Almost as soon as a viable metal-framed bike was invented, it was put to military use, offering a much cheaper, less fragile and less logistically demanding alternative to horse transport. Widely used in many armies from the late 19th century, through both world wars and beyond, the bicycle really is the forgotten war machine. John Norris traces traces the development of military cycling from first experiments, including early (often flawed) designs for armed and multi-passenger versions. He explains how any why bikes were used for rapid movement of infantry units as well as carrying messages and other tasks. First used in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, then by both sides in the Boer War, they were widely adopted throughout Europe before the First World War. In the Second World War, the Japanese used over fifty thousand bicycles in the conquest of Malaya and the German army used over three million, relying on them increasingly as petrol shortages immobilized motor transport. The Allies famously made use of folding and air-dropped bikes in Operation Market Garden and in Normandy. After WW2 bikes were used extensively in Vietnam, particularly along the Ho Chi Minh trail and some European armies maintained specialist bicycle units throughout the Cold War and into the 21st century. Specialized military bikes, collapsible for use by parachutists, are still being made for Special Forces units. John Norris examines the whole history of pedal-powered warfare and illustrates it with an array of high-quality photographs.

Everybody in the 21st century has a pet subject. Withthe rise of the internet it's easier to share our passion- Vintage collectors have benfited greatly from this.Vintage car and motorcycle enthusiasts experience theessence of 'time travel' when riding in or on a vehiclefrom 30, 50, 70 years ago. However, vintage bicycle enthusiasts can travel backeven further, to a time before cars and motorcycle wereinvented, or to 1914 when the Great War called uponcyclists to flight. Bad Teeth No Bartakes you and your bicycle to themost challenging cycling environment of all - War.100,000 British soldiers used bicycles in the Great war.Even more French and Belgians rode bikes, and theGermans used even more than anyone else. See thebikes, read the stories, and imagine how you wouldhave coped if you were one of the many patriots whoenlisted to fight for King and Country.

The landmark work in its field, this book chronicles the use of bicycles in warfare from the Boer War to Afganistan today. Heavily illustrated, it looks at the machine's adaptation and use by the Vietnamese, the Japanese, in the invasion of Malaya and Singapore, and by both the Allied and German forces in World Wars I and II.

Stationed at Fort Missoula in 1896 was the 25th Infantry, an all-black regiment. From these African American troops, Lt. Moss chose an elite group to form the Bicycle Corps and attempt a historic 2,000-mile journey to St. Louis. In The Great Bicycle Experiment, Kay Moore chronicles this challenging journey, highlighting the hardships and triumphs of these stalwart soldiers as they pedaled and pushed their way across the mountains and plains into history.

This report presents a history of the use of bicycles for transportation by combat troops prior to World War I, during World Wars I and II, and more recently the use of bicycles in guerrilla warfare. It was developed in the Vietnam War as a special study for the Pentagon and in this edition it has been enlarged and supplemented with new materials. The armament, mobility, speed, distance, design, and load-carrying capacity of bicycles for transportation in remote areas and guerrilla warfare are discussed, The effect of terrain on the utilization of bicycles, the organization, strength, and tactics of bicycle units, and the training of combat troops using the bicycles are also considered. This volume also contains a rich trove of anecdotes of cyclists in combat and detailed training exercises for bicycle units.

Om "cykler i krig", militær anvendelse af cykler som transportmiddel under krige. Amerikansk bog fra 1974 som beskriver dels cyklens historie og udvikling og dels dens anvendelse som regulært og effektivt transportmiddel i visse krigssituationer i krige, helt fra den første dokumentere militære anvendelse i den Fransk-Tyske krig i 1870. Med stort succes blev cykler siden da benyttet bl.a. i Boerkrigen, i 1. Verdenskrig og i 2. Verdenskrig, og igen i Vietnamkrigen.

In this lively cultural history, Margaret Guroff reveals how the bicycle has transformed American society, from making us mobile to empowering people in all avenues of life. Book jacket.

In her first novel, beloved author Shirley Hughes presents a World War II adventure proving that in extraordinary circumstances, people are capable of extraordinary things. Italy, 1944: Florence is occupied by Nazi forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though — and neither have thirteen-year- old Paolo and his sister, Costanza. As their mother is pressured into harboring escaping POWs, Paolo and Costanza each find a part to play in opposing the German forces. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings — with only a bicycle to help them — do against a whole army? Middle-grade fans of history and adventure will be riveted by the action and the vividly evoked tension of World War II.

An authoritative and comprehensive account of the bicycle's two-hundred-year evolution. The bicycle ranks as one of the most enduring, most widely used vehicles in the world, with more than a billion produced during almost two hundred years of cycling history. This book offers an authoritative and comprehensive account of the bicycle's technical and historical evolution, from the earliest velocipedes (invented to fill the need for horseless transport during a shortage of oats) to modern racing bikes, mountain bikes, and recumbents. It traces the bicycle's development in terms of materials, ergonomics, and vehicle physics, as carried out by inventors, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers. Written by two leading bicycle historians and generously illustrated with historic drawings, designs, and photographs, Bicycle Design describes the key stages in the evolution of the bicycle, beginning with the counterintuitive idea of balancing on two wheels in line, through the development of tension-spoked wheels, indirect drives (employing levers, pulleys, chains, and chainwheels), and pneumatic tires. The authors examine the further development of the bicycle for such specific purposes as racing, portability, and all-terrain use; and they describe the evolution of bicycle components including seats, transmission, brakes, lights (at first candle-based), and carriers (racks, panniers, saddlebags, child seats, and sidecars). They consider not only commercially successful designs but also commercial failures that pointed the way to future technological developments. And they debunk some myths about bicycles—for example, the mistaken but often-cited idea that Leonardo sketched a chain-drive bike in his notebooks. Despite the bicycle's long history and mass appeal, its technological history has been neglected. This volume, with its engaging and wide-ranging coverage, fills that gap. It will be the starting point for all future histories of the bicycle.