{"id":10314,"date":"2022-08-05T11:45:10","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T09:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ascoturisme.cat\/boatmen\/"},"modified":"2022-08-05T11:45:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T09:45:10","slug":"boatmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ascoturisme.cat\/en\/boatmen\/","title":{"rendered":"Boatmen"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Republican offensive on the Ebro front in the summer of 1938 was a complex military operation. Once the passage of the infantry was consolidated, it was the turn of the boatmen (pontoners) to build the various means of passage in order to allow communication between the two banks of the Ebro river. Their mission was essential: to allow the passage of heavy weapons and to facilitate the evacuation of wounded combatants. The units in charge of achieving this mission were the \u201cBatall\u00f3 de Pontoners N\u00famero 1\u201d (Battalion of Boatmen Number 1) and the \u201cBatall\u00f3 de Ponts Pesats N\u00famero 3\u201d (Battalion of Heavy Bridges Number 3). The former was focused on the installation of light means of passage such as infantry\u2019s walkways and front line bridges, and the latter was devoted to the construction of heavy metal and wooden bridges. Their work was constantly interrupted by two practices carried out by Franco: a massive aerial bombardment action and the devastating impact of the floods caused by the opening of the dams of the Pyrenean reservoirs. This procedure resulted in the temporary destruction of the bridges and the halting of the Republican offensive. However, throughout the battle, the boatmen managed to keep the bridges operational and constant traffic on the river.<\/p>\n