The longest Bailey bridge ever built

Hello 234RE1944,
here`s another view of Melville Bridge - a photo from the Library and Archives of Canada. I wonder which Melville this bridige was named after - we can probably rule out the author of "Moby Dick", can`t we?

 

Dear alll, I am a newbie on this forum, so let me introduce myself shortly : ). My wife and I are busy researching her families history.

Her greatgrandfather was ´Reichsdeutscher´, technical (metal) engineer, a German living in the Netherlands since 1922. In Augustus 1944 as 51 year old, motivated national-socialist (DAF member), calld up for the German Army. Captured 17 April 1945 in Friesland. After Brussels POW camp, sent to Bonn
for the bridge building; or in general for the maintenance of the bridge in Bonn in 1945 after june 1945 (until november 1945) (Hodges bridge we think).
This was done with the 615th Field Squadron BE Guards Division. (see:Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum - Königswinter - Oberdollendorf= ).
After that sent to (a) POW camp in Wesel; starting 2 November 1945 to work on the Montgomery Bridge in Wesel. See for example THE OPENING OF MONTGOMERY-BRIDGE OVER THE RHINE : by Lt Gen G I Thomas CB DSO MC [Main Title]
Built by the ´12 Corps Royal Engineers´ from October 1945 - January 1946. According to the scarce letters we have he worked with the:
´Nr. 187 Stahlbau Servicegruppe J.D.G. , 22 (A) Wesel, N. Reiner Nordhrein_Westfalen, Britische Zone, Deutschland'.

There is no info in Wesel nor Bonn, as far as we know; not on the POW camps, nor could we find until now anything on the British units that worked on both bridges.

Any information is welcome!!

Best regards,

MarkusS

 

Hi Markus,

in Bonn they built three bridges:

Beer-Bridge:
M-2 Steel-Treadway-Bridge (Class 40, Pontoon bridge between Bonn and Beuel / Ramersdorf
built by:
237th Pionierbataillon
237th Combat Engineers
1106 Engr. Combat Group
completed: 21.03.1945
Length: 1308 Feet, 107 Floats
Location: between Bonn Gronau and Limperich, Beuel (Rhenusallee)
GPS: 50°43'12.6"N 7°07'53.9"E

Hodges-Bridge / Bridge on Barges at Bad Godesberg
Two-way Bailey bridge on barges, 1180 feet long, completed: 05.04.1945
2-way (Class 40)
1-way (Class 70)
Constructed by:
1110 Engineer Combat Group, First US Army
148th Engr C Bn
207th Engr C Bn
1264th Engr C Bn
631st Engr Light Equip Co
1368th Dump Truck Co
Det, LCVP Unit No 1
Det, 329 Harbor Craft Co
GPS: 50°41'35.8"N 7°10'26.1"E

Jackpot Bridge:
Heavy Ponton Bridge
built by US troops across the Rhine River
Total length 1145 feet
Construction time 16 hours, 45 minutes
built by Jacksnipe, Maypole and Jepson US-Navy 181, 86, 552
Location:
Königswinter / Bonn Mehlem Höhe Austrasse
GPS: 50°40'17.0"N 7°11'23.5"E

----------

The Montgomery Bridge at Wesel:
Bailey Bridge built by:
14 Army Group R. E.
12 Corps Troops R. E.
262 Field Company R. E.
263 Field Company R. E.
280 Field Company R. E.
265 Field Park Company R. E.
112 WKSP. and PK. Coy. R. E.
116 RD. Const. Coy. R. E.
861 Mech. Eqpt. Coy. R. E.
965 I.W.T.Op.Coy
297 Coy. R. A. S. C. (G.T.)
1636 R.A.S.C.Pl. (F.B.E.)
1007 Coy. (G.T.) Belge
Length: 2032 Feet
Opened: 05.02.1946
Location:
between Büderich and Wesel

I only know of German prisoners of war who were recruited to build bridges at Dempsey-Bridge at Xanten
Bridging the Rhine for 12th Corps - March 1945

Hope this helps a little,

Kai

 

Hi Kai,
Thanks for your extensive answer! These bridges are all built by the American Army before mid-April 1945 and then the greatgrandfather Hermann was still in the German Army in the Netherlands. Can you give the sources for the list of units per bridge?

