Bicycles in Military

mayankkrishna

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Anand Sethi uncovers the truth about a cycle regiment once stationed in the Shimla Hills
The steep climb up to the Dagshai garrison from National Highway 22 ends at Principal Chowk, in front of the main gate leading to the Army Public School. Going on towards the commanding officer’s house on the southern side of Dagshai hill, one sights the old garrison Anglican Church, still operational, but in a state of considerable disrepair.

The hillside below the church is rocky but has a thick covering of green bush and wild grass. However, a quick scan of the rock face reveals at first glance some kind of an icon, approximately 2×2 feet, with a fresh coat of paint on its periphery. Some four years ago, it was covered by moss and growth, yet to an observant eye it is clear that below lies something which, some years ago, had a human intervention.

A careful scraping away of the growth from the rock face using my trusted Swiss Army knife uncovers an extraordinary engraving depicting an old military insignia that had somehow been long forgotten. On closer inspection, it turns out to be the insignia of the 1/9th Cyclist Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment. Earlier records available about British Army units stationed in Dagshai had no mention about this regiment; however, further research confirmed that this little-known infantry formation was indeed based in Dagshai in 1917.

There was also the more “colourful” 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion, The London Regiment, stationed in Dagshai in 1918, with a detachment in Jutogh, near Shimla.

The history of bicycle infantry worldwide, though little known, is quite fascinating. In the mid-1890s, with somewhat more reliable bicycles now riding on pneumatic tyres, several armies experimented with their use to replace horses in military duties, especially as messengers and scouts; in effect, taking over the functions of dragoons (mounted infantry).


Bicycle Infantry: A Sikh havaldar leads a contingent into battle at the Somme, while the British troops look on from their horses
Photographs courtesy: Anand Sethi

The first known use of cycle formations in battle action was by the Dutch Boers during the Second Boer War in South Africa. The US Army used them quite extensively, as did the Germans in World War I and the Japanese in World War II,including during the capture of Malaya and Singapore. The Finnish Army used cyclist soldiers most effectively in their crack Jaeger brigades against the mighty Soviet Army. There are also reports of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) using cyclist troops during the civil war in Sri Lanka.

In Britain, the development of the cycle corps is generally credited to Lt Col AR Savile, a senior instructor at Sandhurst. Voluntary cyclists were intermittently used during war as early as the 1880s, but the first bicycle unit, the 26th Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps, was set up in 1888. After the 1908 reforms, the 26th Middlesex, along with nine cyclist battalions, made up the Army Cycling Corps. By 1915, during WWI, the first of these units were shipped out to France, Flanders and the Gallipoli peninsula.


Uncovered: An engraving depicting the old military insignia of the 1/9th Cyclist Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment

When and why some of these cyclist formations were sent to India is not quite clearfrom official historical records. However, the 25th London Regiment’s website indicates that the bicycle-borne troops were not found to be terribly effective in the trench warfare in Europe during WWI. Yet it was deemed fit for Indian troops in Flanders to use the bicycles left behind, while the British troops were repositioned to places like Dagshai as conventional infantry.

The 1/9th Hampshires, commanded by Col RA Johnson, were the first to arrive in Dagshai in 1917. Orders for them to proceed for action in Waziristan were rescinded, and they found themselves in the pleasant hill cantonment of Dagshai, with precious little to do except play cycle polo and 6-a-side football, and organise concerts and fancy dress parties.

The 25th London, which replaced the 1/9th Hampshires in Dagshai early in 1918, went a step further. They formed The Dagshai Entertainers, an entertainment group with its own tenor, bass, comedian, pianist, female impersonator, stage and business managers, not to forget a certain Percy C Chisnall, variously described as an elocutionist, drummer and bandsman. Percy, in addition to his histrionic talents, was a keen-eyed photographer. The Dagshai Jail Museum has been fortunate to receive a set of some valuable photographs taken by Chisnall.

Unfortunately, a contingent of the 25th Londons was sent to Amritsar in 1919, during the days leading up to the tragic Jallianwala Bagh incident. Though the regiment was not involved in the actual shooting, its Sergeant Anderson did witness the massacre as he was General Dyer’s personal bodyguard. There is photographic evidence available that the 25th Londons did take part in enforcing the “crawling order”, making Indians crawl on the path where Miss Sherwood had been allegedly attacked.

