Saving Old Seagulls

More evidence of the ever reliable oars in use.

Royal Engineers repairing part of the pontoon bridge over the Seine at Vernon, damaged by German mortar fire, 27 August 1944.



THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE 1944-45. © IWM (BU 232)IWM Non Commercial Licence

There must be some treasure out there somewhere Pat, keep up the good work!

A 25-pdr field gun and its crew about to start their journey on a pontoon raft down the Kalapanzin River from Buthidaung, January 1945.


THE BRITISH ARMY IN BURMA 1945. © IWM (SE 2358)IWM Non Commercial Licence

An Archer 17-pdr self-propelled gun being ferried on a raft across flooded countryside near Kranenburg in Germany, 23 February 1945.



THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE 1944-45. © IWM (B 14814)IWM Non Commercial Licence

Those FBEs and other rafts were certainly very versatile. Rafts, bridges, ferrys etc.

Infantry set out across a river in an assault boat, Southern Command, 11-13 November 1942.

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THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45. © IWM (H 25292)IWM Non Commercial Licence



The First Battle of Monte Cassino, 17 January-11 February 1944. Crossing of the Garigliano River. Infantry of the 56th Infantry Division (British X Corps, US Fifth Army) crossing the Garigliano in assault boats, 18 January 1944.


THE BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO, JANUARY-MAY 1944. © IWM (NA 10860)IWM Non Commercial Licence



The Volturno River 12 - 16 October 1943: Infantry of B Company 1/5th Queen's Regiment practise using collapsible boats in a farmyard before the assault on the Volturno.


THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1943: THE ALLIED ADVANCE TO THE GUSTAV LINE. © IWM (NA 7613)IWM Non Commercial Licence


Sappers from 1st Training Battalion, Royal Engineers, cross a river in a collapsible assault boat during a demonstration of river crossing techniques near Coventry, 30 October 1941.


THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45. © IWM (H 15155)IWM Non Commercial Licence

There is an outboard on the small boat in the foreground of the picture. If you click on the link here you can increase the size and zoom in.
http://zoom.iwm.org.uk/view/38577?cat=p ... -205195567 . It's probably too far away to work out what the outboard is, but it certainly "could be" a seagull?

"Planning and Preparations January - July 1943: View of the dockside of Sousse Harbour, Tunisia. Landing craft are loaded with vehicles and equipped in preparation for the invasion."


THE CAMPAIGN IN SICILY 1943. © IWM (NA 3938)IWM Non Commercial Licence

Good stuff, I've spent many hours hunting through the Various resources on line, IWM, National Archives, Pathe archives etc. It's very interesting what can be found, but no definitive seagull picture. I did find the video of the SD in use in the 1962 floods in Northern Germany. Other than that we still search! There are more and more old photos being unearthed and donated to the IWM archive, so who knows what will turn up. It's all about facts, and detailed research.

You have the bug too!

You have the bug too!

I wish I didn't!

I'm sure it has been posted before but for those who have not seen it.

SD in use in the 1962 floods in Northern Germany (35 seconds in)

Nice clip of the pontoon bridge building process, start the clip at 2.15 and also possible outboard on small boat at 3.07, (could it be a seagull?)

Invasion France 1944- Pontoon bridge building.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV-xSEmVWrM&t

I enjoyed that thanks Pat!