Dear All
I was emailed this image from a friend whom is doing research on WW2 Hong Kong. Could anyone help identify the bike, the British used the Thompson machine gun during WW2 as I have found one while metal detecting in Hong Kong. The rig for the machine gun looks complex but also a production item not one off.
Regards
Stuart
email (option): deepsea@vol.net
Stuart, your photo is one of a series taken of the Grenadier Guards at Swanage in the late summer of 1940. A series of publicity photos really, intended to put the fear of God up the Hun and I've no doubt that it achieved its objective as shortly afterwards, they abandoned plans for 'Sealion' and began bombing the industrial cities where formidable fighting machines such as the Model 18 Norton with 'Cow's Udder' silencer were made !
The most likely source of the Model 18s was a small batch of 7 bikes marked in the Ministry of Supply ledgers as 'already delivered' in August 1940; Presumably built from factory stock, including the obsolete 1938 pattern silencer (which Norton reportedly dropped mid-way through the model year due to customer resistance). They probably had a storeroom full.
I don't believe that I've ever seen a clear photograph of how the mount was fitted to the motorcycle at the rear of the fuel tank, but it's probably reasonable to assume that the rest used parts taken from existing vehicle mounts. Elevation was controlled by a nasty-looking ratchet / detent device positioned just where it would split the rider's difference in the event of a tumble.
Thompsons had been present in France with the BEF, although not in great numbers.