So, what exactly were the cycling regiments doing in a peaceful Indian hill station cantonment during World War I, that too, without their bicycles? After all, the British Indian Army had provided 1.2 million men—all volunteers, fighting, and dying, for the British at a ridiculous salary of 11 rupees a month! Some 75,000 Indians laid down their lives and around 65,000 were injured in the battlefields of the Somme, Ypres and elsewhere, while some of the tommies were living in comfort in the cool hill stations of India.

The answer is evident in some telling photographs recently released in the UK by official sources as the world prepares for the centenary of World War I: the powers that be in Whitehall wanted to minimise British casualties. The cyclist battalions were packed off to India minus the bikes; it is the Sikh and Gurkha troops of the Indian Army who used these cycles. The desire to minimise British casualties apart, it was deemed essential that well-trained, professional British soldiers were available in various parts of India, just in case political unrest broke out.

The 47th Sikhs (Meerut Division) was one of the first in action at Ypres in October 1914. Of the total 765 men, only 380 were fit enough to stand by November that year. The photograph from the Imperial War Museum, London, of a Sikh havaldar (sergeant) leading a contingent of Indian bicycle troops into battle at Somme, while the British troops watched on from their horses, says it all. Clearly, the Indian troops, accustomed to colonial warfare, were not ready for trench-based fighting, described by many as hellish. As one gallant but anonymous Sikh soldier is said to have quipped at Ypres, “It is not war; it is the end of the world!”

Interestingly, among those fighting side by side with the Indian troops at the battles near Ypres and Somme were the Irish soldiers of the first battalion of the Connaught Rangers (the “Devil’s Own”), as part of the Lahore Division. In 1920, this battalion was posted back to India. These Irish troopers staged the Dagshai mutiny against their English officers, precipitating a chain of events that led to the independence of Ireland and inspired India’s struggle for independence.

Anand Sethi has an abiding interest in military history. Co-author of Doing Business in India, he is currently working on The Business of Electronics. Anand lives in Dagshai, Himachal Pradesh, and is curator of the Dagshai Jail Museum.
 

mayankkrishna

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The U.S. Army’s Bicycle Army: Strange Military History

In the 19th century many new inventions and innovations were considered by military forces around the world. This included aviation balloons and new weapons, notably the machine gun. But another invention was also considered – the bicycle. In fact, the bicycle has a long and colorful history not only in sport, but for its potential by soldiers, practically since its earliest days.

Among the earliest bicycles was the “ordinary bicycle,” which today is known as the “penny-farthing” or “high wheel bicycle” as these featured a tall front wheel. Despite the fact that these bicycles were difficult and at times even dangerous to ride, these became novelties for those who were both adventurous enough to try riding one and also wealthy enough to afford the costs. Of course, no proper lady would have ever considered trying to ride one, so in the early days of the bicycle it was strictly a man’s toy.

FRANCE PUTS THE MILITARY BICYCLE TO THE TEST
Despite the drawbacks, these became popular in France, and helped create the love affair that the nation has with the bicycle to this day. While awkward to ride, the French military tested the bicycle as a replacement or at least substitute for horses for dispatch riders and scouts during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

Ironically, the conflict, which brought down the French Second Empire of Napoleon III, all but destroyed the first fledging French bicycle industry. Yet, it was not to be the end of bicycles as development progressed in Great Britain and even in the United States, where advances included a chain-driven system that allowed for a more stable riding platform. It was English inventor John Kemp Starley who followed on this development, and produced the world’s first successful “safety bicycle,” which was also known as the “Rover” when it was released in 1885.

It featured a design that would be recognizable even today – with a steerable front wheel, equally sized front and back wheels and drive chain to the rear wheel. The safety bike concept caught on during the 1890s and many military thinkers, including those across the Atlantic in the United States, saw potential as an alternative to horses.

DEDICATED CYCLING UNITS IN THE USA
In the 1890s various National Guard regiments experimented with bicycles – in part because of the costs associated with caring for and feeding horses. This was also a time when many soldiers now were coming from cities rather than the countryside and didn’t know how to ride a horse. Learning to ride a bicycle instead probably seemed like a good solution.

