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panda124c -> (6/21/2001 5:58:00 AM)
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quote:
Originally posted by Belisarius:
The british experimented with machine guns on bicycles in the late 19th century, and I think some were used in the Boer War. (Although they seemed to be 8-wheeled??!)
However, included in the 1939 Polish Infantry division were, in fact, a bicycle company armed with 7.62 mm LMG's. :)
I found a book on this issue, The Bicycle in Wartime: An Illustrated History
Jim Fitzpatrick
Brassey's, Inc.
1998
ISBN 1-57488-157-4
Doesn't seem to be a heavyweight work, but covers at least the use if bicycles in British and German WWII forces to some extent.
I think I have read this book, the forward or something like that is by Martin Cadin. It starts with the advantages of the bicycle as a military method of transport. Starts with the German use in WWI in their last offensive where they straped Maxim MGs to the frames and infiltrated the French line to capture a bridge well behind the lines. And ends with the bicycles use in Vietnam. It actualy reads like a Masters Thesis put out in book form. It was a little thin but it covered a long period of history. The main advantages were you don't have to feed the bicycle, it does not use fuel, no special skills required to operate, it's easy to repair, can carry a fair amount of equipment and you can cover 20 mile in a day and not be to tired to still fight a battle.
I don't know if you could call the British contraption a bicycle, maybe a manpowered octocycle. Ah, goverment design offices 'if two is good then eight is four times better'
:D
Most countries had bicycle units in their Armies with the exception of the US (Henry Ford made motor transportation cheaper) and possibly Russia (not the sort of thing that fits into a 5 year plan).
[ June 20, 2001: Message edited by: pbear ]
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