When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Westfield Frame Numbers 1933 - 1945

#eBayPartner    Most Recent BUY IT NOW Items Listed on eBay
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
eBay Auction Picture
-

Mercian

I live for the CABE
Dear All,

I have posted a Westfield frame number/date list from 1939 to 1945 in the Military Bicycles section:

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/westfield-frame-numbers-1939-1945.100742/

This is just a first draft, so I would welcome any further Westfield frame types/codes/numbers that expand the information already there, and push known dates back from 1939, and forward from 1945.

Thank you for your help.

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
Last edited:
Adrian, I have some more bikes to add to your list soon.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
image.jpg
Here's a 42 Westfield number for you.
 
Hi All

Thanks for your replies so far. Bozman, I look forward to your contributions, Rollfaster, thanks for the image, I've had difficulty finding earlier bikes, and this will help sort that out.

Bikewhorder, Mr. Columbia's site contains an excellent listing of frame numbers by year, and I certainly couldn't have started this without that help, and the frame numbers he subsequently supplied, which I acknowledge in my post.

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/DDB9/production/_92616765_heinz1.jpg

Where I came in here is that I recently bought a G519 Westfield Columbia (MG154118 / K8) missing a lot of parts. From Mr. Columbia's list I could see it was late 1943, but nothing more. Liberator has a page dedicated to these bikes, and from there I learned that 1943 saw a lot of detail changes, so I became interested in understanding when these occurred by frame number.

http://www.theliberator.be/militarybicycles.htm

From the internet, and later from people here, I recorded various details (S/N, BB/N, frame type, Eclipse hub code, chainwheel type etc.), and will be putting out a table of these details for Westfield G519 shortly (the Huffman Dayton one I compiled at the same time is already on the CABE here:(

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/huffman-dayton-g519-frame-numbers.100336/

Mr Columbia said on his site about the BB numbers between 1936 and 1945:

This starts serial numbers being stamped on frame under crank hanger. The letter preceding the serial number indicates year of manufacture. Often there will be a separate letter with 1 number near or above the serial number. The meaning of this is not fully understood but all evidence to this time indicates that this has nothing to do with the year of manufacture and the serial number. Best guess is this was a part number of the crank hanger forging itself for factory use to identify the part before it was brazed or welded onto the frame.

I recorded the 'separate letter with 1 number near or above the serial number.' and soon realised that there was a pattern that showed these to be a separate year/month code for the production of the frame. I also saw that this system applied to all Westfields at this time. I had more examples to hand, and an interest in that specific dating problem which allowed me to make the link not available to Mr. Columbia.

The final breakthrough came during this CABE conversation on Westfield Compax:

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1944-columbia-compax-military-model-folding-bicycle.99850/

This allowed me to collect numbers for other frame types (and showed people were interested!). It allows year /month dating of the frame production, and has also given an insight into production techniques (Work in Hand, when the final serials were stamped) and shown that, probably due to the complexities of Wartime production, the prefix to the main serial number is not as straightforward as you might think, with, for example, the prefix W appearing in addition to MC, MG, G etc. This is still only a fraction of 1% of all Westfields produced at the time, so there could be other codes out there too.

I hope that helps explain what I'm tying to do.

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
Last edited:
Hi All,

Rollfaster, I've added your number to the table for the next version. Could you tell me what type of bicycle (mens/womens, or better still, the actual model) it is please?

As promised above, Boz has sent a significant list of numbers that he has recorded, so I hope to get version two of this list out soon, incorporating these additions. Thank you for your help.

If you have other details to add, please contact me, the table becomes more useful with the more information that can be included.

As a special request, has anyone got details of a genuine MF military Columbia?

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
Hi All,

In case it's of interest, I have just posted Version 1 of the G519 Westfield Columbia list in the Military Section.

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/westfield-columbia-g519-frame-numbers.101109/

The G519 Huffman Dayton list is here:

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/huffman-dayton-g519-frame-numbers.100336/

There are around 70 bikes on the Westfield G519 list. I am still working through an extended list of 1935-1945 Westfields (currently around 150 bikes) which will be published here shortly.

If you have any comments, please make them below, or by PM.

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
Hi Buster1,

Thanks, it's on the list (-:

I now have around 200 sets of bike details, from 1932 to 1945. These have (mainly) been gleaned from the CABE with the search terms 'Westfield 1945', Westfield 1944' etc. I'm sure if I do a second run using 'Westfield '45' etc,; and a third using 'Elgin 1945' etc. I'll pull up more, but I think I'll get to the end of the first search (it's a lot of work), publish it, and see if the response merits further time.

I should complete the first run this week, then a little tidying of the table into a good format before putting it here.

Thanks, as ever, to those who have helped so far.

Best Regards,

Adrian
 
Back
Top