General Cycling Discussion - Bicycles at war.......

http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-10-11-bicycles-at-war

222377

I thought this was rather poignant.
"A boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to war in 1914. He never returned, leaving the tree no choice but to grow around the bike."

222377

I thought this was rather poignant.
"A boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to war in 1914. He never returned, leaving the tree no choice but to grow around the bike."


Pity the photo isn't bigger.

Pity the photo isn't bigger.

Yeah sorry about that. I did try and enlarge it but couldn't work out how to do it.

Marauder, where did you find that pic? It is rather moving, isn't it?

222377

I thought this was rather poignant.
"A boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to war in 1914. He never returned, leaving the tree no choice but to grow around the bike."


Is this supposedly in the UK?
http://xmb.stuffucanuse.com/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=4002 This site says it is in the state of Washington. No American involvement in the Great War until 1917. It's not impossible that the young fellow went to Europe in 1914 and joined with the English or the French, or the Germans. Pretty unlikely, though.
No easily-found evidence of the true story of this bike-in-a-tree.

More info: http://dudelol.com/boy-went-to-war-in-1914-left-his-bike-chained-to-a-tree-or-so-it-says/

Is this supposedly in the UK?
http://xmb.stuffucanuse.com/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=4002 This site says it is in the state of Washington. No American involvement in the Great War until 1917. It's not impossible that the young fellow went to Europe in 1914 and joined with the English or the French, or the Germans. Pretty unlikely, though.
No easily-found evidence of the true story of this bike-in-a-tree.

From my hazy recollection of WW1 history we had quite a few volunteers over there with a variety of ambulance corps long before we had combat troops. I seem to recall that various US charitable groups were taking up collections to ship large motor cars over to the continent to be used to transport wounded and that many young men volunteered to go as drivers and corpsmen.

Aaron :)

From my hazy recollection of WW1 history we had quite a few volunteers over there with a variety of ambulance corps long before we had combat troops. I seem to recall that various US charitable groups were taking up collections to ship large motor cars over to the continent to be used to transport wounded and that many young men volunteered to go as drivers and corpsmen.

Aaron :)

Pretty unlikely in this case. Unless someone can supply some documentation. There seems to be no evidence of anything other than a bike in a tree.

I hope there are never stories in the news of drone bicycles hitting the wrong (non-combatant) target.

One soldier describes them as excellent for defending a small country -- they're cheaper than heavier vehicles and can move undetected at relatively high speeds: "At night, you can't hear them."


Hmm... I suppose that means they used fixies? No freewheel because that makes noise :D

IIRC they were coaster brake bikes.

Thanks Jan for finding that full article.
I just saw the photo on a cycling Facebook group I am a member of but didn't have much of a story about the background.

Check out Bicycles In War (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycles-War-Martin-Caidin/dp/080150614X) by Martin Caidan and Jay Barbree. Its as close to the final authority as you'll get on this subject. It covers everything from the 2200 mile ride done by the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps in 1897 (http://www.bicyclecorps.blogspot.com) to Vietnamese Bicycle Bombs.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iYTxCX6aGlI/SdP-knycjYI/AAAAAAAAAQo/9oH4t4VBSdo/s320/BESTbicyclecorps_01.jpg