US Pontoon Bridge WWII February 25, 2013

Posted by cantueso in building, history, WWII.
1 comment so far

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This is  a bridge supported by barges or caissons : the US Army Corps of Engineers is setting up a transport corridor across the Rhine : Germany is being invaded.

The photographer is unknown and the photo is in public domain as a work of a U.S. Army Corps of  Engineers according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pontoon_bridge_Rhine_River_1945.jpg

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Ceasar once set up a bridge across the Rhine in 10 days.
And Napoleon’s engineers at the Beresina : to get wood and materials they pulled down houses and built an emergency bridge, but it collapsed under the weight of the fleeing and dying soldiers.

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Smokescreens to protect them : they were being shelled while they worked.
The photos and the little text extract below are of the 150th Combat Engineers bridging the Rhine River. Go and see! It’s a great site, many photos!

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It is wrong to compare WWII to what has been going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those men were not paid for their work, nor for the risks they took under orders.

And the reasons for that war were known and obvious to almost everybody.
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