Bailey: The Bridge and the Man

by Martin Stoneham

This is the text of a talk given by Martin Stoneham.

If all of the Bailey panels made during the war were built into a single bridge starting in London it would reach Berwick-on-Tweed some 350 miles away.

How did this come about? Well, late in 1940, the 39 year-old Donald Bailey was in Cambridge attending another disastrous bridging trial with amongst others Major Charles Inglis RE one of the World War l bridging pioneers. In 1928 Bailey had joined the Experimental Bridging Establishment at Christchurch in Dorset to work on military bridging design and development. He had spent the past 12 years working on the development of several temporary bridge designs. The shortcoming of almost all of them was that they consisted of individual components: girders, poles, plates, nut and bolts etc. Not exactly ideal for constructing a bridge in the middle of the night in torrential rain under heavy enemy fire.

Bailey was undoubtedly despondent for as early as 1936 he had postulated the development of a panel bridge. At that point it had been made clear to him that he was to get on with the job in hand and any personal scheme should only be pursued in his spare time.

On the journey back to Christchurch he got out an old envelope and sketched out the idea of a bridge to be built of welded pre-fabricated panels held together by metal pins. His design was now quickly approved and developed well within a year.

Incidentally whilst it was his design I think he would have felt it was very much that the final outcome was a team effort given all of the calculations and testing that were necessary.

Bridging has always represented a major challenge to military engineers and boats were often commandeered to provide a quick solution. For example in 493BC Darius detailed Mandrocles one of his engineers to construct a bridge of boats across the Bosphorous. This 3,000 feet structure allowed the passage of his army of some 70,000 from Asia to Europe.

Pontoons which are suitable for most river crossings were used by the Duke of Marlborough in his campaigns in Flanders in the War of Spanish succession [1701 to 1714]. The first permanently established pontoon bridging train was sent out to Spain in 1813 with the then newly formed Royal Corps of Sappers & Miners.

Smaller obstacles such as ditches and streams have been bridged by fascines since pre-Roman times. They have developed from a simple brushwood bundle to massive tank born chestnut pale bundles of World War 2 and latterly plastic pipe bundles seen here on Trojan the latest AVRE.

Improvisation using local trees and other timber was generally the quickest solution to many of the bridging challenges faced by military engineers. Their ingenuity knew few bounds as I shall illustrate with two examples from the Peninsular War.

In 1809 Wellington, advancing towards Talavera needed to cross the river Tietar near Baragona. In the absence of other materials a large local hostelry and its outhouses were dismantled of all their available timber some of which was used to create a raft that was anchored in the centre of the river. History does not tell us what the Landlord and his customers thought but they were probably not full of good cheer. Some local pine trees were then used for piling and to bridge the two gaps and the doors and other timber from the inn were used to deck the bridge.

The crowning glory of this part of the campaign was undoubtedly the construction of the first suspension bridge in Europe in 1812. Lt Col Sturgeon RSC was detailed by Wellington to repair the Trajan bridge at Alcantara. This Roman built bridge was 626 feet long, 26 feet wide and 190 feet above the water and the second span of 75 feet had been blown out by Lt Stanway RE three years earlier, something of an own goal. The Tagus here was in a deep gorge and the river could then rise up to 180 feet in the rainy season. A pontoon bridge was not the answer and the scarcity of large trees in the area made spar bridging an impossibility. Sturgeon decided a suspension bridge, the first in Europe, was the solution. This temporary solution remained in use for 48 years, some things never change.

Moving on the First World War led to rapid development of all forms of bridging. Early on the scene were pre-fabricated canal and road bridges such as the Hopkins bridge an example of which can still be seen in Gibraltar. These were essentially ‘Meccano’ kits of steel components.

The need for a bridge that could be rapidly built and easily transported from standardised parts was met by an original design by Major Charles Inglis. This is a portable triangular footbridge using tubes and cast steel junction boxes and this one is still in use over the Basingstoke canal. A heavy bridge that could carry up to 7 tons was subsequently produced. An example of this is still in use at Monmouth.

Extreme bravery was the order of the day in constructing bridges under fire. Victoria Crosses were awarded to Maj Waters DSO MC RE and Spr Archibald both pictured here for most conspicuous bravery whilst building a floating infantry bridge across the Oise-Sambre canal under heavy and sustained machine gun and artillery fire on 4 November 1918 and posthumously to Cpl James McPhie [IWM] for most conspicuous bravery on 14 October 1918 pictured here with Capt T Wright RE [23 Aug & 14 Sept 1914], Capt WH Johnson RE [14 Sept 1914] and Maj G de CE Findlay MC* RE [4 Nov 1918] who were also awarded VCs for similar operations.

The RE Museum at Chatham has on display 25 of the 55 VCs so far awarded to members of the Corps including all but one of the above.

