I was displaying my wm20 yesterday and a lady showed me a photo of her father who was a ww2 dispatch rider .
Would anyone be able to date the bike and any other details I could tell her.
Thanks
Jeff
This motorcycle has frame number WM20.96197 was made under military contract S/1048. This was a contract for 15.000 bikes (frame numbers WM20.81818 - WM20.96817). Unfortunately the factory ledgers for this contract have been lost, but from the receipt cards we know that the production of this contract started in early June 1943, scheduled at 2.000 bikes per month. Which means that WM20.96197 must have left the factory in (approximately) January 1944. As with 99.99% of the WD bikes, it is impossible to find out in which unit it served.
It looks like quite a dark shiny green, and although headlamp mask is fitted, I wonder if this is a post-war shot. White sea-boot socks and the haircut suggest that, as does the collared shirt. Obviously prior to the 1948 issue of VRNs though so perhaps '46 - '48 ?
The relaxation of rules which allowed British troops to wear a tailored battledress with collar and tie for "Walking out" came about in early 1945. They all dashed off to the local seamstress or whatever to have the shirt tails shortened and converted into collars. There was a liberated population to impress and the U.S. troops had a head start
