and images of some of their uniforms and equipment.

Note: Most of the text of this article comes from "TWENTIETH ENGINEERS -- FRANCE -- 1917-1918-1919"

The Corps of Engineers was represented in France by the Division of Construction and Forestry, the Division of Military Engineering and Engineer Supplies, and the Division of Light Railways and Roads. On the day the Armistice became effective the Engineer--the largest of all the technical services in the American Expeditionary Force--numbered 174,000 men, distributed as follows:

In addition, there were engaged in construction and road work in the A. E. F., mainly under the supervision of the D. C. and F., about 34,500 troops of other arms of the Service, 34,000 civilians, and 15,000 prisoners of war.

The Engineers operating with the Armies maintained lines of communication, built bridges, fought as Infantry, conducted camouflage, searchlight, flash and sound ranging, water supply, and many other functions.

The Division of Engineer Supplies handled a total of 3,255,000 tons of Engineer supplies, occupying 764,000 square feet of covered space and 14,352,000 square feet of open space. Before the Armistice, the repair shops of the Division had completed more than 2,000 orders. Seven cement mills produced 315,000 barrels of cement and manufactured over 100 miles of concrete pipe.

The Division of Light Railways and Roads was operating, when the fighting ended, 2,240 kilometers of light railway, of which 1,740 kilometers had been taken from the Germans. At Abainville 10 shops buildings were constructed; 2,300 erected; and 140 locomotives repaired. The total tonnage handled by the Division, up to February 1, 1919, was 860,000.

The Division of Construction and Forestry was responsible for the major part of the immense construction accomplished in France. In the words of Colonel Ernest Graves, "A comparison, based on the number of men engaged, the amounts of materials consumed, and money spent, and the results accomplished in a given time, would show that the construction of the Panama Canal, that 'greatest feat of man,' is overtopped and dwarfed by the work of the Engineers in France during the great war."