After the British took over the American occupation zone on July 16, 1945, Bonn (and Wesel) fell into the British occupation zone, as did the maintenance of the bridges.
In August 1945 they dismantled the northern (downstream) carriageway of the Hodges Bridge between Bad Godesberg and Niederdollendorf and created a permanent passage for Rhine navigation by raising the remaining carriageway in the middle of the river. This was done by the Royal Engineers 615th Field Squadron Guards Division. (see:Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum - Königswinter - Oberdollendorf ).
So for Bonn I´m almost certain Hermann worked on this adjustment by the British.
Question remains: was only the Royal Engineers 615th Field Squadron Guards Division involved? Or did they also have detachments working under their supervision? And where were the German civilians and POWs housed?
So far, the archive in Bonn could not find any info on the housing. There is no information available about a prison camp in Bonn. The nearest ´Lager´ war in Remagen, the Rheinwiesenlager (Prisoner of War Temporary Enclosure, PWTE A2).

For Wesel: These are the units that are also named on the metal plaquette that is now in the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham : ). Unfortunately, I know that two units are not named; maybe because they are technically not involved in the construction of the bridge, but with the material necessary for the bridge...at least two German Prisoners of War companies worked also there:
187. German Steel Construction Company (this the unit in whích Hermann worked) and the
800. German Timber Produktion Company
(source: German article by Volker Kocks in ´Der Wiederaufbau der Stadt Wesel´ (Wesel, 2009), pages 118-119) on the reconstruction of roads and birdges after the war.
They were housed in the old Citadel in Wesel and Nissen-huts, also in the open space near the Citadel.

Any info on these units? Or who they reported to?

Hope you have some more info : ) or other forum-members : )!

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,

MarkusS

 

This list from Sgt Houlette MID 33rd Field Company Royal Canadian Engineers
Heading and signature torn off. Security ?.

 

Hi Markus,

background:

Since about 15 years I am working on a huge puzzle, trying to catalogue all crossings of the Allies over the big German rivers correctly and systematically. The Focus is on old photos and maps. There are now many thousands of them in my rhine-documents.

Originally, many photos were wrongly labelled or not labelled at all, sometimes mirror-inverted. By comparing them with the smallest landscape details, aerial photos ... even the most banal photos can be assigned to historical places.

For puzzling, of course, I also need the units and data for the bridges. Often the signs on photos are the source, sometimes information in books or websites. I am happy to add the interesting hint with the 2 German units to the list.

For the Hodges Bridge, this was one of the sources:
"Report of Rhine River Crossings - First United States Army"
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/NHC/NewPDFs/USArmy/USArmy, First United States Army, Rhine River Crossings.pdf

Unfortunately, I know nothing about the prison camps in Bonn. Maybe someone here knows something: Forum der Wehrmacht

Near Wesel was the huge Kriegsgefangenenlager Rheinberg. There is a lot in this book, unfortunately I have just lent it out: Alexander Berkel: Krieg vor der eigenen Haustür – Rheinübergang und Luftlandung am Niederrhein 1945. Selbstverlag des Stadtarchivs Wesel, 2004

I hope that helps you a little. Kind regards,

Kai

 

Dear Redtop, the list you show is an interesting list.
I think it shows their route through Europe, starting top left in France and then via Belgium, the Netherlands, again Belgium into Germany (´Kleve, Kelle, Rheine, Emmerich, Melville Bridge (this is in Emmerich), unreadable place and another bridge, and then Terborg ´Holland´ and finally Doetinchem (which is the Netherlands as well ).
I do not know what their task was, or why you think they may be involved in the bridge building in Bonn or Wesel. But any piece of info helps us all

best regards

MarkusS

 

Hi Kai_H, thanks again for your extensive reply and tips!

For Wesel I know for sure that the POWs that worked for the British on the bridge were housed inside Wesel in the Citadel and the Nissen-huts on the open space there (there are drawings by POWs of the Nissen-huts and the citadel) and not in the Kriegsgefangenenlager Rheinberg (luckily...). If I find out more on the housing in Bonn, the units involved in Wesel security of the POW Camp etc. I´ll share it here : ).

best regards,

MarkusS