Bicycles in the colonies

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Chris Dale
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Bicycles in the colonies

#1

Post by Chris Dale » 11 Feb 2017, 19:20

I have occasionally seen photos in DSWA and DOA with the Schutztruppe with bicycles. Does anyone know if the Schutztruppe owned a stock of them or if these were brought to Africa by individuals?

Von Lettow-Vorbeck's autobiography "My Reminiscences of East Africa" (English version), P38.
"Luckily headquarters had brought a few bicycles, and so, in order to satisfy myself quickly by personal observation, I was able to go off at once with Capt von Hammerstein and Volunteer Dr Dressel to the railway station at Tanga where I found an advance guard of the 6th Field Company. They, however, could give no accurate information about the enemy, and so I rode on through the empty streets of the town."

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Re: Bicycles in the colonies

#2

Post by Tanzania » 15 Jul 2017, 15:32

I didn´t find currently any further information about official German Infantry-bicycle-units in the Colonies.

Here is one photo, showing a German Field Company and a bicycle driver, but I didn’t really understand the title:
“Official photograph of the Faridkot Sappers, accompanied by a man with a bicycle. Image reproduced courtesy of Richard Sneyd.”
http://www.gatewaysfww.org.uk/blog/rich ... n-campaign


As far as I know the Belgian Congo troops used bicycles during the Great War on company-level.
01.png
01.png (390.55 KiB) Viewed 1302 times
Original Source: http://www.1914-1918.be/armee_belge_en_afrique.php

02.png
02.png (310.26 KiB) Viewed 1302 times
Original Source: http://www.1914-1918.be/armee_belge_en_afrique.php


Seems to be also the South Africans used Bicycles during the East African campaign?!?
03.png
03.png (280.32 KiB) Viewed 1302 times
Original Source: http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol041dm.html



Nice and informative made webpage about Bicycles in the Great War, but not in Africa!?!
https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com/bikes-at-war-1914/
“Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. . . . All History was a
palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary” – G. ORWELL 1984


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