thunderw21 Posted April 13, 2007 Share #1 Posted April 13, 2007 Has anyone heard of these? I saw several in an army surplus store and I have no idea what they are or what era they're from. They were described as Bailey transport bags. I don't have any pictures of them, but they were made of thick OD canvas, about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide with 1 inch thick rope attached as carry handles I believe. No markings from what I could see. Anyone know about these? Thank you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
craig_pickrall Posted April 13, 2007 Share #2 Posted April 13, 2007 I have a manual for the Bailey Bridge and those bags are shown. They contain the "small" parts for putting the bridge together. Quote PLEASE NOTE: THIS COMMUNITY MEMBER, SADLY, HAS PASSED AWAY Please click here to read the tributes to Craig Link to post Share on other sites
General Apathy Posted April 13, 2007 Share #3 Posted April 13, 2007 Hello Thunderw21 & Craig, I live about five miles away from the factory at which the Bailey Bridge was designed by Sir Donald Bailey in 1941 and built during WWII. Sir Donald went onto become a local magistrate post WWII. When our present government ( Tony Blair ) came into power ten years ago they proceeded to sell off lots of military and government departments and facilities. The Bailey bridge factory was one of these facilities, there was a library of several thousand WWII manuals there from American, British and a few German sources. These related to anything vehicle or mechanical, with lots of them very rare now and obscure. Virtually all of these ended up in the trash skips and went to land fill sites. Across the road from the factory is a fairly modern built pub, named the ' Bailey Bridge ', with a short side panel section of the bridge as a monument. How sad that time, events, places and people move on. Cheers ( Lewis ) Quote . Young enough to care and enjoy militaria - Old enough to remember as surplus " Life's too short for reproductions " Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes . Link to post Share on other sites
craig_pickrall Posted April 13, 2007 Share #4 Posted April 13, 2007 So Ken, how many hours have you spent digging in the landfill? They could at the very least had a surplus sale and give people a chance at those treasures. Quote PLEASE NOTE: THIS COMMUNITY MEMBER, SADLY, HAS PASSED AWAY Please click here to read the tributes to Craig Link to post Share on other sites
General Apathy Posted April 13, 2007 Share #5 Posted April 13, 2007 Hi Craig, If I filled up the forum with what has been going on over here in the last ten years, you would say I was ' Nuts ' . 300.000 people left this country last year for a new life somewhere else, why do you think I chose the name ' General Apathy '. Nuff said Cheers ( Lewis ) Quote . Young enough to care and enjoy militaria - Old enough to remember as surplus " Life's too short for reproductions " Life is like a tank of gas, the closer you get to a quarter tank, the faster it goes . Link to post Share on other sites
thunderw21 Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share #6 Posted April 13, 2007 Thanks guys, good info there. I just went back and bought 5 of them for $6 each. Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
QED4 Posted April 14, 2007 Share #7 Posted April 14, 2007 I put together many Bailey Bridges as a Combat Engineer. They are like giant Erector Sets with most of the panels held together with pins. They are about two inches in diameter and six inches long and had to be driven in and out with a sledge hammer. These bags were used to carry the pins. Interesting thing about Baileys is that as Ken said they were invented in England by Donald Bailey, he gave the rights to use and manufacture them to the US Army with the condition that they always be painted gray, I am sure there is a story behind that but I don't know what it is. They are still being used, I saw one on the news the other day in Iraq. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thunderw21 Posted May 29, 2007 Author Share #8 Posted May 29, 2007 Here are some pictures of two of them. As you can see there are two colors, "khaki" and OD. The "khaki" is not faded OD, the canvas on the insides are the same colors as you see in the pics. Each bag has a tag. I don't really know what the numbers mean, perhaps the "83" means 1983?. If that is the date, what do these dates mean? When they were put into storage? Refurbished? Manufactured? Are these bags of WW2 manufacture or from a later date? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
craig_pickrall Posted May 29, 2007 Share #9 Posted May 29, 2007 I would guess they were made in 1983 from what I see in the pics. Quote PLEASE NOTE: THIS COMMUNITY MEMBER, SADLY, HAS PASSED AWAY Please click here to read the tributes to Craig Link to post Share on other sites
Sheikh Al Stranghi Posted May 30, 2007 Share #10 Posted May 30, 2007 I would guess they were made in 1983 from what I see in the pics. MUAHAHHAAHHA I BUILT A FREAKIN BAILEY BRIDGE! MAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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