I wondered about that, Ron but decided it looked more like the tail of the 'f' from the line above. If it's a '7' then it's a different style. It doesn't work as '1542776' as that falls outside of the rebuilds and '4542776' is not a motorcycle either so I'm sure that it was one of the 3HW contract.
Reading this made me smile. My father claimed to have lost one of his bikes, but I'm sure he would have sold it! Other riders had came to an unpleasant end. I expect his idea was that if the bike was "stolen" his punishment would be not to be given another. Sadly there is no record of him ever serving, only a small collection of "military holiday snaps" that only really make sense now I have identified a shoulder patch.
