Sir Donald Coleman Bailey, OBE (15 September 1901 – 5 May 1985) was an English

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

who invented the

Bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...

. Field Marshal Montgomery is recorded as saying that "without the Bailey bridge, we should not have won the war."

Background

Bailey attended Rotherham Grammar School and

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Histo ...

in Cambridge. He read for a BEng degree at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = P ...

and graduated in 1923. Bailey was a civil servant in the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from t ...

when he designed his bridge. Another engineer, A. M. Hamilton, successfully demonstrated that the Bailey bridge breached a patent on the

Callender-Hamilton bridge The Callender-Hamilton bridge is a modular portable pre-fabricated truss bridge. It is primarily designed for use as permanent civil bridging as well as for emergency bridge replacement and for construction by military engineering units. Assembling ...

, though the Bailey bridge was generally regarded as being superior for temporary use. Because the bridge used a pin joining system similar to that used in the Martel Bridge designed by Lt.-General Sir

Giffard Le Quesne Martel Lieutenant-General Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel (10 October 1889 – 3 September 1958) was a British Army officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars. Familiarly known as "Q Martel" or just "Q", he was a pioneering British milita ...

, Hamilton also told the commission the Bailey bridge should be called a 'Martel Mk2', and Martel was later awarded £500 for infringement on the design of his box girder bridge. Bailey was knighted in 1946 for his bridge design. By this time he was living quietly in Southbourne in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Englis ...

. Dorothy Barnes, one of the girls at the Southbourne Crossroads bank, which he used regularly was surprised to learn that her unassuming customer had been knighted. He died in Bournemouth in 1985. There is, as yet, no

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

in Bournemouth to commemorate him. His 1940s home was demolished c 2004 and replaced by flats, although he also had other addresses in Bournemouth, being recorded in 1974 at 14 Viking Close, as Bailey, Sir Donald C. OBE, JP. The house in which Bailey was born, 24 Albany Street, Rotherham is still standing. During the Second World War, there was a factory making the components for the Bailey bridge in the neighbouring town of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River ...

, where a section of bridge still remains, at a retail park in Barrack Road. The components were shipped to training grounds in Cumbria, where men learned the difficult technique of assembling them in rivers at night, to simulate combat conditions. Field Marshal

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and th ...

wrote in 1947:

Honours and awards

*4 January 1943 - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for Donald Coleman Bailey, Esq., O.B.E., A.M.Inst.C.E., Assistant Superintendent and Chief Designer, Experimental Bridging Establishment, Ministry of Supply. *1 January 1946 -

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

for Donald Coleman Bailey, Esq., O.B.E., A.M.Inst.C.E., Acting Superintendent, Experimental Bridging Establishment, Ministry of Supply. *1 January 1948 - Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau for services during the war.

References

External links

Pathe News, newsreel
featuring Balie, 1945.

Gallery

Image:PontBailey.jpg , Bailey bridge over the

Meurthe River The Meurthe () is a river in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Moselle. It is long. Its source is in the Vosges mountains, near the Col de la Schlucht in the Vosges département, from where it flows in an overall north-westerl ...

, France. Image:IWM-NA-7854-Otter-LRC-Grazzanise-194310.jpg , An

Otter Light Reconnaissance Car The Otter Light Reconnaissance Car (known officially by the British as Car, Light Reconnaissance, Canadian GM (R.A.C.) was a light armoured car produced in Canada during the Second World War for British and Commonwealth forces. History The Otte ...

crossing a Bailey bridge over the Volturno river at

Grazzanise Grazzanise is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about west of Caserta. History In ancient Roman times, it was an area covered by marshes caused by the ne ...

, 14–16 October 1943. Image:Bailey-Coppename River.jpg, Bailey bridge over the Coppename river,

Bitagron Witagron (or Bitagron) is a Kwinti village in Suriname on the Coppename River at the crossing of the Southern East-West Link from Paramaribo to Apoera in West-Suriname. In the local language ''Bitagron'' means 'Land of my forefathers'. Witagron ...

, Suriname File:Bailey Bridge Basankusu 2.jpg, Bolifa Bailey Bridge in the Equatorial rainforest near

Basankusu Basankusu is a town in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the main town and administrative centre of the Basankusu Territory. In 2004, it had an estimated population of 23,764. It has a gravel airstrip, covered and open ...

, Democratic Republic of Congo {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Donald English civil engineers Alumni of the University of Sheffield Civil servants in the War Office People educated at The Leys School English inventors People from Rotherham War Office personnel in World War II Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau 1901 births 1985 deaths Civil servants in the Ministry of Supply