There were other advantages – no need for food, water or handlers. Bicycles were quieter, easier to conceal and it was thought it would be simply a new piece of equipment.

The first American military unit to have a formal military bicycle unit was the First Signal Corps of the Connecticut National Guard, which it formed in 1891. The bicycles were used by messengers and relay riders, and the United States military took on various challenges – one Connecticut National Guard cyclist proved he alone could deliver a message faster than an entire flag signaler team, while another relay team carried a single dispatch from Chicago to New York City in just four days and 13 hours, with much of it in rainy weather.

A follow-up challenge then saw a team deliver a message from Washington, D.C. to Denver in just over six days. And this before a national highway system or in many places paved roads! Clearly the bicycle could deliver, but it still had to prove its place in war conditions.

Here is where another innovative thinker stepped in; Major General Nelson A. Miles, who was a proponent of modernization in the armed forces, expressed enthusiasm for military bicycles. In an 1894 newspaper article in The Outlook, Miles said, “There is no doubt in my mind that during the next great war the bicycle, with such modifications and adaptations as experience may suggest, will become a most important machine for military purposes.”

Miles saw the potential for the bicycle to be used to deliver dispatches, for riders to act as scout and even as a way for a soldier to ride into combat. It should be noted that his thinking was not unique. The British military were already experimenting with bicycles. At the English Easter Maneuvers of 1891 the 26th Middlesex Cyclist Regiment even demonstrated what is believed to be the first use of a machine gun fired by a cycle carriage. British military planners were apparently impressed by the display, but there proved to be a rather significant issue with this concept, which included two bicycles mounted side-by-side with a platform for the Maxim gun in between – it simply weighed too much.

At 96 pounds the bicycles of the era, with solid rubber tires and lacking the gears of today’s carbon fiber mountain bikes, were unable to pull the weight of the gun up even a slight incline. Two riders, even on level ground, would struggle to manage more than a few miles an hour. British designers tried to improve upon the design and one concept included additional bikes that could aid by towing the twin-bike platform.

However, the bicycle was still being considered as an option for mounted infantry in both the UK and in the United States. In 1896, Second Lieutenant James A. Moss, a West Point graduate who happened to be a cycling proponent, was given the go-ahead to create a specialized bicycle corps. While this could be seen today as an honor, it probably wasn’t intended as such. Moss had actually graduated dead last in his class and was given what was probably seen as an undesirable post.

Moss formed the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, which initially consisted of eight soldiers before later being expanded to 20 in addition to Moss. They were charged with learning to ride in formation, and the unit took part in an 800 mile ride from Fort Missoula to Yellowstone National Park in 1896. That trip took 23 days in poor weather, and was considered a successful demonstration of the bicycle as a tool for war.

A year later the unit took on a much more arduous trek when it traveled from the fort through the Rocky Mountains, across the Great Plans and all the way to St. Louis, covering a distance of 1,900 miles. The bicycles had been supplied by the Spalding Bicycle Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, and according to accounts by Edward Boos, who accompanied the men, the bikes and troopers performed quite well. The troopers pedaled as much as 40 miles per day, and each bike carried a knapsack, blanket roll and shelter half tent, as well as a rifle and 50 rounds of ammunition.

Due to heavy rains the dirt roads – where there were roads and not merely trails – turned to mud so thick the troops dubbed it “gumbo.” The troops endured extreme heat and cold, and due to the mud the bikes were walked and at times even carried. Some of the men became sick from drinking rotten water along the way, but only one trooper was sent back and the rest made it to St. Louis.

The unit was sent back to Fort Missoula by rail and the cycle unit disbanded just prior to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Moss tried to raise interest for another bicycle unit, but the U.S. military had other plans. The bicycles were returned to the Spalding Company, while the 25th Infantry Regiment was deployed to Cuba to take part in the war.

While this is often noted as the sad end for the American military bicycle the truth is that by the time of America’s entry into the First World War (1914-1918) the conflict had devolved into the horrific trench warfare for which it become iconic. Bicycles were used by scouts in the early days of the conflict by the various European powers, and the first British Army casualty of the war was John Henry Parr, a bicycle scout from the 4th Middlesex Regiment. He was killed outside Mons, the site of the first engagement between British and German forces, on August 21, 1914

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mayankkrishna

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South Vietnamese Troops Almost Fought on Battle Bicycles

In early 1965, villagers across South Vietnam might have watched a curious military formation race through their hamlets. No, not heavily-armed troops shielded inside armored vehicles, but rural militiamen on bicycles. For nearly a year, authorities in Saigon and their American advisers considered adding bicycles to various rural units. Cheap and easy enough for provincial soldiers to fix on their own, the bike potentially offered a good alternative to larger, gas-guzzling vehicles.

