I get that something drives over it... not that dense to understand its function.
I was just hoping to know more why and how rather than the overly simple and obvious answer of "it is a bridge". Was it part of the connections used between, or over, actual bridging pontoons?
Was it slapped on the ground and allowed for a half-track to roll over small gap obstacles” – streams, irrigation and drainage channels, gullies, and canals?
Could they be placed end to end and attached to make longer and longer crossings?
I don't get how they were used. They seem too short, and too narrow to effectively gap anything with a normal span... think about a local stream or canal near your home. Would that bridge span it? Would you then trust to drive a half-track across it? How bout a motorcycle with sidecar? If would is the stream in mind is so small then wouldn't it just be driven over unless tactically spanning something around 10' wide makes sense? If it was needing spanned you would have to put up some sort of supports to hold up the bridge right? They would have to build something, or set into the ground/river something to hold up the supports that the bridge would rest on. They also have the look of being anything but light so I imagine that the crews that deployed them did so only when needed and taking them on and off appear problematic and require a lot of effort, so in what situations and how did they do it?
I look at them and see a half dome shaped bean with traction on it but nothing that would prevent any vehicle from sliding off the beams when it is icy, or wet, when it was being driven over. There is a high chance that vehicles will fall off it as there is nothing to help guide them. I make this comment from experience with modern 4x4 4Wheel drive pick-ups falling off simple wooden bridges in remote wooden areas because the driver accidentally over corrected, or the wheels slipped off it due to mud.
I want so say "Obviously they were of some use or they would not have been added over and over again on Pioneer half-tracks.", but as no other force - allied or axis - seem to use them on their vehicles were they just another bad WWII design that was forced into production?
Other than a single picture with Volkswagen sitting on top of the "bridge", which was also attached to the half-track so in actuality it was sitting on top of both of them, I have never seen any pictures or read any comment on its use, being deployed, being recollected... anything.
I read the Osprey WWII River Assault Tactics hoping that it would get a mention but it is not mentioned. That makes me think that this "assault bridge" was not a normal part of German Bridging Companies it was not used for crossing large bodies of water and that it had a more speed and necessity role for "Front Line" use. This is pure speculation on my part, as what I am really trying to understand is their how and why for a German Reconnaissance Pioneer platoon. How would they use it? Armored cars and Recon half-tracks are not going to sit around and wait for a bridge to be built, that is not their function. Were the pioneers building bridges for the armored cars while the rest of the recon company was protecting them so that once the bridge was build the armored cars could then go and do there thing? Building bridges does fall in with the Recon Pioneer Platoons duties so how did they use, not use this?
Any help or ideas or a hot link would be awesome and very appreciated.
Thank you very much!