Model of the Cerisy to Chipilly bridge : Private Seccombe, 3 Pioneer Battalion, AIF

Model bridge hand crafted from wood, brass and other metals. The model is mounted on a rectangular block of polished wood with a engraved brass plaque attached to the front. The plaque reads 'MODEL OF THE HEAVY TRAFFIC BRIDGE OVER RIVER SOMME AT CERISY-CHIPILLY BUILT BY 3RD AUST. PIONEER BATTALION. AUG. 8. 1918.' The base and sides of the model are made from polished brass crafted from spent shells. Inlaid into the base are two pieces of carved wood which represent the banks of the Somme. In between is a strip of hammered francs to represent the river. Spanning this, between two brass supports, is a bridge made of wood with blackened metal rails. Next to this are the wooden supports of the old bridge with the other parts sinking into the river below.

This model bridge was built by 1941 Private Cecil Stanley Seccombe of 3 Pioneer Battalion for display in the Arts and Crafts Exhibition held by 3 Division at Martainneville, France in February 1919. It is made from German cartridge cases and melted down French francs. Seccombe, a 24 year old litho-printer from Ascot Vale in Victoria, enlisted in the AIF on 31 January 1916 and sailed from Melbourne in July that year aboard HMAT Themistocles. He served in France with 3 Pioneer Bn, was wounded in October 1917 and awarded the Military Medal for his actions near Tincourt on 6 September 1918. Seccombe, in charge of his platoon's Lewis Gun, harassed an enemy party attempting to blow up a bridge to the south of Tincourt and enabled his platoon to push forward and inflict severe casualties on the enemy. He remained with 3 Pioneer Bn until the armistice and embarked for return to Australia on 20 May 1919. Seccombe died as a result of a motorcycle accident on 3 December 1925, at the age of 33.

The model was made to mark the engineering feat of the 3rd Pioneers which occurred between Cerisy and Chipilly in August 1918. The battalion was detailed to reconstruct a steel girder bridge over the Somme within a week. This was achieved by raising the bridge from the river and placing it on abutments which remained alongside from an earlier bridge. Winches and tackles for the job were salvaged from a German dump at Le Flaque.