There is a thread down on the NSW/ACT forum which I have a special interest in. It is of a recent trip made by Dobbo and his mates.
The following photos I sponged off the thread and I give credit to Scouse and Lokka for their use.
Scouse’s Photos:
Lokka’s Photos:

The view down from the bridge
It does me good to see the bridge being used. In Nov 90 as the Lieutenant Troop Commander of the recently re-raised 3 Tp (Mech), 1 Fd Sqn, RAE, I was tasked with constructing the bridge.
We took a team out to construct it and knocked it over in a week. If you felt it swayed a lot, consider building it, when the steel wire ropes were not contained by the tread plates and sides. We had to put 3 blokes out at a time each of them working on a side, or the treadway. They used to become affected (motion sickness) and we had to replace them frequently.
Having been the new Tp Comd in a re-raised Fd Engr Tp which had earned it's reputation as the pioneering Tunnel Rats, in the Tunnels of Cu Chi in Sth Vietnam. I thought the bridge would offer a great opportunity to recognise the service of someone who had gone before us.
Sandy MacGregor had been the Troop Commander in Vietnam and has written a book called ‘No Need For Heroes’. It is a crack of a read. The Tunnel Rats are a tight organization and do a great deal for all the Sappers who had to do the job underground.
This is the foreword to the book:
“This is the thrilling hilarious and inspiring true story of a ragtag band of Aussie Army Engineers who redefined the word Heroes ... and reinvented larrikin too.
Among the first Australians to fight in Vietnam, they faced death every day defusing Viet Cong booby traps - then partied all night in a casino they'd built in secret.
They led hundreds of American troops to safety, but fought US military police to a standstill in the bars of South Vietnam. They built the Australian Task Force base - then sabotaged a headquarters conference, booby trapped showers and blew up a generator rather than kowtow to newly arrived officers.
And that's before we mention sex ...
Most importantly, the men of Three Field Troop discovered a huge Viet Cong tunnel complex and were the first allied troops to follow the enemy down into their underground city.
They were the original Tunnel Rats and this is their story.”
In doing some research I found out that CPL Bob Bowtell, of 3 Tp, had been the first Royal Australian Engineer killed in Vietnam. He was killed clearing a tunnel. It also happened that he was born in Katoomba, so I thought it fitting and appropriate to name the bridge after him.
His surviving family had to approve firstly, and I was able to trace them and they were very touched and keen for the recognition for their father and husband.
His children turned up for the opening and it was a very proud moment for me to see them thank my men for their efforts. This was the first time anyone had really recognised their Dad.
Since the opening ceremony I have never been back. I want to walk out from Katoomba one day and take my kids for a look. I think the bridge will prove to be one of my more lasting efforts.
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