A British Bailey Bridge near Pont-Farcy in the Bocage Virois
Saving the last vestige of the Battle of Normandy in the 'Bocage'
Version Française
See Bailey Bridge Appeal - Those who have helped us
See full list of members of Les Amis du Pont Bailey
Arromanches Mulberry Harbour and the Pont-Farcy Bailey Bridge
See images of the Arromanches Mulberry 'B' harbour and Bailey bridges in Normandy
This Bailey bridge was about to be destroyed... but has been saved for posterity...
O
n 9 June 2008 a huge crane hoisted a 25 tonne Bailey Bridge from its position straddling the river Vire in Basse-Normandie, France. Within a few minutes the 27 metre long bridge had been dumped onto the river bank awaiting men to cut it up and sell it off as scrap. Since at least 1958 this historic veteran of World War ll had served the tiny commune of Fourneaux, but was now no longer wanted.
Made in England in the 1940s, this bridge served an important role during the Battle of Normandy in 1944. It had crossed the English Channel in the days following D-Day to form a vital part of the Arromanches artificial harbour (Mulberry 'B'). There, from June to November 1944, it bridged an obstacle between the articial harbour causeways and the strategic coastal road. Between 5,000 and 10,000 tons of British military materiel passed through the harbour every day, crossing this and other Bailey bridges like it throughout Normandy. In 1958 our bridge was moved from Arromanches to be reassembled about 60 miles inland where, for 60 years, it bridged the river Vire between Pont-Farcy and Fourneaux, replacing a small metallic lock-keeper's bridge destroyed by the Germans in 1944.
Sadly, by 2008, no one in the area seemed to remember that they had a neglected historic monument in their midst. As far as the local authorities were concerned, this was just an old iron bridge that needed to be replaced. The same local community (Pont-Farcy) had already allowed another WWll Bailey bridge at La Grippe to be scrapped unceremoniously in 2002, as well as allowing an equally historic single 'Whale' element of a Mulberry harbour causeway from the artificial harbour at Arromanches (Mulberry 'B') to be lost in 1990, though by 2010/11 this 'lost' Whale had been located and was being restored for re-use as a bridge by Les Amis du Pont Bailey in partnership with the town of Vire.
Fortunately, the author had studied the Bailey bridge at Fourneaux a couple of years earlier [see images right]. On many sections of this Bailey bridge were the names of its makers, Dorman Long of Cargo Fleet or British Steel and England, etc., along with dates such as 1942 and 1944. Its original grey paintwork (marine camouflage) marks it out as part of the Arromanches Mulberry 'B' Harbour in 1944 where it was indeed located in 1957.
The day after this wonderful bridge had been dumped unceremoniously on the banks of the river Vire, the author decided to do what he could to save it. On 17 June, with the invaluable help of his good friend Georges de Coupigny, president of the AVPPS, a campaign was mounted, with just days to spare. Suddenly we had generous support from a wide range of people, including local historians, ex-combatants and members of the regional press and local radio.
On 23 June 2008, at a meeting on the bridge with Jean-Paul Daval of the DDE (responsible for dismantling the old bridge and building its replacement) it was accepted that this was indeed a genuine wartime Bailey bridge. The DDE granted imposed a moratorium to give us time to find a way of preserving an historic monument.
This moratorium was confirmed on 4 July 2008 by DDE director Jacques Le Berre in a letter to Jean-Yves Cousin, the local Calvados député (member of parliament). In it he said that the construction company Entreprise Torres et Vilault had been ordered not to destroy or remove the bridge until a decision on its future had been made, hopefully by mid September.
See the WWll Bailey bridge at Fourneaux soon after it had been removed and unceremoniously 'dumped' beside the river Vire in June 2008. This is what we wanted to preserve... It may not look beautiful here but it did when it was first built. It played a key role twice in 1944 (on the British D-Day landing beaches and then in the Battle of Normandy) and contributed to peace in Europe in 1945. We hoped that this rather wonderful piece of British army engineering would regain its elegance, as a lasting memorial to the Royal Engineers who first laid it, and to all Allied forces who then used it to liberate France and Western Europe in 1944-45.
Our aim...
Our aim was quite simple. We wanted to preserve and conserve this bridge for posterity. It is the last physical evidence in the Bocage of one of the greatest battles of all time during the greatest war of all time.
Very quickly we set up a non-profit-making association in France called Les Amis du Pont Bailey.