The Experimental Bridging Establishment’s requirement set out in 1940 was for an easily manufactured steel bridge whose basic components would each weigh no more than a 6 man lift [600lbs] and fit into a 3 ton GS lorry. It had to be sufficiently flexible to be used over a wide range of gaps, with various loads and with pontoons. Ease of construction, removal and re-use was also important.

Bailey proposed a prefabricated steel braced panel with male/female couplings to be joined with heavy steel panel pins. Each panel was 10’ x 5’ and had 18’ cross girders known as transoms. The through section was almost 13’ with a 10’ 9” roadway. The transoms extended outside the panels and were used to support walkways. Panels could be added in parallel to form double and triple trusses. Panels could also be added in layers up to 3 high. A 150’ triple-triple bridge could carry a Churchill tank on its transporter [about 70 tons].

The simplicity of Bailey’s design seen here under test enabled mass production and some 700,000 panels were produced representing about 350 miles of bridging. The original design was adapted to make a pontoon bridge, a suspension bridge and a multi-span bridge. There is no doubt that the Bailey Bridge in its various guises played a really significant role in all theatres of the war [First operational bridge in Tunisia 26 November 1942]; as can be seen from these examples.

In NW Europe alone some 1,500 bridges totalling over 29 miles of fixed and 3 miles of floating bridges were constructed. Bailey bridges were also in incessant use in both the Italian and Burma campaigns.

London Bridge over the Caen Canal built a few days after D Day with current day marker; David & Goliath across the Seine; High level Bailey over the Maas Canal, note use of Bailey panels in the support piers; Freeman Bridge over the Rhine, 1945, 4,000 feet. 440 foot Bailey Suspension Bridge on the Ledo Road in Burma.

Probably the most celebrated was the Amazon Bridge across the River Rapido just south of Monte Cassino. In May 1944 three Royal Engineer Field Companies [225th, 7th & 59th total about 600 men] were each tasked to build a Bailey bridge across the Rapido, which although only some 80 to 120 feet wide was deep, still very cold and rapid flowing. So intense was enemy opposition to these operations they were called off at first light.

The Commander of the 4th Division ordered that a single bridge must be built next night whatever the cost. So on the 12th May three Field Companies whose strength had been diminished by casualties combined forces under the command of Major Tony Daniell, OC of 59 Fd. Coy. and began building at 1745hrs. Despite very heavy and unrelenting fire from the enemy exacerbated by the noisy arrival of the tanks of the 17th/21st Lancers the bridge was assembled by 0400hrs. A D4 bulldozer was then began to push the bridge across the river. With only 20’ to go the bulldozer was put out of action by enemy fire. Lt Peter Boston RE then sought out the 17/21st Lancers. In the lead tank he found Lt Wayne [2nd Troop, C Sqn] who he prevailed upon to give the bridge its final push with his tank. The 80’ bridge was completed and the first tank crossed at 0520hrs. 15 sappers were killed during its construction and 57 were wounded. Tony Daniell who died last November was awarded an immediate MC. The completion of the bridge, the first across the river Rapido, is regarded by many as the turning point in the extremely hard fought battle for Cassino which was at that point badly bogged down.

Bailey: building the bridge Reconnaissance is essential, an officer from the unit detailed to build the bridge will visit the site and work out the width of the crossing and generally assess the condition of the ground etc. Back at HQ the manual will be dug out and the materials needed to build the bridge will be determined. This will then be ordered up from the nearest RE Field Park.

You need quite a lot of space to lay out the components and set out the rollers on which the bridge is initially built. The first stage is a skeleton nose consisting of panels, with one cross member [transom] per section and sway bracing [diagonal rods which stiffen the structure]. Once the first 4 or 5 bays have been built the first and second panels are canted up using a special link in the bottom joint between the panels. As the bridge is built it is rolled forward and a junior NCO makes sure that it does not go beyond its centre of gravity unsupported or it will fall into the gap. 36 Eng. Regt. dropped one into the Thames in very public view at Festival of Britain site in 1951. Once the nose, which is half the length of the bridge, is complete then you begin to build the bridge [Durrant & Barker bridges]. It is partly decked out and decking is stacked on the home end to provide a counterbalance to the weight of the nose and leading panels as the bridge is launched. Once across the gap the nose is removed. The bridge is then jacked up one end at a time, the rollers removed and the bridge lowered onto its supports. Ramps are then built at each end and decking completed and the footbridges on each side built.

The configuration of the bridge is determined by the length and the required load capacity.

Bailey: the man Donald Coleman Bailey, was born 15 September 1901 at Rotherham, Yorkshire. He was the only child of Joseph Henry Bailey, commercial cashier, and his wife, Caroline Coleman. After attending Rotherham Grammar School and the Leys School, Cambridge, he graduated from Sheffield University as a mechanical engineer.

