© www.british-army-in-hameln.com / Arnd Wöbbeking
🇩🇪 408 BRIDGE TROOP RE 🇩🇪
CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS
The troop was attached to the HQ of the regiment and supplied the crane support for the bridge columns. The troop was a We a 16 men unit of following ranks:
1 Officer of Lt or Capt rank, usually an ex senior NCO.
1 Sergeant
1 Cpl
2 L/Cpl. of the Royal Engineers
1 REME Cpl.
1 ACC cook,
3 RASC/ RCT drivers
1 clerk
1 Sheet metal worker
1 Fitter RE
3 crane operators
The vehicle park contained:
1 Land Rover
1 4-Ton Truck
1 Motorbike
3 Cranes
I got all this information from Roger Makin, who was in this troop himself! Thank you very much for that!
🇬🇧 408 BRIDGE TROOP RE 🇬🇧
CORPS OF ROYAL ENGINEERS
Der Troop war direkt dem Hauptquartier unterstellt und übernahm die Unterstützung des BE- und entladen der LKW vom 26 Royal Corps of Transport! Der Troop bestand aus 16 Mann mit folgenden Rängen / Aufgaben:
1 Offizier, Lt oder Captain in der Regel war es ein Ex Senior NCO
1 Feldwebel
1 Cpl
2 L/CPL von den Royal Engineers
1 REME Cpl.
1 ACC,
3 RASC / RCT-Fahrer
1 Schreiber
1 Schlosser
1 Mechaniker RE
3 Kranführer
Der Fahrzeugpark bestand aus:
1 Land Rover
1 4-ton LKW
1 Motorrad
3 Kräne
Alle diese Informationen habe ich von Roger Makin bekommen, der selbst bei diesem Troop gewesen ist! Vielen Dank dafür!
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3 Kommentare
I was lucky enough to serve in 408 Troop from Feb 1966 until troop disbanded in 1972 and posted to 62 (Near East) Support Sqn Cyprus, and possibly the longest serving member of 408 Bridge Troop.
Not only was I the operator of the Beast but also remember with fondness the Coles Mk’s 2, 3, 4 & 5 across four full bridge seasons. A couple of memorable events were the trip to Berlin in a Mk5 and the Russians at the border crossing questioning if it was a crane of launcher vehicle. Hush Hush Crane job is Bielefeld HQ 1 (BR) Corps to lift a mock-up of what was to be the future CET ( Combat Engineer Tractor) complete with wooden bucket and recovery anchor, the guys from MEXE said it was designed to float, not surprised says I as it’s made of wood !!!
Another adventure was as the Crane Operator attached to 1 Field Sqn Nienburg to carry out the BAOR field user trials on the MGB. The bridging equipment arrived fresh from trials in the USA and was in completion with two other proposed new bridge types, from memory one German and one Swiss bridge. The MGB won hands down and was ultimately adopted by the British Army and this along with the expansion of the Amphibious Engineers in Hameln meant the writing was on the wall as far as the Crane Operators and 408 (Bridge) Troop were concerned.
Brilliant Memories Bill! Thanks, mate!
remeber Ian Bran,d Danny Fisher, Lorrie Lawrence, Jim Masson, Derek Vose, we would come for the season from 44 in Paderborn