world war ii The evacuation of the School of Military Engineering to Ripon in 1940 meant that Ripon played a huge part in training soldiers for most of the major battles and operations of WW2. the School of Military Engineering in Ripon A particularly key element was the development and testing of the new family of Bailey bridges and the training of troops in their erection and use. donald bailey THE BAILEY TESTING SITE IN RIPON Bomb Disposal in Ripon THE 'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP' THE AMERICAN SECTION NEWS Contact
In October 1940 it was decided, due to enemy bombing, to move the Royal Engineers School of Military Engineering (SME) to Ripon - the 1939 militia camp would form the basis of the accommodation required. Training facilities were established at Laver Banks opposite the barracks and at Ellington Banks just outside the city. The move was completed with only one month's disruption to training.~~~As the war progressed, developments in military engineering included both the expansion of the SME and formation of new subordinate schools within its organisation. In 1940, an Experimental Tunnelling Section was formed, followed in 1941 by the Bomb Disposal School and the Engineer Assault School; 1943 saw the creation near by of an Infantry Wing Mines School and the transference from Newark of a Mechanical Equipment Training School.
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The importance of this revolutionary, new bridging system was highlighted in a letter to the Royal Engineers from Field-Marshal Montgomery who wrote:
“...As far as my own operations were concerned with the Eighth Army in Italy and 21 Army Group in N.W. Europe, I could never have maintained the speed and tempo of forward movement without large supplies of Bailey bridging…”.
Since 1940 it had become clear that existing military bridges, based on the tubular design of the Inglis Bridge, could not cope with the increasing weight of new tanks such as the Churchill Tank. In addition very little bridging equipment was available to the army after 1939/40 and Dunkirk, as virtually all the stock sent to France had been either captured or destroyed. The Experimental Bridging Establishment, headed by Donald Bailey, was tasked with developing a new bridge which was to become known as the revolutionary Bailey Bridge. The Bailey Bridge was:
"easy to handle and launch, it would cater for a variety of spans and loads, including loads of up to 70 tons, it could be made into a heavy floating bridge without the use of trestles, and it lent itself to mass production... ”.
The first prototypes were ready for testing in May 1941, production started in July 1941 and the first bridges were with the troops by December 1941.
A crucial part of the development of the Bailey Bridge was the need for troop trials, loading trials and launching trails, in order to issue a provisional user handbook. In order to facilitate this a Bailey testing site was excavated at Ripon. This testing site, Laver Banks and sites on the River Ure around Ripon were then used extensively to train and test the Bailey bridge and the troops which would be using them. It was not just British troops who undertook Bailey bridge training here. The first Canadian and American engineers to see the new Bailey bridge came to Ripon for specialist training.
One of the more specialised versions of the Bailey bridge was the Bailey suspension bridge. Designed to be used in the Far East it was used extensively by American engineers. Much of the engineering trials such as wind loading, was done at Ripon. The SME built a suspension bridge at Laver Banks which stretched 670ft. anchorage to anchorage.
The Laver Banks Training Ground also encompassed pioneering bomb disposal work. This was to achieve international significance after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941. In early 1942, a small group of American servicemen, led by Major T. Kane, visited Ripon Barracks to train alongside the Royal Engineers at the Bomb Disposal School. With British support, Kane established his own copy of the Bomb Disposal School at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland back in the USA. This co-operation is an early example of the practical nature of the "Special Relationship' between the USA and Britain.
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...the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples. This means a special relationship...
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Sir Winston Churchill, March 5th 1946.
Even before the United States entered the war in December 1941, secret talks had been taking place about increasing military co-operation between the two countries.
Ripon played a key role in this new, emerging 'special relationship'. In early 1942, the shortage of battle-trained personnel and suitable training facilities for the first American troops in England, made it necessary for the US Army to look to the British for assistance in starting the required Engineer training. Arrangements were made in July of that year for the co-operative use of the facilities of the British School of Military Engineering at Ripon. The American Section of the School was created to train key personnel of Engineer units as instructors in those subjects with which American troops were least familiar including, Bailey bridging and mine warfare.
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