First we needed to dismantle it and strip off loose old lead paint. Then, when it had been restored and repainted, we needed to find a location where it could be reassembled to be freely seen and appreciated by everyone. Thanks to the DDE(50) we were given the bridge. Thanks to the Conseil Général we were granted a perfect location with easy access. And thanks to the Royal Engineers and our hundreds of members and volunteer helpers, the work was done without needing to ask for one penny from public funds.
Well-located (slightly raised on level ground) it can now serve the whole community as a stage for village events, memorial services, concerts, firework displays and open-air parties and gatherings of all sorts.
Without this bridge, what would we in Normandy have been able to show our children and grandchildren of the huge sacrifice made in the hedgerows and sunken lanes of the Norman Bocage in the summer of 1944? This bridge symbolises the colossal effort, sacrifice and loss of life suffered by British, American and Canadian troops. It is also a vital memorial to the history of the Liberation of France and of Europe.
Background notes...
1. Bailey bridges are composed of simple and standard elements which can be easily and quickly assembled or dismantled for reuse elsewhere. A team of 8 sappers led by an officer and a couple of NCOs were easily capable of launching a fixed-span bridge of nine sections in three or four hours. It was not uncommon for 8-16 men to build three bridges in a day – the parts all being supplied from light lorries. Fixed-span bridges would usually be launched by building a length rather longer than twice the finished span needed, then pushing the entire length across the river or gap with a lorry or tank. The leading section (or nose) would be slightly raised to allow the span to slide over the far side. The excess length would then be dismantled. Floating pontoon bridges, or those designed to rise and fall with the tide, usually incorporated Bailey elements and required more skilled design and construction capabilities.
2. Some parts carry the inscription of the makers: 'Dorman-Long', 'British Steel', 'Cargo Fleet', etc. However, the entire structure of our bridge did not appear to have been painted in any other colour than its original camouflage grey (associated with the Mulberry harbours) and older inhabitants of Fourneaux remember the regional councillor of the time "going to Arromanches to find a bridge for Fourneaux in 1957 or 1958".
3. At least two other Bailey bridges have survived in Basse-Normandie:
One is the double-double Bailey bridge on the Taute/Vire Canal near Carentan in Manche, which was still in use as a road bridge in 2008.
The bird's eye view of the Carentan bridge (right) is an aerial photograph by Nigel Shaw (©) using a camera lifted by a kite.
It was built in 1944 to allow American tanks to break out from Carentan and to cross the Taute/Vire canal on their way towards St Lô.
The other is the 'Jacqueline' Bailey bridge which was built by British Royal Engineers across the river Orne at Pont-d'Ouilly.
Later this triple-single Bailey bridge was moved not far away to cross the Noireau before being bought by Michel Leloup for his 'Musée Août 1944' in Falaise.
4. Note also that the end posts on the newly re-assembled bridge at Pont-Farcy are Mkll elements attached to an original 'Mkl' bridge (though it was never described as Mkl). This was the standard during WWll and almost all such Bailey bridges will be found to have Mkll end-posts.
5. For fascinating images of Bailey bridges throughout the world from the Second World War onwards, see this excellent site by Patrick Claeys.
6. No article concerning Bailey bridges is complete without mention of Sir Donald Bailey, its British inventor. I'm grateful to Wikipedia for the following exerpts:
"... The Bailey bridge is a portable pre-fabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units to bridge up to 60 m (200 foot) gaps. It requires no special tools or heavy equipment for construction, the bridge elements are small enough to be carried in trucks, and the bridge is strong enough to carry tanks. It is considered a great example of military engineering..."
"... Donald Bailey was a civil servant in the British War Office who tinkered with model bridges as a hobby. He presented one such model to his chiefs, who saw some merit in the design and had construction started at a slow rate. The bridge was taken into service by the Corps of Royal Engineers and first used in Italy in 1943.
A number of bridges were available by 1944 for D-Day, when production was ramped up. The US also licensed the design and started rapid construction for their own use. Bailey was later knighted for his invention, which continues to be widely produced and used today..."
According to other sources: Donald Bailey developed his design from 1936-40, final design work starting in December 1940; it was tested in May 1941 and first deployed in North Africa in November 1942.
For an authoritative article on military bridge building, the Royal Engineers, Bailey bridges and their inventor, Sir Donald Bailey, see Military Bridging by the Royal Engineers Museum. See another fascinating article on the work of the Royal Engineers before, during and after D-Day.
