Logistics of Bridge Building

Heroes Remember

Logistics of Bridge Building

Transcript

A launching nose is what we used and there'd be on the back seat on the other side they'd go over and they'd four or five or six engineers would go over and they'd get the bandhee ready and level and then the launch nose would come over and just carry on and then they disconnect the launch nose and the bridge would be just, bridge and shove her out, build some more and shove it out and build so much more. It was kind of what clashed or hitting. For dry gaps you used 80, Class 80, and then you'd weight, for weight you'd go higher. The first ones they'd get is the light weights to go over and get them going. So it was mostly all infantry, but then when the tanks came along you'd have to have a heavier bridge. There was singles, and there was doubles and there was triples. We carried the 85th Bridge Company with us. So they were with us all the time. They probably have enough bridging on their vehicles to do probably a hundred and twenty foot dry gap or if we're going the other way on platoons, they'd have their boats.

Description

Mr. McCabe describes bridge building techniques, and the different weight tolerances required depending on the type of traffic expected to cross.

Eugene McCabe

Eugene McCabe, the third of six children in a blended family, was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on August 21, 1923. Mr. McCabe’s father was a carpenter. He finished Grade 8, and like most of his friends, decided to join the army. Between 1937 and 1939, he served as a batman, earning an extra ten cents a day. After shipping overseas, he joined the 30th Field Company as a sapper. The 30th Field Company saw action from France through to post-war Germany, clearing and laying mines, but principally building bridges to facilitate the Allied advance. After the war, Mr. McCabe worked at St. Dunstan’s, UPEI for 38 years.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 1:33
Person Interviewed:: Eugene McCabe
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 30th Field Company
Occupation:: Sapper

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Date modified:: 2019-04-03