In many areas, “the principal means of movement … is by foot on paths and by boat on the numerous waterways,” U.S. Army evaluators explained in an August 1965 final report. “Faster reaction time … permits more timely support of’ hamlets under attack and under some conditions lessens the opportunity for the V.C. to establish ambushes.”

For the test, the South Vietnamese Army had bought nearly 800 French-made commercial bicycles. To reflect the bikes’ new role, they got a green paint job and a yellow and red stripe — representative of the national flag — below the seat.

The new gear was a welcome morale boost for the ill-equipped Regional Forces and Popular Forces. Nicknamed “Ruff-Puffs” by American troops, these second line troops often got stuck with antiquated weapons or cast offs from the regular army. Unfortunately, rural commanders and province chiefs had little idea when or how to use the bicycles, if at all.

While the idea of bicycle-mounted troops was hardly new by the 1960s, the practice had fallen out of vogue. After widespread use, especially in Europe during World Wars I and II, modern armies universally abandoned bicycles in favor of motorized vehicles. During the Vietnam War, the bicycle became synonymous with the Viet Cong and its North Vietnamese allies. Communist insurgents used fleets of bikes to help carry vital supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.

The Pentagon realized that bikes could be useful for government troops, too. Firstly, especially in areas with roads or trails, bike-riding soldiers could cover more ground than on foot. “The soldier as a cyclist on a heavily packed bicycle should be able to cover an average distance of 50 miles, and a maximum distance of 100 miles a day, at about an average rate of eight to 10 miles per hour and still remain ready to fight,” analysts consulted by the Army wrote. “He should be clothed, equipped and armed in such a way that he can lay down his bicycle at any time and enter combat as an infantryman, even for several days.”

In March 1965, U.S. Air Force Col. Ben Hardaway asked the researchers to compile a summary of historical examples of bicycle troops. At the time, Hardaway was the head of the Advanced Research Project Agency’s team in South Vietnam. Unlike jeeps or cargo trucks, bikes do not suffer because of broken engines or lack of fuel. Without assigned vehicles, military units might need to wait hours for their superiors to round up civilian buses or other transportation.

But with bicycles, militiamen could race at moment’s notice toward nearby hamlets if they came under attack. And the bikes were practically silent compared to noisy gas- or diesel-engine vehicles. The Ruff-Puffs could also use this stealthiness to quietly assemble for an attack. If the Viet Cong blew up bridges, troops could simply carry their lightweight rides across canals and rivers. And the lightweight bikes were less likely to trigger mines meant for larger vehicles.

The Ruff-Puffs had no trouble riding with their rifles and submachine guns. Of course, no one tried to actually shoot guerrillas from the bicycles. In the future, the Army recommended buying “women’s style” bikes with a slanted or altogether missing center bar to help troops jump off faster in a fight.
With trailers attached, bikes could conceivably carry heavier armament like .30-caliber machine guns and 60-millimeter mortars. While none of the Ruff-Puffs pursued these ideas, one company rented more powerful motorcycles to carry these weapons.

Some intelligence units even used the civilian-looking bikes for secretive patrols in villages. “In these operations, members … wore civilian clothes and carried only pistols or submachine guns which could be concealed beneath their clothing,” the report explained. But bicycles were by no means perfectly suited to South Vietnam. Flooding in areas full of rice paddies made them impractical. American trainers reported that some units in the Mekong Delta region rarely used their new bikes.

Then there was a concern about how bicycle-riding troops would survive enemy ambushes. Three out of five advisers reported that the bikes made the units more effective in combat, the Army noted in its report. But one bluntly said there was “no apparent difference.”
While the American officials said that bicycle-riding troops might actually present less of a target, no mounted Ruff-Puffs ever actually encountered the Viet Cong during the test.

