Pontoon Bridges and assault boats

[carius]

Hi Carius

Any idea where the photo in your post 796 was taken?

France,but unfortunately I don't know the exact destination
Best regards
George

[gebhk]

Hi Carius

Oops, sorry, a typo has crept in. I meant 756...

[carius]

Ebay

George

[carius]

Ebay

George

[carius]

Ebay

George

[carius]

Ebay

George

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

An image from Ebay: material of a Brückengerät B column

Sturm78

[carius]

Ebay

George

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Can somebody identify this pontoon trailer ?
According to Ebay photo caption, Balkans, 1941

Sturm78

[carius]

Ebay

George

[gebhk]

Hi Sturm

For what it's worth the boats seem to be, well, boats rather than pontoons - though the practical significance of this is probably limited. Also for what it's worth the wagons (they are wagons rather than trailers) look very much like Birago or Birago-derived bridging wagons - specifically beam (aka joist) wagons. The bovine traction is a nicely exotic touch.

[Sturm78]

Thank you, gebhk

About the images posted by George on 04 Jan, Is it Austrian M36 pontoon equipment ?
I think the pontoons seems match but not the rest of the construction material..... The images are dated in 1934 so it is possible that it is another previous model.....

Sturm78

[gebhk]

Hi Sturm

The gist of it is that Birago gear and/or its derivatives were used by virtually everybody all over the world. After WW1 vast stocks of it ended up in a great many armies. In Poland it would not have been perhaps the first choice, but having inherited huge stocks of serviceable gear, a poor army like the Polish one could not ignore them. So they were pressed into service, albeit bits and bobs were modernised progressively (for example the wooden load-bearing beams were replaced with lighter and more robust RSJs) and missing/worn-out elements (such as wagons) were replaced, sometimes with locally-designed and often different gear. This undoubtedly went on in many if not most armies in Central Europe and ended up in Axis hands either by alliance or capture. Consequently it takes a real expert (aka a dedicated rivet-counter ) to differentiate between the different versions. And, alas, few rivet counters get excited by engineering equipment......

That was one of the reasons I was hounding poor George about photo 756. Circa 1936 the Sapper Department in Poland concluded there was much to be gained from replacing wooden wheels with pneumatic ones on the bridging column wagons. Photos are rare as hen's teeth and I have never seen an original wagon thus upgraded. The wheels look like Polski Fiat wheels to me and the wagon could be a Birago job, so......

[SIS 5]

Hi Sturm78, hi gebhk,

thank You for our comments, gebhk. Very interesting!

to #804: the pontoon on that pic could be of Dutch origin like on the pic, used even before WW I.

to #805: that´s not the Austrian M36 pontoon equipment. These pontoons were already used during WW I.

Best regards

Bert

[Sturm78]

Thank you, Bert

Regards
Sturm78