Military Traffic on the Continent During the War

Slipdigit,

The bridging lorry is only on the left so as to get past the signals jeep parked while the crew erect wires.

Mike

 

yes, I agree with you, after looking at the picture on my PC instead of my tablet. Thanks!

 

Jeff,

I only knew that because I have studied the photo before when researching the bridging platoon which carried material to the Orne bridging sites.

An interesting snippet. Before WWII French Military vehicles were right hand drive. This became impracticable when large numbers of basically civilian vehicles were ordered and civilian vehicles requisitioned. The idea was that on mobilisation the army would use the left hand side of the road and leave the other side for civilian traffic. This presumably assumes that military traffic would be one way - towards the front. Napoleon introduced a similar idea for the Routes Nationale.

Another interesting snippet. In many European cities in the early C19th traffic drove on the left because they all had trams and buses built in the UK.

I am not dubbed Mikipedia for nothing.

Mike

 

How tellingly!
I fully agree, Mike.

Cheers
Aixman

 

Watching The World At War again this morning, the "Morning" episode about D-Day....towards the end, when talking about Caen there was a few seconds' footage of road traffic...

...and quite clearly, sitting on the ground, was a temporary AA sign (complete with AA logo at the top!!!) saying "Keep Right/Tenez a Droit" ;_

 

there's that glider that got moved in another thread invoking much discussion...

Not mentioned above many of the transport roads were up down routes where "nary the twain" should meet.

Matt

 

Tom could you actually tear along anything in a Churchill (; with their blazing speed of 15 miles per hour
Matt

 

Easing off the subject a bit, but I guess I can do that as the Q in the OP has been adequately addressed.

Any idea what the truck on the wrong side of the road is carrying?

 

A Bailey Pontoon Centre Section. But why only one? They usually carry two.

Mike

 

I'll guess wildly; some piece of bridging equipment?

 

Adding to Trux's info:

 

A slightly better closer view.



Regards ...

 

Just to confirm.........

http://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/list-of-left-driving-countries/

Ron

 

That truck is a pontoon carrier and, no less, it is carrying a pontoon. The towers were used to hoist one pontoon up so another could be carried underneath. Looks to me as if that pontoon is a centre section (of a three piece complete pontoon). The truck looks to me like a Leyland Retriever.

Chris