Accustomed to operating with limited mobility and mostly as local security, the Ruff-Puffs do not appear to have taken full advantage of the bicycles, under the best conditions. In many cases, the militia fighters preferred the bikes for moving couriers back and forth … and not for fighting.

The Army’s analysts were also not sure how relevant bicycle troops were in the post-World War II era. Their historical research covered examples from 1870 to 1945. “These concepts, of course, have changed in the last 70 years, so it is necessary to evaluate the information of the past in the light of today’s environment, objectives and requirements,” the analysts wrote. The analysts offered wildly different ideas on how and when the Ruff-Puffs should use bikes in the future. Most favored giving them to specific units or individual soldiers, such as messengers and intelligence troops, who might be able to use them best.

In the end, the Army decided not to form up companies of rural bike troops — and stood up a small number of Ruff-Puff units with armored cars instead.

This first appeared in WarIsBoring here.
 

Picard

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This reminded me of an old post I wrote; link here:
https://defenseissues.net/2017/02/21/bicycle-at-war/

History

First bicycles (“Penny-Farthings”) were tall and dangerous to ride due to propensity for causing inadvertent sommersaults. These bikes were first tested in war by the French, used by dispatch riders and scouts during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871, while Prussians still relied on push cycles. This conflict destroyed the French bicycle industry, and further advancement was left to United Kingdom and United States. It was English inventor John Kemp Starley who developed the “safety bicycle” by applying the invention of drive chain. In 1870. Italians introduced bicycle to their bersaglieri troops. Trained to carry dispatches, they averaged 12 miles an hour across open country.

Proper bicycle infantry appeared in the late 19th century as a consequence of the invention of “safety bicycle” (the Pioneer, 1886.). Bicycles were first used by British militia and territorial army units, deploying cyclists as scouts in Easter exercises of 1885. In 1887. they held first of a series of maneuvers involving volunteer units. French army introduced bikes into service the same year. French took the concept and improved on it, developing a folding bicycle in 1880s. In 1888., pneumatic tires were invented, significantly improving mobility and finally bringing bicycle to maturity. Compared to horses, bicycles were cheaper, easier to train for, silent and easier to support in the field. Dutch, Belgian and Italian armies also quickly took up the concept, and the Swiss army found bicycles useful asset in the rough terrain where horses could not be used. United States’ Connecticut National Guard was the first US military unit to have a formal bicycle detachment, formed in 1891. It was in the same year that Swiss Army introduced the bicycle. Imperial Russian Gendarmerie used bicycles to patrol the Siberian Railway. First known combat use of bicycles was in the Jameson Raid, where bicycles carried messages. Usage continued throught the Second Anglo-Boer War, with bicyclers acting as scouts and messangers, and also as raiders, in armies of both sides – the British brought in thousands of bicycles. Particular impression was made by Boer Theron se Verkenningskorps, a Boer scout unit led by Daniel Theron, whom British commander Lord Roberts described as “the hardest thorn in the flesh of the British advance”. Lord Roberts placed ₤1.000 (today ₤118.000) reward on Theron’s head, and dispatched 4.000 soldiers to find and eliminate him. Theron solved the problem of frequent punctures by using rawhide leather tires. Bicycles had the advantage over horses because far less food and water was required, and they were also far less conscipious than horses. One of Theron’s principal targets were watering holes and paddocks that British troops used for their horses. It was not long before the British also raised their own “Cape Cycling Corps”, likewise tasked with scouting and dispatches. A New Zealander bicycle squad chased down and captured a contignent of Boers on horseback. Australians developed a railroad bicycle – four wheels, eight men – to patrol the railroad tracks checking for Boer kommandos and demolition charges. British meanwhile developed and deployed the folding “Penderson” bicycle, which proved extremely successful in the Boer war. Within a year, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland and Japan had adopted the folding bicycle as standard military equipment US Army also tested bicycles’ suitability for cross-country transport.