Progress and support...
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01-02-2011 The APB's 2010 annual general meeting (AGM) had been deliberately postponed for about three months to allow the position regarding the 'Whale' project to become clearer before putting it to a vote.
At the meeting, held at the St Sever mairie, it was unanimously decided that we would be prepared to lend the 'Whale' to the town of Vire for a period of 100 years provided that the town could fund the entire project and maintain the 'Whale' in good condition.
Catherine Godbarge (deputy mayor of Vire) and Nigel Hay (military historian) were elected committee members, replacing Henri Letellier and Marian Clarke. The annual subscription remains €5 p.a. For further information see: Accounts and APB.
Finally it was agreed that the committee would reassemble as soon as the town of Vire had come to a definite decision on whether or not the project would go ahead – i.e. to use the Whale as a pedestrian bridge on the voie verte at Martilly in 2012.
For information concerning APB and its new WHALE project... click here...
- 27-04-2010
In autumn 2008 the association had been offered a rare 'Whale' element from the 1944 Mulberry 'B' artificial harbour at Arromanches. Now the deputy-mayor of Vire, Catherine Godbarge, asked us whether we could make it available to the town for the benefit of hikers and cyclists who needed it to cross the river Vire on an important long-distance tow-path walk (see Whale/Baleine). The APB immediately supported this project in principle and undertook to get formal agreement from the membership when the technicalities of the proposal became clearer.
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05-12-2009 In bright sunshine about 30 members of Les Amis du Pont Bailey gathered on Mont-Pinçon, Plessis-Grimoult in Calvados, for a tour of one of the bloodiest battlefields of the Battle of Normandy.
Historian David Lecoeur led the visit, explaining how, around midday on 6 August 1944, British troops of the 129th Brigade of the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division led the attack (part of Operation Bluecoat) on this strategically vital German observation and radio transmitter position 362 metres above sea level.
However it was the 13/18th Hussars of the 27th Armoured Brigade which eventually broke through the German lines and reached the top. Later that day infantry of the Wiltshire Regiment consolidated these positions. The next day the British liberated Le Plessis-Grimoult.
The visit ended with a tour of an underground German bunker that once communicated via a long tunnel with the command centre on top of the hill (blocked off by the British in 1947). This battle not only protected American troops from retaliatory attacks, it also turned a cohesive German army of defence into an army in full retreat. This inevitably led to its destruction near Falaise a few days later.
- 12-11-2009 Marcel Gosselin formally presented to the association a huge and very heavy steel 'pulley' which had once served to pull Bailey bridges into position (among other tasks). Marcel, who sadly died about two weeks later, discovered this British-made pulley while ploughing a field north of Bayeux (not far from Maisons) in 1945. We are very grateful to Marcel for this generous gift and for the loyal support of the Gosselin-Murie family.
- 28-09-2009 Michel Manson, Georges de Coupigny, Richard Smith and Christopher Long used welding equipment to lock the bridge's transom clamps in position. Regrettably this was necessary following the theft of four security chains across the two ends of the bridge (reported to the St Sever gendarmerie 07-09-2009) and attempts by someone to unscrew and remove several transom clamps, vital to the structure of the bridge.
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08-08-2009 In glorious sunshine about 400 people gathered beside the river Vire at the Bailey bridge in Pont-Farcy for an Inauguration Ceremony of the Bailey Bridge which also marked the 65th anniversary of the Liberation of Normandy.
After a bugle call played by Major David Glossop (Royal Marines), Georges de Coupigny, (président d'Animations en Pays Severin) introduced the ceremony. Christopher Long (président des Amis du Pont Bailey) then made a speech of welcome.
Among the official guests were: Catherine Godbarge (representing the député-maire de Vire, Jean-Yves Cousin); Annie Bihel (conseiller régional); Yves Rondel (conseiller général); Capitaine Olivier Juillon and Major Philippe Hardouin (gendarmerie de Vire); Georges Ravenel (président d'Intercom Severine); Commander Mark Whelan (president of the Royal Navy Association – France Nord); Alain Deguette (maire de Pont-Farcy); and Alain Briard (maire délégué de Pleines-Oeuvres).
A large wall-mounted information panel was then unveiled by Catherine Godbarge and Yves Rondel who both made speeches, followed by Annie Bihel, Georges Ravenel and the mayor of Pont-Farcy.
