War on two Wheels...Motorcycles of WWII

I would'nt want to be riding on the scooter when it let loose!

WAR ON TWO WHEELS: THE MOTORCYCLES OF WWII | www.prolaw1.com

 

Thanks for the pics, I would love to have that one Norton. Great looking ride. As to that recoiless rifle on the Vespa (?), that would be a challenge to use on the move! But then again it was only to move the rifle to station and then fire it I would assume. Would sure beat packing it around over your shoulder, I suppose.

 

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This is a pic of my father on what i believe is a Norton motorcycle. He rode as a dispatch rider. Can anyone confirm this? My father was in the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. This pic was taken in England in 1943 or 1944.

 

I have a picture too

Confirmed Norton

An unidentified despatch rider of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (R.C.C.S.) riding a Norton motorcycle during a 4th Canadian Armoured Division training exercise, Aldershot, England, 11 January 1943.

 

I've found out recently that it is a Harley-Davidson CV.

 

My father, Richard Lea Howatt, started out with the Canadian Forestry Corps but eventually became a Dispatch Rider. I'm looking for any information on Canadian Dispatch Riders from WWII.

Catherine Ann​

 

Hi Catherine i can do some checking for you. If you can find his discharge papers that would help.To get a copy of my Dads discharge papers i sent Veterans affairs as much info as i could and they sent me a copy back.

Dave

 

I saw a British picture of a tracked vehicle very much like the German shown. Did both sides have track motorcycles?

 

The German "Kettengrad" was developed for their airborne troops-probably to pull small artillery pieces and such. It could be transported by glider or JU-52. Later it was used to lay wire and other miscillanious duties with the army. Towards the end of the war the Luftwaffe used them as airplane tugs in order to save avgas when taxi-ing. An interesting feature was that it was steered like a regular motorcycle but when a steep turn was called for, the sharp turn of the front handlebars engaged the brake on the inside track, turning it like a regular tracked vehicle.