In World War I, both sides used bicycle infantry very extensively – the British supplied 100.000 bicycles, the French and Belgians 150.000 and the Germans 250.000 bicycles to their troops. The American Expeditionary Force used 29.000 bicycles, but with no designated bicycle troops. Main tasks of bicycle troops were scouting, troop transport (mounted infantry), communications and evacuation of the wounded. Italian Bersaglieri and German Jaeger battalions both had bicycle units. Germany formed eight Radfahr-Battailonen. German bicycle troops were vital in the first phase of the war (blitzkrieg), seizing bridges, railroads and crossroads and laying down telephone lines ahead of the main force. Adolf Hitler earned two Iron Crosses as a regimental cyclist, carrying messages far behind the main fighting. Early in 1914., German cyclist troops destroyed a bridge across Marne at Mt. St. Pere, twenty miles behind French lines. German East Africa army led by General Lettow Vorbeck used bicycles in its guerilla warfare that ran the British ragged until the end of the war – all the motor vehicles having broken down early in the conflict. Belgian and French bicycle units were conversely used to get behind the German lines to blow up bridges, sever communication lines and attack supply lines. British Army had cyclist companies in its divisions, and later it formed 1st and 2nd Cyclist Divisions. Australian bicycle units were deployed to the front line, as well as undertaking cable burying, traffic control and reconnaissance work. On multiple occasions stealthy cyclists heard the cavalry approaching before dismounting and ambushing them. They also participated in major battles such as Messines and Passchendale in 1917. Bicycles were issued from England, manufactured by Birmingham Small Arms company which was the major British arms manufacturer since the Crimean War. Soldiers used Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) rifles. Mark I through III bicycles had fixed hub, and had to be pedalled constantly; Mark IV bike introduced free wheeled hub as well as hand-operated rear brake. During the final Hundred Days Offensive, cyclists escorted tanks, and Canadian cyclists played an important role at the Battle of Amiens. The first Allied soldier to cross the Bonn River into Germany was a Canadian cyclist. French however failed to maintain their bicycle corps in the latter stages of the war, instead disbanding them and sending troops to serve in static trench infantry. Germans on the other hand expanded their bicycle troops, using them as a quick-reaction reserve. Bicycle troops had major advantage over infantry. Average infantry battalion in 1914 could make 20 miles a day – 25 if pressed. Bicycle infantry routinely made 60 to 80 miles a day using a fraction of energy, meaning that when they arrived at the target they were still able to fight. AEF however, as noted, had no bicycle infantry. Instead, Americans utilized bicycle only for carrying dispatches and for behind-the-frontline personal transport. For a country with ongoing love affair with big, fast, powerful and impressive toys, a bicycle was seen as superfluous, especially when comparatively vast distances of United States were taken into account. But more powerful explosives increased possible effects of small units of men carrying light supplies.

During its 1937 invasion of China, Japan employed 50.000 bicycle troops. Japanese Malaya campaign was dependant on bicycles due to their stealth and mobility. Bicycles themselves were confiscated from the populace and retailers, thus incurring no additional logistical cost. Using them, Japanese troops were able to outpace retreating Allied forces. They allowed covering greater distances not only because of a speed advantage of a bicycle over foot, but also because Japanese soldiers could carry 36 kilos of equipment on bicycles, compared to 18 kilos for British infantrymen. This was not an ad-hoc solution, excepting the use of confiscated bicycles: Japanese also used bicycles in Indochina, Phillipines and the Dutch East India. Phillipines were taken primarily by thousands of bicycle troops, as was the Malaya. Most Polish infantry divisions in 1939. included a company of bicycle-riding scouts, but they never got to be employed effectively as Poles had expected a World War I style slow, wide-front advance. The Finnish Army utilized bicycles extensively during the Continuation War and the Lapland War. They were means of transportation of the Jaeger Battalions, divisional Light Detachments and organic Jaeger Companies. During the winter time these units, and infantry as whole, switched to skis. German “blitzkrieg” advance of World War II depended upon two things: trucks and bicycles. These were far more important than tanks, even though the latter typically get all the glory thanks to shallow sensationalist historians; even so, most German supplies and artillery were horse-drawn. Without any major oil fields, 80% of German oil was synthesized from coal. Thus horses and especially bicycles were of major importance in Wehrmacht, as neither required liquid fuel. British raid at Arnhem was repelled in large part thanks to German bicycle troops. In Poland, German cyclist troops kept scattered Polish units that survived initial armoured attack off-guard, preventing them from joining together until infantry could finish them off. In Norway, bicycle troops with their ability to move off roads proved vital in dealing with roadblocks and other defenses in mountainous Norwegian terrain. Paratroopers too used bicycles. Equipped with folding bikes, German paratroopers undertook sabotage and intelligence missions deep behind the enemy lines. Usage of bicycles allowed Germans to concentrate tanks and trucks into armoured divisions, thus facilitating mechanized portion of the blitzkrieg. Western Allies did not use bicycles at large scale, but folding bicycles were supplied to paratroopers and messangers behind the enemy lines. British paratroopers used folding bicycles as early as February 1942 raid at radar stations. Raid was a success, troopers having dropped eight miles to the target, and pedalling to the target and then from the target to the beach where they were extracted by the Royal Navy. Americans on the other hand trained only one paratrooper unit to use bicycles, but it was never sent overseas. US military only ever used bicycles for dispatch carriers and to get around bases and depots – in American military thinking, motorized vehicles reigned supreme. Troops however did not agree, using captured German bikes to pursue the Germans. Even for the limited “official” use of bicycles, US military production was not enough and the British supplied thousands of bikes to the US military. US bike production only ramped up in late 1942 / early 1943. Soviets used bicycles with very wide tyres, similar to modern mountain bikes. Each bike had an attack dog attached, as dogs could maintain the same rate of speed and also stand guard at night. Resistance movements in France and Belgium also made widespread utilization of the bicycle, so much that merely riding one became grounds for extensive questioning by German occupational forces. Thanks to the bicycle, roads were completely denied to Germans during the nighttime.