A short open-air ecumenical service was then led by l'Abbé Yves Langlois and pastor Noémie Woodward. Two bouquets of flowers were then laid beneath the panel by Justine Bourrel and Connor Lorkin on behalf of the APB and in memory of our liberators in 1944. Annie Bihel and Georges Ravenel laid a wreath on behalf of the Conseil Régional, Commander Mark Whelan for the Royal Navy and Captain John Seymour-Williams for the Royal Engineers. Others laid flowers privately.
Major David Glossop then played the Last Post and Reveille to mark the one minute's silence. The invited guests then formally acknowledged the 30 standard bearers of the local communes and two British veterans, Col. Bruce Dyson representing the British Army and Ray Yeowell representing the Royal Navy. [We were very sorry that, at the last minute, John Walters, a veteran airman of WWll who lives near Pont-Hébert, was prevented from representing the RAF.]
Led by the standard-bearers and followed by about 20 WWll military vehicles, everyone then walked to acknowledge the nearby American memorial and the commune's own war memorial at the church before gathering for a vin d'honneur at the salle des fêtes.Special thanks go to: Henri Letellier for his photo exhibition; Bill & Jacqueline Twohigg for manning the APB stand; Richard & Lynda Smith for bridge preparations; Alain Briard, Gerard Colet, Joseph Sevaux, Rémy Gesnouin, André Lelouvier, Michel Sanson and Roger Ladroue for their excellent preparation of the salle des fêtes, decoration of the town and parking arrangements.
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25-07-2009 A lunchtime reception was held at the bridge by Animations en Pays Severin, hosted by its president Georges de Coupigny, to allow directors of Crédit Agricole to be photographed unveiling the new plaque (which will in fact be officially unveiled on 8th August).
The bank had provided APS with sponsorship of €1,300 to help finance the evening party on 8th August.
There were about 40 guests, led by Yves Rondel (conseiller général) and Georges Ravenel (président d'Intercom Severine).
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15-07-2009 Les Amis du Pont Bailey held their Assemblée Générale at the Mairie in St Sever. A new committee was elected: Christopher Long (président), Georges de Coupigny (vice président), Pierre Desjardins (sécretaire), Sarah Long (trésorière), Jean-Paul Daval (sapeur officiel), Marian Clarke, Richard Smith, Henri Letellier and Bill Twohigg.
The membership fee was fixed at €5 for 2009/10 and the association's future events were discussed (e.g. battlefield tours, talks and visits to be offered to members). While agreeing final arrangements for the inauguration ceremony at the bridge on 8 August 2009, a large new explanatory panel, to be unveiled on a wall beside the bridge that day, was shown to members and to the press. The annual accounts were duly agreed.
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06-06-2009 All along the Normandy coast veterans of the Battle of Normandy joined huge crowds gathering to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Meanwhile, here in Pont-Farcy, more than 50 friends gathered from numerous surrounding communes for a picnic lunch, attended by the mayor of Pleines-Oeuvres Alain Briard, on the banks of the river Vire. For the first time the bridge was accessible to members of the public and, by happy coincidence, the very first person to climb onto our newly restored bridge was a German lady who lives nearby. Although this may be the last time we see the D-Day landings marked by formal, international ceremonies, we very much hope that the sacrifices made for our liberty during these great and tragic battles will continue to be remembered here at the Bailey bridge in Pont-Farcy.
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29-05-2009 The bridge was finally completed, ready for its first Open Days on the 6th June and 8th August 2009. Over two days, Bill & Jacqueline Twohigg had helped Richard & Lynda Smith to treat all the timbers with 30 litres of 'Targobois', bought with the last of our funds... The purpose-built detachable steps were set up and a pair of chains attached at each end of the bridge to discourage illegal access. All that remains to be done this year is to organise a group of volunteers to re-touch some of the paint-work. A 120cm x 100cm wall panel, explaining the history and significance of the Bailey bridges, will be unveiled at the 8th August opening ceremony linked to events marking the 65th anniversary of the Liberation.
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10-05-2009 Again, we are immensely grateful for the energy and talents of master carpenter Richard Smith who spent almost three days preparing and laying the twelve 'ribands' (timber 'kerbs' running down each side of the deck) which, like the orginal 'chesses' (timber planking), had vanished from the site of the original bridge at Fourneaux by the time we came to save it. Using additional lengths of Douglas fir planking, Richard was helped by Georges and Arnaud de Coupigny. Six of the ribands were sponsored by Haydn Morgan and six by members of the committee.
