| As a former Sapper in The Royal New Zealand Engineers I can only agree with everything Sapper has said. ( by the way in NZ whatever your rank, General to Sapper, you still proudly identify as a Sapper.).
The Bailey Bridge is a masterpiece of design and although I never saw combat I was involved in several exercises building them. There are still places in NZ where a Bailey was erected ( sappers are always proud of their erections ) fifty years ago as a " temporary " bridge and are still serving. I do not believe the design could be improved upon. They have withstood the test of time and allowed many battles to be won by their robust reliability.
I have found in my many readings that sometimes they are confused with an MGB,( medium girder bridge ) which is a different subject alltogether. Without being biased as a Sapper I would say the Bailey Bridge is one of the unsung heroes of World War Two along with the Engineers who built them. |