Motorbikes

Started by hobbittomm, 21 April 2019, 12:41:37 AM

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John Cook

Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 22 April 2019, 04:18:30 PM
Steve McQueen on one of those Wehrmacht issue Triumphs.

Not so fast!  I don't know what model Steve McQueen had in The Great Escape but Triumph was founded by a German and was known as Triumph-Werke Nürnberg AG in Germany.  Between 1932 and 1942 the Wehrmacht used more than 40,000 Triumph bikes in 7 different  models  :)

steve_holmes_11

Quote from: Ithoriel on 22 October 2019, 10:47:50 PM
...and the Netherlands ... ""where is my grandfather's bicycle" :)

I mentioned Belgium and Italy since both fielded "elite" units of bicycle infantry.

I'd also not heard of the Dutch (great bicycle users though they are) using the bicycle in a military context.
My impression was they still used the horse for motor-free reconnaissance, one created by working just along the road form the cavalry barracks.

A bit of research reveals weilrijder platoons attached to infantry as reconnaissance elements.

Ithoriel

Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 23 October 2019, 08:51:42 AM
I'd also not heard of the Dutch (great bicycle users though they are) using the bicycle in a military context.
My impression was they still used the horse for motor-free reconnaissance, one created by working just along the road form the cavalry barracks.

It was a reference to the 2006 World Cup when a T-shirt with the slogan "I want my bicycle back", referring to Germany's seizure of Dutch property under occupation, had reportedly been selling fast in the Netherlands. It was an offence, punishable by death in some cases, for the Dutch not to hand over their bikes from 1942 onwards, iirc..
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