During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army used bicycles to carry supplies down the “Ho Chi Minh” trail. Cargo bicycles were not ridden, but pushed by a person walking alongside. These bicycles caught attention of the US Special Operations Group command. Airplanes were noisy, and by the time any aircraft was close enough to notice the bicycles, they had already disappeared into the undergrowth. Earlier, a major factor in Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu was French General Navarre’s underestimation of payload capacity of a bike; he figured that each bicycle could carry 2,5 times the weight of an average Vietnamese, or 250 lbs. But Vietnamese reinforced the bikes and attached bamboo steering rods, thus boosting the payload capacity up to 500 lbs per bicycle – more than carrying capacity of an elephant, and 10-12 times the load of what a man on foot could carry. Bikes could not be easily found from the air as they lacked the thermal and noise signature which betrayed motor vehicle convoys, and they proved impossible to stop both at Dien Bien Phu and later during the US intervention. For years, general Giap prepared the attack. The entire supply depended upon the bicycle in the jungle, where French aircraft could not detect it. Especially at night, or under the bad weather, when the Vietnamese preferred to move. United States offered to detonate atomic bombs in the surrounding jungle to save the fortress; French refused the offer. Dien Bien Phu was lost. While the French defeat had taught US Army the potential of the bicycle, they still refused to form their own bicycle units to counter the Vietnamese.

vietnamese trail porters

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But it was neutral nations of Sweden and Switzerland that used bicycles most extensively. Swedish 27th Gotlandic Infantry Regiment replaced its cavalry component with bicycle-mounted troops in 1901. By 1942., Sweden had six bicycle infantry regiments. After 1948. however Scandinavian nations decomissioned most of ther bicycle infantry regiments. However, bicycle rifle battalions continued to exist into the late 1980s. Switzerland introduced bicycle infantry in 1905. and phased it out in 2001, only to introduce it again in 2015. During the civil war in Sri Lanka (1983-2009), underequipped Tamil forces used bicycles to quickly move troops to and from the battleifield. British troops used bicycles in Iraq in 2003 and later.



Modern-day application

Obvious advantage of the bicycles is the lessened need for horses, fodder, motorized vehicles, fuel and maintenance, while providing significantly better mobility than foot infantry. In fact, mobility of bicycle infantry is in many ways superior to that of mechanized infantry. While slower on road, bicycles are also far smaller and lighter. They can go where motor vehicles, even some larger motorbikes, cannot. They can carry heavy loads with no fuel necessary, at least on the flat terrain. Modern bicycles are also light enough to be carried by hand, and some models can be folded. Thus bicycle infantry can traverse the terrain that is impossible for the wheeled vehicles to negotiate simply by emphasizing “infantry” part of the name. Paratroopers can also be equipped and deployed with folding bicycles, significantly increasing their mobility without need to drop motor vehicles.



