Dear All,

Following up on a recent forum post (22nd May)from Bletchley Park exhibition organiser Sarah Kay for a DR M/C...

I met with Sarah at Bletchley Park yesterday to get more of an idea of what she was looking for..

We all know about the important part that Bletchley Park paid in WWII which
Sarah is obviously trying to promote but also Sarah is adding a new exhibition which shows the importance of the Dispatch Rider's and there involvement in ensuring vital signals, dispatches and secrets were delivered to the right places on time.

Sarah is ideally looking for WD M/C's to display in a mock up of a Dispatch Riders workshop and office, along side other WWII vehicles the display will be in the original Bletchley garage building. As well as WD motorcycles Sarah is looking for any related Dispatch rider accessories as exhibits..

The display is looking to open late July and could be viewed by any of the thousands of visitors attending Bletchley..

I am considering loaning my 16H to them.. of course with some conditions attached !!

All sounds good BUT...As it is partly charity run Sarah has No budget for hiring any WD bikes so if your able to help out.. it will have to be just for the honour of helping out a famous WWII iconic place, Bletchley Park….

Give it a thought & have a rummage in your sheds... everyone likes a good rummage !!!

If you find anything or need further info contact Sarah on......sarahkay@bletchleypark.org.uk

Regards..
Martin.

Martin, when I visited last September, there were 3 bikes there, see pictures, are they gone now??





Sorry, but cannot help with this, as am located in Holland.

Cheers,

Lex

email (option): welbike@wish.net

Hi Lex,

I didn't see any other bikes, they might have been stored away as part of the re-vamp...

Martin

It was the Bletchley M20 that put me on the path to owning one. I told the kids that their Grandad used to ride one in the war and with this rattling around my head over the next couple of weeks, I stumbled across this forum and gave Ian a call. Hey presto, there's one in the garage.

email (option): lee@twowheelstested.co.uk

Both the Matchless and the Triumph where sold by the owner to a chap who then took them to to Stafford to sell on earlier this year .The Matchless sold over the weekend .The Triumph seems to have passed to Cotswold Classics who have it for sale at £1200 more than I could have bought it for at Stafford!!.Do not know what happened to the BSA ??? Regards Andy B

Sorry to put a dampener on your thread but I have just read the BP history, also had a relative that worked there in hut6 and according to them there was no transport of that kind there, most dispatches were sent by rail, as the station was very close, most went by hand.

TTJohn

email (option): Jomichael@aol.com

If you Google 'Intercept Rider-Bletchley Park' it states that at the peak of operations up to 3000 messages a day were handled and there were '40 riders an hour' arriving and leaving with messages...Ian

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

It also mentions in a different account that the original entrance allocated to the DRs etc. could not handle the volume of traffic and access reverted to through the 'front entrance' as a result....Ian

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

J.M.O'Connors book 'Churchills ULTRA..The secret of the century' notes...'intercept messages were dispatched to Bletchley (from the 'Y' Stations) by motorcycle couriers - up to 50 an hour'....Ian

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

Ian.
I think you may have missread my input, I said that they never had any DRs there at BP and I dare say that if they did use DRs as messengers they were not in military uniform. I do not know and I suppose no one will every know the full history even my relative does not say much about it. Although they all did a fantastic job & I believe that they should be recognised for the work they all did, I strongly believe that all the code breakers should be awarded a medal.

TTJohn

email (option): Jomichael@aol.com

It may well be that there was no DR component based at Bletchley...However, with up to 400 DRs a day coming and going, delivering intercepts from outlying receiving stations, I think it would be fair to say that DRs must have been an intrinsic part of daily life at Bletchley and vital to the functioning of the facility. There must also have been an office to receive them....
There were garages at Bletchley built to accommodate the bikes and for the ones that travelled larger distances to get there, which many did, there were, no doubt, feeding and sleeping facilities...
I think, therefore, to include a DR element in the reconstruction or representation of Bletchley is quite realistic and it would be unreasonable to ignore the contribution of what was a vital element in the operations of the establishment..I doubt there was anywhere else in the UK with such a high level of DR 'traffic'...Ian

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

Hello All!

Just to clarify, there certainly was despatch riders used within BP during the war, however this was not the only means of communication.

We have a lovely quote from a lady that was based in Portsmouth but came to BP daily as part of her route.

As BP did not actually employ the DR's they were WREN's etc... It is very difficult to trace the story.

As of yet we only have on motorcycle on display a BSA which is inside the museum, however I wish to acquire more to really show off the story as it is not told at present.

Any bikes, accessories or information is greatly appreciated. And if you do know of people that worked here please let them know that if they have not already been interviewed we are keen to add them to the Role of Honour and find out any information they have regarding their part in this fascinating story.

Thank you for your continued interest it is really a great help.

Kindest Regards

Sarah Kay
Exhibition and Digitisation Officer - Bletchley Park

email (option): sarahkay@bletchleypark.org.uk

And , of course if it hadn't been for Alan Turing, who worked at BP, we couldn't be typing all this on our computers!

Nice thread and a shame I can't donate my M20 for viewing, too busy maintaining it and riding it.

Sarah I live in Leighton Buzzard just down the road from BP and it was great to see the displayed BSA when we visited last. If I can help I will but not sure how really.

Kit
Mobile 07824 345159

email (option): kit247@hotmail.com