ANZAC Day 2017
Today is ANZAC Day in Australia. April 25th is one of Australia’s most important national cultural holidays. ANZAC stands for the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand men and women during the First World War. There are Dawn services, parades and events all day, all over the country.
I left my house early this morning and got caught up in a local ANZAC Day Parade being held down the main drag of my suburb. It was one of many events being held today. The largest ANZAC events are held in each capital city – and Brisbane was no exception.
As I watched the event pass by, I saw that many of the locals had ridden in to participate. A good idea considering roads are closed because of the parade, as well as traffic and extra parking difficulties.
It reminded me that I had heard about bicycles being used in WW1 and other conflicts. So I went home to investigate further and this is what I found …
Australian Cycling Corps
Before the official formation of cycling units, bikes were used for transport and other military needs. It is not well known that the AIF had cycling units that were used in many of the major battles during the First World War such as Messines in June 1917, and Passchendale July 1917. These units were deployed to the front line as well as undertaking cable burying, traffic control and reconnaissance work.
What kinds of bikes were used in WW1?
They were issued from England and manufactured from Birmingham Small Arms Company – better known as BSA. This company was also a major British arms and ammunition manufacturer since the Crimean War (1854-1856). These bikes did not come with bottle holders as today’s do. The men would carry water supplies like the regular army corps. Also the soldiers were issued with the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) .303 calibre rifles, having the option of either attaching it to the down tube of their bike or swung across their back.
The Military Roadster
The models of the bikes ranged from the Mark I through to the Mark IV. For further information, pictures and a peek into the histo-military use of this model – the Military Roadster has an amazing article by Ian Skinner called Pedal Power (1991) which gives comprehensive details and unique insights about these bikes – including manufacturing background, bike specifications and how and why it these models were used. I highly recommend a quick look at it – it is truly a step-back in time!
Soldiers who were lucky, were issued with a Mark IV. This bike had a free wheeled hub, which basically means you were able to coast without having to pedal constantly – as with the Mark I to III. Those models had a fixed hub, which means they were Fixies (or Track Bike) – amazing!
The Mark IV was also issued with a hand operated rear brake. This brake would have nowhere near the stopping capacity of the disc brakes that are often on contemporary mountain bikes and some road bikes. These bikes did not have the luxury of knobblie tyres either (tyres that have protruding pieces of rubber for extra grip); but would have been a standard military issue of little or no grip, more like standard tyres, as can be seen in the bicycle below. This photograph was taken in Ypres, Belgium on 26 September 1917.
The humble military bicycle – then and now
The AIF cycling units have often been forgotten in military history but the humble bicycle played a very important role in the logistics of warfare. The simplicity of the bike made transportation quick and reliable.
Even in 2008 the Australian Military were using the bicycle in East Timor to improve flexibility of field patrols with a unit called Bicycle Infantry Mounted Patrol (BIMP) as seen on the front cover of Edition 1200 of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) Army magazine. Now 100 years on, and bicycles play an important role in military life, just as they do in civilian.
For further information, the book History of the First AIF/NZ Cyclist Corps 1916-19 CYCLING TO WAR by Ronald J Austin goes into detail of the Corps and is an excellent overview. Request it at your largest library!
This post is modified from a previous article by Ally Roche written for the Australian War Memorial.