Bicycles are also very stealthy. They are smaller than most motor vehicles, and nearly completely silent. They produce no emissions, and the biggest source of IR signature is typically the man on the bike (that problem can be reduced by utilizing IR camouflage clothing). No need for fuel also means far reduced logistical signature, making bicycle units particularly hard to discover either on march or in the base (especially if said base is properly camouflaged). Small size and low IR signature means that they are ideal scouts and for special operations. If equipped with an electric motor and a dynamo, bicycles can more easily traverse the difficult terrain (another possibility is attaching e.g. chainsaw engine, but once out of fuel an internal combustion engine would become dead weight).

Even in 2008. the Australian military was using bikes in Eastern Timor to improve flexibility of field patrols, in unit called Bicycle Infantry Mounted Patrol. Likewise, the Finnish defense forces still train conscripts to use bicycles and skis.

Swiss bicycle units are almost always employed pure, not task organized with mechanized infantry or armour, and can be allocated to a division as needed. Only about half of bicycle infantry regiment is deployed on bicycles, with rest using other vehicles. Mortar and antitank companies are motorized. Tasks in wartime include security of key areas, security of unoccupied areas inaccessible to mechanized forces, engagement and blocking of air assault and airborne landings in the Corps rear, and general infantry missions. Bicycle units are specialized for quick strike, urban and closed area operations and combat. Bicycle units require no special preparation from an assembly area which gives them advantage in quick strike over motorized units, and can traverse areas with poor road networks. No vehicle noise means that surprise during the attack is maintained until the moment of actual attack. Within first 30 to 50 km, bicycle troops are quicker, quieter and more responsive than armour, mechanized infantry or foot infantry. At distances of 100 to 120 km however bicycle troops arrive with most of their combat power exhausted. The average load of the cyclist is 30 to 50 kg, depending on the task.

Disadvantages of bicycle infantry are inability to cover very long distances, relatively slow speed compared to motor vehicles, and lack of heavy antitank capability. This limits their utilization in the open terrain and armoured warfare, unless combined with other types of vehicles (e.g. airborne or truck deployment of bicycle troops to area of operations). Their advantages however make them extremely useful for rear-area operations, be it security of one’s own rear area or utilization by special forces operating in enemy’s rear area. Bicycle utilization can improve both defenses against airborne assault as well as capabilities of the same. Occupation, pacification and peacemaking duties would also be an ideal role of the bicycle infantry.

In offensive role, bicycle can be used by paratroopers for improved mobility, as well as a stealthy reconnaissance vehicle for foot infantry. US tests done in 1996. have shown that skilled drivers can navigate even difficult terrain with very little fatigue and at significantly faster rate than baseline walking / marching speed. Skilled drivers also significantly outperformed their less skilled colleagues, showing the necessity of establishing dedicated cycling units.

When deployed alongside motor vehicles, bicycle troops will act as scouts, to prevent less mobile motor vehicles from walking into traps. For this reason, and to avoid having their presence betrayed by the highly conscipious motor vehicles, bicycle troops should be deployed at distance ahead of and flanking any motor vehicles. Bicycles can use a variation of ghillie camouflage typically associated with snipers to break up their contours, and if proper material is used such ghillie suit can also provide IR camouflage.

Tires utilizing solid foam instead of inner tube would make tires immune to punctures. In very rough terrain, bicycles can be dismounted and carried or pushed; if load is carried on a bicycle, they can be pushed, thus relieving soldier. Extreme Terrain Bikes (10 in wide tires) can be used in sandy and soft ground conditions; for most purposes, normal mountain bikes should suffice.

Conclusion

Modern militaries that do not have bicycle troops would do well to reintroduce them. They would significantly improve mobility over rough terrain as well as quick response capabilites over short distance. Lessened logistical requirements would also be of major advantage in time of tightening budgets. Low logistical signature would be advantageous in long-term, low-intensity conflicts such as counterterrorist and counterinsurgency operations.

However, this faces a problem in generals who equate bicycles with old-fashioned low technology, and therefore unworthy of any attention and resources. In a mentality where military is equated with technological porn, scrapping or not employing simple and effective weapons is all too easy (as exemplified by the bicycle, recoilless rifle, dedicated CAS/COIN aircraft).
 

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