Allied portable bridge speeds pursuit of enemy.

Allied portable bridge speeds pursuit of enemy. A "Bailey"bridge, invented by Donald Coleman Bailey, of the British Ministry of Supply, is tested in England. Made in the U.S. and in Britain, it is used by the Allies to rapidly replace structures destroyed by the retreating enemy or by Allied bombing. Six soldiers can assemble the ten-foot (three-meter) sections which are pushed on rollers to span a gap. In its lightest form a 240-foot (72-meter) span can bear a load of 20 tons. With pontoons its stretch is almost limitless, and its strenght --- like its length --- can be doubled or trebled to meet any situation. An average stream can be spanned over night. General Sir Bernhard L. Montgomery, commander of the Allied ground forces in France, has credited the Bailey bridge with much of the speedy advance of the Allies in the Tunisian, Sicilian and Italian campaigns.