IT WAS a remarkable feat of engineering – a bridge across the River Thames built in less than two hours.

Huge crowds turned out in Oxford on a Sunday afternoon in September 1947 to see 50 Royal Engineers start work on the Port Meadow Bailey bridge in mid-afternoon and complete it by teatime.

Thousands of people, including the mayor, Councillor E A Smewin, stood on the banks at Medley watching the soldiers in action, while others used houseboats and punts as vantage points.

The 60ft-long bridge replaced a wooden footbridge swept away by floods six months earlier.

The Oxford Mail reported: “At 2.45pm, bridging operations started and an hour and quarter later, the far side touched down on the concrete foundations. The Engineers had completed their task by 4.30pm.

“Everything was done with clockwork precision, each man being fully acquainted with the particular job he had to undertake and as one bay of the bridge went over the rollers, another was connected.

“When the mobile column had finished, the men were paraded and the mayor thanked them for the admirable manner in which they had done their work.”

This was the 12th bridge the Engineers had built, the difference on this occasion being that the city council had agreed to pay £1,000 for it to remain permanently and not dismantled after the demonstration.

Council workmen had completed the concrete footings on the two banks before the Engineers arrived.

At the time, it was said that the bridge would be a strong structure and serviceable for many years – and so it has proved, as it is still in use today, as part of the Thames Path.

Peter Smith, of Arthur Street, Osney, has been carrying out research into the history of this “postwar gem” and is keen to get it recognised.

He tells me: “It’s a modular steel lattice bridge made of a small number of parts that can be erected in a few hours like a Meccano kit.

“Its wartime heyday was 1943-45 and it was a critical part of the Allied victory in Italy and north-west Europe. Its inventor was knighted for developing it.

“I am keen to get its profile raised and secure some recognition of it with an information panel next to it and possibly a commitment from the Army or city council to improve its rather poor condition.”

Does anyone recall seeing the bridge being built in 1947 or have information or photographs of the occasion?