Military Vehicles, July 1996,: Military Bikes

Military Bikes

Gerry Davison (gerry@login.dknet.dk)
Mon, 22 Jul 1996 07:16:11 +0100 (MET)

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