Two-wheeled warriors: Military Motorcycles

One motorized form of transportation that you might not immediately associate with the military or combat is the motorcycle. Motorcycles, however, have a long and interesting history in combat, through to the present day.

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Script by JCG

#history #thehistoryguy #WWII

[TERoss-jkny]

My high school principal, MR. Gosling, served in the British Army, Riding his motorcycles across North Africa.
He immigrated to America after the war, went to Life Bible College, met his wife, and they both became missionaries in South America for over 30 years.
He then became an assistant pastor at our church/school in the early 80’s.
He retired and him and his lovely little wife lived out their lives in Helendale, CA. A very fine man who told incredible tales of cruising across Africa at 70 MPH jumping small ravines, and I, at the age of 16, 17 and 18 wish I had recorded them.

[pamelabromme]

My Dad rode a Harley in France and Germany as a Scout for the Tank Co. He taught all of us kids to ride. Miss him so much.

[gulfcoastaero]

Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Great motorcycle scene!

[davidrox]

About ten years ago a professor in New Mexico passed away, in his garage was a WW2 Harley still in the crate. I worked with the professor's younger brother, they were stunned to find out it's value. 🤠

[robertbenson]

Very interesting episode. Not many people realize the importance of small motorized vehicles in the military.
My dad was a ETO veteran in the 99th Infantry Division in Europe. He had assumed the position of company commander during the Battle of the Bulge. He was a 1st Lieutenant and didn’t get his captain’s bars until just before the end of the war.
The 99th was northeast of Munich when the war ended. In the next few weeks, some soldiers were rotated home to the US based on the Army’s point system. Dad was short a few points so he stayed in Germany under the Army of Occupation.
After a short period of time, he was assigned as company commander of a provisional MP company being organized to provide security during the upcoming war trials in Nuremberg.
A few days after arriving in Nuremberg, Dad found a recently uncrated Harley-Davidson motorcycle marked “US Army Air Force”. He took a look at it, it was full of gas and the keys were in it. So he decided “to borrow it”.
For the next few months, Dad learned his way around Nuremberg with his “borrowed” Harley. The War Trials were just getting under way in late November of 1945. Dad’s orders had come through and he was being sent home in early December of ‘45.
As his time to ship out approached, Dad drove the Harley back to where he had found it. He filled it with gas, parked it with the keys in it and wrote a short note explaining his “borrowing of the Harley”.
There was so much American equipment coming in to Europe after the war ended, that the Quartermaster Corps had huge stockpiles of vehicles and other equipment. Even though the war was over, materials that were in “the pipeline” between the US and the ETO continued to be shipped until arrangements were made to shift material to the Pacific.
So somewhere in Nuremberg, Germany in December of 1945, there was a brand new Harley-Davidson motorcycle with just a few miles on it, waiting for the next rider. I’ve thought of that Harley many times, wondering what ever happened to it.
Thanks for a great episode that brought back many memories.

[kmlammto]

A former coworker was USAF NCO on Cyprus when the Greeks and Turks decided to fight over the island. They were on lockdown for weeks with nobody leaving the base. The base had a significant number of motorcyclists who had formed a club. As they got stir crazy, they organized a bike ride to a beach. The day before my coworker was summoned to the CO’s office. As he approached he noticed more and more of the club members heading the same direction. As they entered the CO’s building, the highest ranking officer in the motorcycle club was directing them to the meeting room. Many of the Enlisted personnel were expecting to be dressed down. When the CO entered he said the trip was on. They were to collect intel about the citizens attitudes towards the US and its personnel. The next morning they took off on their ride stopping in multiple towns to interact with the locals who were just as nice as before the hostilities had started. Mission accomplished and another usage of motorcycles by the USA’s military.

[JTEllis]

The WWII German BMW R-75 lives on today as the Ural sidecar motorcycle imported from Russia into the USA. Enhanced with modern parts and technology it is an impressive machine.

[loose-arrow-garage]

I found it interesting how @3:10 the sidecar passenger and his machine gun are protected by armor yet the driver is unprotected!

[shawnharrington]

Growing up in the 70's and loving war history, I bought a Matchbox police motorcycle that fit a WW2 figure from a Willys jeep Snap Tite plastic model. Of course, he was a Steve McQueen type figure, lol.

[morgan]

A buddy of mine was in 3/75 when they jumped into Panama. He was on a motorcycle team. He said their job was to ride up and down the runway causing distractions & drawing fire away from the other landing troops. He retired about ten years ago as a LTC. Good guy.

[JustaPilot]

In post-war America the term was "bobber" not chopper. Bobber for taking the junk off and bobbing the rear fender. The term chopper didn't come along until the mid 60s

[larryjohnson]

You covered motorcycles really well in this video. As a biker, I appreciate where they came from during wars. Loved the tracked version the Germans used for hauling around carts and airplanes during WWII. Thanks for the history lesson.

[TheRattyBiker]

Motorcycles aside... Bicycles are an underrated technology that have got many people out of a pickle. They are the most flexible form of transport that can be used for leisure, exercise, commuting or just for when your car has a flat. It requires little training, no license and the only fuel is what you need to eat.

[theworldwariioldtimeradioc]

My Grandfather was a motorcycle messenger for Poland in the British military.

[thomasgarrison]

Thanks for the history of Military Motorcycles. I am a USMC & US Army Veteran 1974-88, I am also a American Legion Rider. I now ride a 2023 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT, Trike since I am also a Disabled American Veteran & have a problem holding up a 2 wheeled motorcycle.

[dillonmedeiros]

My great grandfather Harold Wallum was kidnapped by a raiding party of Pancho Villa's men from his Mother's ranch in New Mexico. The story goes that two of the men were former ranch hands of my great great grandmother and recognized Harold. Taking pity on my great grandfather they covertly stashed him in a ditch they passed by on their way back to Mexico, keeping the mules they also took. He then waited in the ditch until after dark and ran home. Later in life he would run away from home and ride the rails as a hobo for a time before becoming a radio operator for the merchant Marines. His merchant ship would be sunk in WW2 and his crew would only survive because he went against orders and saved the radio equipment before the ship went down. He would work as a radio operator for the Southern Pacific Railroad for near the rest of his life marrying my great grandmother Winifred and helping raise my grandma Barbara and my great uncle Gene. He was a brilliant man that taught himself electronics and held the highest certification in HAM radio operation, essentially being a human broadcasting station. At the end of his life he was even teaching himself binary code! It's a pity I never got to meet him but his stories live on in mine and my family's memories.

[lancerevell]

The US Marines use the bigger Kawasaki KLR650, equipped with a diesel motor and larger 7 gallon fuel tank.
The French used an interesting team of Vespa scooters for paratroops, one scooter mounting a recoiless rifle the rider actually sat upon, the second scooter carrying reloads.
The Russians produce a civilian version of their BMW R75 clone called the Ural, and is still available with the sidecar.

[Nomadca]

I learned to ride on a Peugeot SX-80, and old French army bike. Tough as nails that thing was.

[maynardcarmer]

Back in the early 70s, my younger brother was in the Marines. He told of being in an Army-Navy Surplus store, where they had some surplus Harley-Davidson military motorcycles still in the crates. When asked why he didn't buy one, he said he couldn't get it on base, or he would have.

[frankgulla]

Thank you, THG. (I know Isay this a lot, but it is true) for the broad summary of the world of military motorcycles. I love all the photos.