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06-05-2009 The Conseil Général (Calvados) agreed that there would be no requirement for a security fence around the bridge provided that signs clearly deny any public access onto the bridge (except on occasional specially supervised open days). [On 20-05-2009 the Monsieur Jolimaitre of the Conseil Général sent us a 'convention' (formal agreement) allowing the bridge to occupy the site on certain conditions which the committee agreed to be reasonable and acceptable. This was duly signed and returned on 28-05-2009.] Subsequently the APB informed the Conseil Général that the bridge would be publicly accessible on 6 June and 8 August 2009 in connection with events marking the 65th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy (see CG14 agreement).
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03-03-2009 Richard Smith of Ste Marie-Outre-L'Eau unveiled a magnificent flight of steps specially designed and built for the bridge. Richard's ingenious steps, made from some of the remaining planks kindly donated by association friends in September 2008, consist of six elements which can be quickly unbolted for easy transport and storeage. We are all very grateful to Richard and his wife Lynda. [For safety reasons, the steps will only be used on special occasions and for official open days.]
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24-10-2008 The aftermath: After a week during which large numbers of people had visited the bridge, Laetitia Lemaire in La Voix le Bocage reported the inauguration ceremony, as did La Manche Libre.
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17-10-2008 Inauguration of the bridge: (see photos) On a gloriously sunny day, about 250 people gathered at midday in the old port of Pont-Farcy for a ceremony to thank the Royal Engineers (Combat Engineer School) for their wonderful work over the previous 12 days and to unveil commemorative plaques in French and English.
Georges de Coupigny vice-president of Les Amis du Pont Bailey opened the proceedings as the Engineers, commanded by Capt. Ian Higginbotham, took up position on their bridge while flag-bearers from local communes formed up alongside. He stressed that today's ceremony was to thank the Royal Engineers and that the official opening would take place on 08-08-2009, marking the 65th anniversary of the Liberation of Normandy.
Christopher Long, president of Les Amis du Pont Bailey, then made a speech in tribute to the Royal Engineers and to the generous contributions of more than one hundred Amis du Pont Bailey who had helped either practically or through donations to bring this four-month long project to a successful conclusion – an entirely voluntary effort that cost nothing to local communes or to the départment.
M. Le Sous-Préfet de Vire, Christophe Ciréfice (representing M. Le Préfet du Calvados) then unveiled the French langauge version of the plaque while Lt Col Damian McKeown RE MBE (representing the Royal Engineers) unveiled the English language version. Accompanying them them were M. Le Député de Vire Jean-Yves Cousin and RSM Stewart of the Royal Engineers.
Other honoured guests were the conseillers généraux M. Yves Rondel and M. Marc Andreu Sabater and the mayors of Pont-Farcy (M. Alain Deguette), Pleines-Oevres (M. Alain Briard) and Fourneaux (M. Yves Hermon).
The ceremony came to an end with speeches by Lt Col D. McKeown, M. J-Y Cousin and M. C. Ciréfice all of whom spoke warmly of their pride and pleasure in this Anglo-French collaboration, their gratitude to the forebears of the Royal Engineers who had first laid this bridge during WWll, and of the deep significance, past, present and future, that the Bailey bridge represented to them all. Col McKeown pointed out that this exercise in bridge-building was simply a continuing task for Royal Engineers today; M. Cousin, the son of a French résistant talked of Bailey bridges having been a real and symbolic emblem of hope and liberation after the dark days of occupation during WWll. The heart of France began to beat again, he said, when Allied troops landed in Normandy in 1944. M. Ciréfice too was proud to be associated with a project that had been a collaboration between Britain and France.
Drinks were then served in a military tent nearby for the many guests, including some who had come from England specially for the event. And at a private lunch at the Royal Engineers' camp afterwards (see photos) it was universally acknowledged that a huge debt was owed by everyone to the relentless efforts of Graham Hughes who had worked alongside the Royal Engineers as a civilian 'sapper' throughout. He was duly presented with the 'sapper's' prize of a model sapper.
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15-10-2008 Finishing touches: (see photos) In the two days before the opening ceremony, the Royal Engineers completed the paintwork (see photos), spread a rectangle of gravel under the bridge and the laid the bridge's 'stringers'. With help from Colin King, Richard & Lynda Smith and others, the planks ('chesses') were sawn to fit and laid (see photos) . [The same team secured the 'chesses' temporarily, the day after the opening on the 17th, though permanent 'ribbons' and 'ribbon bolts' will later be fitted, along with access steps at one end of the bridge.]
