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USMCWR use of Victory bicycles in WW2

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Mercian

I live for the CABE
Hi All,

Here's a couple of photos of the USMCWR at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina, in 1944. They are using what appear to be standard Victory bicycles, probably 1942-43 production Huffmans or Columbias, with the distinctive unblacked out bar stem, but no frame badges or chain guards.

1606842988021.png

Detail from Getty Image, Photo by William C Shrout : https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...corps-air-news-photo/1272666920?adppopup=true

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Detail from Getty Image, Photo by William C Shrout : https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...r-station-news-photo/1272665486?adppopup=true

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
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The welding and finish grinding on mine is not done very well. You can tell wartime labor shortages or hurried production . It also has Elgin black out hubs.
Does it make it an Elgin or Westfield built with Elgin parts? It has wartime tires on it still ,so I imagine it is original.
 
The welding and finish grinding on mine is not done very well. You can tell wartime labor shortages or hurried production . It also has Elgin black out hubs.
Does it make it an Elgin or Westfield built with Elgin parts? It has wartime tires on it still ,so I imagine it is original.


Hi, Elgin was a house brand of Sears catalogues, and several manufacturers produced bikes with this name.

Westfield made Elgins through most of the 1930's, and a few in the early 1940's as the contract moved to Murray.

I can't tell from your question if the hubs are marked 'Elgin'. But, the bike is a Westfield made Westfield VG296, which may have used parts left over from previous production of 'Elgin' bicycles.

The finish is not great, there was no brass for brazing, so they were gas welded (and all the good welders were building tanks etc.). Grinding anything but really sharp or interfering metal is a waste of time. There's a War on, don't you know? (-:

The chain guard is probably an add on, these were not specified at the time. The saddle seems correct, and these are quite fragile so rare.

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
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