I would like to know if there were any, such as between Nazi Germany (BMW) and the Allies (BSA), and if there were any - where can I find material on the tactics of motorcycle units fighting?
Doctrine of Warfare for motorcycle units of those days?
Or did these units deal only with the transmission of telegrams and communications?
Thanks in advance - Michael
I can't imagine that there was any such thing as motorcycle fighting units. No doubt that motorcyclists who were attached to main units for traffic control and message duties etc got into fighting conditions, but at the best I think they only carried a side arm, although there are a couple of images of a DR carrying a Sten gun. Ron
More than I thought Ramon. At least with a pistol, you stood a tenth of a chance of shooting at someone whilst on the move.
I'm conjuring up images of two groups of motorcycles charging at one another swinging sabers or baseball bats......Maybe that's why most Harley's have a baseball bat:laughing: Ron
We had at least one Northumberland Fusiliers Infantry Battalion equipped with motorcycles in France and Belgium prior to Dunkirk, the Germans certainly made use of motorcycle troops at the same time but I have not read or even heard of a motorised battle?
Probably as soon as either force came into contact they would all have dismounted and fought as infantry.
My understanding of German tactics is that the motorcycle combat units were mostly sidecar mounted. The sidecar pilot took as little part in the actual fighting as possible, his job being to deliver the other 2 troopers to the combat scene & bring them out again. This worked reasonably well in the early European campaigns but was of little use in Russia. Although photos of some of the big BMW & Zundapp outfits show them fearsomely well equipped.
I've never heard of any army using solo motorcycles as a replacement for combat cavalry units.
If you read 'Hot Motors, Cold Feet' by Helmut Gunther, he outlines his experience in the SS, firstly as a volunteer motorcyclist and later as as a part of a motorised unit in Russia riding solo and side-car motorcycles. Well worth a read to see the experiences of the other side. It is one of the few books I have managed to read more than once.....
