Hi All, did some digging with Henk a few years ago and got quite abit of info on my WM20, ive now decided to carry on putting it back together was hoping to possibly paint a division etc on the tank.

Left the factory approx April 1944 under contract S5209-36, frame number WM20114284, currently has engine engine number 83939. C5554984, does anyone have any photos of bikes close to this number?

Was struck off to MOA disposal ASC/1/3/24 on the 5th August 1960 with WD reg 47 YE 46. My dad purchased this bike not sure who from but it sat since 1979. Has a UK reg of 864 BGY but this isnt in the dvla log now with it being digital and i have no further info.

Does anyone know anything else further? Specifically about its wartime use and also anything prior? Ive used Henk, the vmcc, Lex at welbike and a few facebook groups etc but i have ran out of places to look now.

Thanks all

864 BGY was issued in London...Perhaps the bike was sold through Pride and Clarke who were a large dealer for ex WD machines?.....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Here's one from that contract with no unit markings. Looks like somewhere hot with palm trees. Not much else to go on. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Production of contract S/5209 should have started in July 1944, at 2000 bikes per month. But the first bikes were only received by the Army in early September 1944 (P date in the bottom left corner of the receipt card). Your bike is the 9.467th WM20 from this contract, so I assume it was built / despatched in January 1945.



Here are some other pictures with C5554xxx numbers, for your interest:
- C5554110 is a picture taken in a post war Dutch Army training center
- C5554162 is taken during the liberation, somewhere in Holland
- C5554596 looks like somewhere in the Middle East
- C5554744 and C5554827 are pictures from a post war booklet to illustrate BSAs work for the War Effort







Hope this helps!

email (option): wd.register@gmail.com

Not too sure Ian, how did you find that it came from London? The last known whereabouts was Bolton, North west where it was purchased by my dad in the 70s

All fantastic info thanks. I was thinking to paint it with Polish 1st armoured division for sentimental reasons but didnt want to be too far out with dates/where it could have been used. If the bike got sent to say Normandy with 1000s of others how likely would it be that they would return?

The "liberation, somewhere in Holland" picture wasn't taken in Holland at all. I've just checked Getty and this is the caption:
22nd July 1945: Excited Berliners cheering Winston Churchill as he left the 'Winston Club' a club for troops in the Kurfurstendamm which he had just opened. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Bard (Google AI) tells me that "Churchill was not accompanied by any British military unit during his visit to Berlin in July 1945. His entourage consisted of his daughter, Sarah, and a small group of advisors." Looks as if there's an MP on the bike.

email (option): wd.register@gmail.com