Pictures of bicycles in WW II
04-18-24, 11:25 AM
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My first thought on seeing this photo was "Aiee, the sand! The salt! My delicately adjusted bearing!" Given how many bigger things those guys had to worry about, I have to admit that it was an unusually stupid thought, even for me.
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04-18-24, 03:31 PM
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This picture surprised me. I would have thought that space would be limited on any ship, especially a sub so there wouldn't be room for something like a bicycle. Perhaps this shows that bikes were essential during WWII.
At a submarine-refitting station in the United Kingdom, members of the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian navies were able to rest and refit their submarines between long tours of duty. Here, French sailors disembark with bicycles they brought along in case they docked a long distance from their quarters, seen on on August 31, 1942
At a submarine-refitting station in the United Kingdom, members of the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian navies were able to rest and refit their submarines between long tours of duty. Here, French sailors disembark with bicycles they brought along in case they docked a long distance from their quarters, seen on on August 31, 1942
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04-18-24, 04:07 PM
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Great post.
'April 9th', a movie about a Danish military cycling unit trying to hold back German light armor:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3542188/
I liked 'flat tire repair drill'.
'April 9th', a movie about a Danish military cycling unit trying to hold back German light armor:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3542188/
I liked 'flat tire repair drill'.
04-18-24, 04:59 PM
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This picture surprised me. I would have thought that space would be limited on any ship, especially a sub so there wouldn't be room for something like a bicycle. Perhaps this shows that biles were essential during WWII.
At a submarine-refitting station in the United Kingdom, members of the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian navies were able to rest and refit their submarines between long tours of duty. Here, French sailors disembark with bicycles they brought along in case they docked a long distance from their quarters, seen on on August 31, 1942
At a submarine-refitting station in the United Kingdom, members of the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian navies were able to rest and refit their submarines between long tours of duty. Here, French sailors disembark with bicycles they brought along in case they docked a long distance from their quarters, seen on on August 31, 1942
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Last edited by jonwvara; 04-18-24 at 05:29 PM.
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04-18-24, 10:02 PM
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This picture surprised me. I would have thought that space would be limited on any ship, especially a sub so there wouldn't be room for something like a bicycle. Perhaps this shows that bikes were essential during WWII.
At a submarine-refitting station in the United Kingdom, members of the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian navies were able to rest and refit their submarines between long tours of duty. Here, French sailors disembark with bicycles they brought along in case they docked a long distance from their quarters, seen on on August 31, 1942
At a submarine-refitting station in the United Kingdom, members of the British, French, Dutch, and Norwegian navies were able to rest and refit their submarines between long tours of duty. Here, French sailors disembark with bicycles they brought along in case they docked a long distance from their quarters, seen on on August 31, 1942
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04-19-24, 06:12 AM
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I did take my bike on board when I was in the Navy, but it was a surface ship. There were a lot of dead spaces where you could store things inside the outer bulkheads where the frames were. My division had one assigned to us that was big enough to set up a bike on a wind trainer.
On a submarine, I think the bigger issue would be getting a bike through the hatch. I don't have a lot of experience with subs, but what I remember is the hatches were not that big, maybe 24 inches? Subs of the WWII era travelled mainly on the surface, so maybe they lashed the bikes on the outside during the transit.
On a submarine, I think the bigger issue would be getting a bike through the hatch. I don't have a lot of experience with subs, but what I remember is the hatches were not that big, maybe 24 inches? Subs of the WWII era travelled mainly on the surface, so maybe they lashed the bikes on the outside during the transit.
04-19-24, 10:35 AM
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Me neither!
Torpedo loading door?
Having toured a couple of WWII subs (U-505 tour @ Chicago
) I don't know where you'd stow a bike INSIDE the boat. They should have all had a Le Petit Bi!
...but what I remember is the hatches were not that big, maybe 24 inches?
Having toured a couple of WWII subs (U-505 tour @ Chicago
) I don't know where you'd stow a bike INSIDE the boat. They should have all had a Le Petit Bi!
Last edited by tcs; 04-19-24 at 10:40 AM.
04-19-24, 02:10 PM
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One of the things I remember as a kid was seeing the U505 and they way they had every available inch to store food and such, absolutely packed.
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04-20-24, 08:01 AM
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In the years after WWII, the North Vietnamese/Viet Minh used bicycles very effectively, not as personnel transport, but loaded down with hundreds of pounds of supplies and pushed. They supplied their army at Dien Bien Phu that way in 1954, and they moved tons of supplies down the Ho Chi Minh Trail that way in the 1960s and 1970s.
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04-22-24, 07:31 PM
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photos of bicycles in WW2
Here is an unpublished photo of B-26 medium bomber groundcrew at an English airbase in WW2.
Four bicycles, I think, can be seen leaned against a nissen hut in the background. Bicycles were
used generally around all the bomber airbases in England.
B-26 bomber airbase in England with bicycles in background.
Four bicycles, I think, can be seen leaned against a nissen hut in the background. Bicycles were
used generally around all the bomber airbases in England.
B-26 bomber airbase in England with bicycles in background.
