# Military paper work



## redline1968 (Apr 5, 2020)

Got this from a friend a while ago thought id post this here.. bicycle or motor bike? What do you think?


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## Fred Green (Apr 5, 2020)

Hello,

     Very nice. I presume bicycle as it says that. Motor cycles used gas which was strictly rationed. Nice piece.

Fred
Sparta


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## Freqman1 (Apr 5, 2020)

I would say bicycle like it says. The reason gas was rationed is so the military would have plenty of it so Fred's logic don't hold here. As a side note I was assigned a motorcycle while stationed in Korea that we carried in our track (M577).  We were the comms for our unit and it was issued to be used as a courier vehicle. It was a Korean made dirt bike and rarely ran worth a crap but it was fun when it did! V/r Shawn


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## Mercian (Apr 6, 2020)

Thanks for that. I like it a lot.

452nd Bomb Squadron, part of 322nd Bomb Group, arrived in the UK in March 1943, stationed at Bury st. Edmunds, flying B26 Marauders. They had heavy losses, including one mission over Holland where they lost 11 out of 12 planes.

More here:





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						322nd Bomb Group | American Air Museum in Britain
					






					www.americanairmuseum.com
				








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						452nd Bomb Squadron | American Air Museum in Britain
					






					www.americanairmuseum.com
				




272471 isn't a G519 bicycle (the number is too high), but could be a reverse lend lease british bike such as a BSA. The USAAF received a huge number of these, far mor than all the G519 ever made.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## redline1968 (Apr 6, 2020)

Wow.. thats cool.. more history than i thought.. awsome.. wonder if its the 1st or second series paratrooper bike


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## Mercian (Apr 6, 2020)

Well, it's easy enough for you to check the s/n on your bike, but BSA was just an example of an english maker. It's likely that it was a standard framed bicycle, like the one on this photo in post 1708 I posted during the week:









						Thread Of Original Old Photos Only -- No Discussion Please! | General Discussion About Old Bicycles
					

Bike riding video fun in front of Quigley's Bicycle Shop, Manville NJ. My guess late 40's early 50''s  Bu3iOPfIX1Y




					thecabe.com
				




To quote myself from another discussion:

The US received vast numbers of bikes from the British, but then an airfield establishment could easily be 3000 people. These bikes, when not stolen (a common complaint from the locals after the pubs closed), or privately purchased, were supplied by the British to the US under 'Reverse Lend-Lease', which offset the amount of equipment needed to be shipped from the US to Europe, and also the cost of Lend-Lease to the British.

To give you some idea of the number of bicycles involved, the '11th Report to Congress on Lend-Lease Operations', stated that up to July 31st 1943, 140,000 bicycles had been supplied by the British to US forces stationed in the UK. By 1945 this figure would have been many more. This is one reason for the relative scarcity of G519 in Europe; there was little need to ship them here. It may also be part of the reason for manufacture of G519 stopping in early 1944. 

An example of the bikes is here:









						Pima Air and Space Bike | Military Bicycles
					

I was visiting the Pima Air and Space Museum near Tucson, AZ this past week and saw this bike display.  Thought I'd share it.     The Pima Air and Space Museum is VERY COOL.  If you are near Tucson, you should try to see it.  Bikes aren't really the thing there, but the planes are insane...




					thecabe.com
				




Also, trying to register a stolen military bike (even if nicked from another nation's army) in wartime, especially as obviously military only as the BSA parabike, would be a fast track to a world of nastiness. (-:

Best Regards,

Adrian


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