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14-10-2008 Local farmer Michel Manson kindly delivered 12 tonnes of gravel (a gift from Col. Graham Gibbs) which will be spread under the bridge. Meanwhile 110 planks to form the deck and the flight of four steps at each end of the bridge (all sponsored by supporters) were delivered by the Scierie Gaté (see photos) . The sappers were by this time painting the sub-structure of the bridge (see photos) .
- 13-10-2008 The Royal Engineers took a day off from the project, visiting WWll museums, battle-fields and cemeteries.
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11-10-2008 Rebuilding the bridge: (see photos) The first five sections of the bridge were laid on the prepared site in the picnic area beside the river Vire at Pont-Farcy. Arlette and Rolf Röttges generously provided 36 bottles of their own cider for the opening ceremony, while Samuel Woodward kindly offered to translate the proposed memorial plaque into French.
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10-10-2008 Preparing the ground: (see photos) After three days spent dismantling the bridge, the bulk of the remaining heavy sections (transoms, panels, sway bracings and bracing frames) were transferred from the Fourneaux site to Pont-Farcy by local farmer Maurice Lelouvier with traffic control provided by Major Philippe Hardouin of the Vire Gendarmerie (see photos). Meanwhiile, another group of Royal Engineers were stripping off the turf, levelling and preparing the ground at Pont-Farcy as the first six (of twelve) huge oak blocks to support the new structure were moved from the Sciérie Gaté (see photos). La Voix le Bocage carried an article by Isabelle Innocenti on the arrival of the Royal Engineers.
- 09-10-2008 Col. Graham Gibbs RE and Capt. Andy Cooney RE made a day-long visit from England to inspect progress on the project and had breakfast and lunch at Pont-Farcy with committee members of Les Amis du Pont Bailey.
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08-10-2008 Moving the bridge: (see photos) The first sections of the bridge were transported from Fourneaux to Pont-Farcy by local farmers Michel Manson and David Dauvers, using two tractors and a trailer. On the same day another volunteer, Bernard Barbier, delivered four tonnes of gravel to the new site for the footings which had been dug out the previous week by Rémy Lerenard of the contractors Gosselin-Murie. The soldiers were most grateful to Guillaume Bourrel who supplied them with copious quantities of apples and nuts!
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07-10-2008 Christophe Lecuyer of Vire FM radio broadcast a lead news item on the work of the Royal Engineers at the bridge as the process of dismantling it gathered pace.
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06-10-2008 Dismantling the bridge: (see photos) On Monday evening Marc Sadouni of France 3 Television (Soir 3 news) reported the arrival of the twenty-four members of the Royal Engineers (CES). The engineers had already started work dismantling the bridge at Fourneaux with the invaluable help of volunteer Graham Hughes (aided by Colin King). The tricky task of lowering the four 21 metre long panels and extracting their panel pins was finished within three days. By Thursday 9 October the 36 panels, along with their rakers, stringers, transoms, sway bracings and bracing frames were assembled ready for transport to the new Pont-Farcy site.
- 05-10-2008 Twenty-four members of the British Royal Engineers, led by Capt. Ian Higginbotham, arrived in the evening and set themselves up in the Pont-Farcy camp site. They included:
In the late 1940s this Whale (one of the hundreds of 24 metre sections that had formed the floating roadways of the artificial harbours) had been re-used across the river Vire at the Grippe quarry in Pont-Farcy.
However, in 1990, flood water had damaged its western supporting concrete pier (see picture right) and the Whale, although in excellent condition, was condemned.
Fortunately a Monsieur Loisel, the contractor charged with its removal, had the good sense to preserve it in pieces in his quarry at Brécey rather than sell it for scrap.
In August 2008, Monsieur Loisel was so impressed by the efforts of Les Amis du Pont Bailey in preserving the Bailey bridge that he offered the Whale to the APB on condition that the association found a suitable location for it.
At present only seven other 'Whales' are known to exist in Normandy (six in museum collections and one in use as a road bridge at St Denis-de Méré). Elsewhere in France a fine example, called the 'Pont d'Arromanches' at Foussemagne (90150) is still in use as a road bridge.
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Galleries of images taken by various members
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