He was then employed by Rowntree & Co. of York, the civil engineer’s department at the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway, and later the City engineer’s department in Sheffield. From there he joined the Experimental Bridging Establishment at Christchurch in 1928. After the war he continued to play a major role at Christchurch until 1962 when he was appointed Dean of the Royal Military College of Science where he stayed until retirement in 1966. He subsequently worked as a consultant with Thomas Storey [Engineering] Ltd on further development of the eponymous bridge until finally retiring in the 1970s.

Bailey was appointed an OBE and awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Sheffield University in 1944. Knighted in 1946 for his bridge design he was later appointed a Commander of the Order of Orange Nassau, a Dutch honour. He was also appointed an Honorary Member of the Institute of Royal Engineers – an Honorary Sapper. In 1948 The Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors awarded him £12,000 for his design.

In 1933 Donald Bailey married Phyllis, daughter of Charles Frederick Andrew, a retired farmer, of Wick, Bournemouth. They had one child, Richard Henry, Phyllis died in 1971. He married again in 1979 to Mildred Stacey, his housekeeper. He died at St. Leonard’s Hospital, Bournemouth 5 May 1985, aged 83 and he is commemorated in Christchurch Priory.

Bailey: the story continues.

In 1946 EBE became part of MEXE [the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment] and its work was directed towards the use of aluminium alloys and the development of bridges with greater capacity to take account of the development of larger and heavier tanks and other vehicles. The Light Assault Floating Bridge was the first which your speaker remembers well. Especially building one at night across the Trent in 1964.

The Heavy Assault Floating Bridge followed, and later the Heavy Girder Bridge with a maximum Class 100 load one of which crosses the Stour adjacent to the original EBE site now owned by QINETIQ. All of these post war bridges needed a crane to assist in their assembly although the HGB could, in theory, be built without one. Variants of this bridge were developed.

The early 1970s saw the introduction of the Medium Girder Bridge into service. This innovative design of alloy construction was hailed by many as the real successor to the Bailey Bridge as it could be built very quickly by hand.

The MGB remains in service today and is being used in Afghanistan as is the infantry foot bridge and the new ultra lightweight Short Gap Crossing. This modular system developed directly from Formula 1 technology is about 1metre long and they can be joined to form a 3 metre bridge or a 6 metre ladder in a matter of minutes.

Bailey’s design has stood the test of time and the bridge has been exploited commercially and whole range of variants have been developed. These include the Mabey Universal, and on floats the Demerara River Bridge.

More recently in the news was the Logistic Support bridge built by the Royal Engineers following the floods a Workington and, less well known, similar examples in Afghanistan.

Bailey bridges are a bit like the Dakota aircraft, they seem to go on forever. Does anyone recognise this location? Replace the advertising boards and you are at Brands Hatch.

A final picture – this is not in the manual.

And as he would probably have expected I leave the last word to Monty: “It was the best thing in that line we ever had,” he once said. “Without the Bailey Bridge we should not have won the war.”

Donald Bailey 1901 to 1985 one of the architect’s or perhaps I should say one of the engineer’s of our victory in World War 2. To this friendly and approachable man it was “just part of the job”.

RE Museum.
Suspension bridge note.
It consisted of a pre-fabricated net some 90 feet long by 20 feet wide each end being fixed onto 30 foot long beams. 18 lengths of 6 inch rope one foot apart were fixed to the end beams. The ropes were lashed to create a gigantic net. Eight equally spaced 20 foots beams were then lashed into the net. Further timber was then used to create the decking. This whole structure was made in Elvas, it was rolled into a bundle and placed on two pontoon carriages and taken to Alcantra. Here preparatory work had been carried out under the direction of Lt Perry RSC. Two large ropes had been got across the gap and these were used to haul the bridge across. Rope braces were taken from the bridge and secured onto the piers and the four foot high railings were covered with tarpaulin to block the vision of horses and oxen to prevent possible panic. One contemporary account stated that the bridge ‘swayed so horribly, and bullocks often took fright and came to grief. Horses hated it…’ and no doubt some of the men as well. Capstans could be used to tighten up the ropes for heavy loads and, if necessary, to withdraw the bridge from one side or the other if needed. This amazing piece of improvised bridging was designed and built in about three weeks when it was almost immediately used by Wellington’s entire army as it marched north.

Corps of Royal Engineers
The antecedents of the current Corps of Royal Engineers since they all form part of this tale.
1698 First Ordnance Train raised under control of the Board of Ordnance;
1716 Board of Ordnance: Royal Artillery and Corps of Engineers on separate establishments;
1787 – 1855 Corps of Royal Engineers still under the Board of Ordnance;
1799 - 1830 Royal Staff Corps formed by Commander in Chief of the Army [Horse Guards] who had no control over the Board of Ordnance; [Commissariat – Treasury].
1772-1797 Soldier Artificers, Gibraltar [then to Royal Military Artificers];
1787-1813 Royal Military Artificers;
1813-1855 Royal Corps Sappers and Miners;
1856 the unified Corps of Royal Engineers.