Military Vehicles, July 1996,: Re: Military Bikes
Re: Military Bikes
Colin Brookes (Colin@h-bplan.demon.co.uk)
Mon, 22 Jul 1996 22:47:25 +0100
In message <26174.gerry@login.dknet.dk>, Gerry Davison
<gerry@login.dknet.dk> writes
>Alright - who laughs at military bikes?
>
>The British didn't at Singapore when the Japanese biked through the jungle
>to attack from the rear (neither did the Americans by the way - although
>Ronald Reagan did so in the movie Bataan - which I saw when I was a kid).
>The Germans didn't on the Atlantic Wall, when they used bike patrols to
>cover long distances in a short time. Don't imagine that the things they
>drove on were rusty - thier lives depended on keeping thier machines oiled
>and soundless. The Danish Army isn't laughing today - they've decided to
>form bike patrols of the kind they had in 1914-1918. You can have an
>awefull lot of gear in a modern bike trailer, can move much faster
>than you can by foot and quieter too on tarmac. A bike makes much less
>noise on roads than a squad of soldiers in heavy boots.....although you
>can't feed the bike powdered mash and bangers when its hungry..... ah well,
>everything has its limits...
>
>Gerry
Of course you could look at it another way ! Both the Japanese and
the Germans lost !! possibly just those sort of antiquated ideas being
the cause.
I for one wouldn't want the disadvantage, of the physical depravation
caused by having to endure a cycle ride in off road or inclement weather
conditions, before confrontation. The days are long gone when squads of
soldiers tramped the roads in heavy boots.
Colin Brookes
Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation ists (IMPS)