Motorcycles have been going to war as long as there have been motorcycles …and if you had a war to go to, motorcycles would get you there often faster and once there capable of traversing terrain inaccessible to other vehicles.
By the beginning of the 1900s, motorcycle production was a worldwide phenomenon establishing iconic marques including the American Harley-Davidson and Indian; British Triumph, BSA Matchless and Norton; Italian Moto Guzzi and Gilera; French Terot and Gnome Rhone; Belgian FN and Gillet; German BMW, NSU, DKW, Zundapp. The demands of the battle front would spur further innovation and advancement both in solo form and in sidecar configuration.
While the First World War saw extensive employment of the motorcycles, it shifted into high gear during the next war. Of all the Second World War combatant nations, the German military was the largest employer of motorcycles, a large number fitted with sidecars. The following photos are originals from the author’s collection and excerpted from his forthcoming book Bikes of the Blitzkrieg appearing in print by Amberley Publishing in early 2018.
Early 1900s Italian Military Combination
Trio of WWI era Italian soldiers try out a new Frera rig with its stylish aerodynamically shaped car, the company a leading Italian manufacturer founded by the two Frera brothers, Corrado and Leonardo, in 1905 and ending in 1936. Today you can visit the Frera Museum in Verese, Italy.
Firing on the Move
Wearing his distinctive feather plumed headwear as depicted on an Italian commercial postcard, a Bersaglieri “sharp shooter” fires his Breda machinegun from his Moto Guzzi somewhere on the Russian Front. While Italian motorcycle sidecar troops were utilized in the First World War, they were not remobilized until the elite troops of 2nd Regiment Bersaglieri in Rome requisitioned a company of Guzzi motorcycles in 1933. The main focus placed on the new machines was the attachment of machine guns as solo mounts.
Yanks Mobile Machinegun
WWI era U.S. Army troops practice aboard a Harley-Davidson V-twin motorcycle mounted with what appears to be a Colt M1895 produced by the Browning company and chambered for both .30-06 and British .303 ammunition. Introduced in 1895 it was service with U.S. forces until 1918.
Harley-Davidson first appeared in 1903, the company began supplying the U.S. military in 1915, it solo mount and sidecar machines gaining experience during 1916 when some 20,000 U.S. troops under the command of General John “Black Jack” Pershing were granted permission by the Mexican government to enter their country in pursuit of the bandit/revolutionary Pancho Villa. While they never caught up with their quarry, he was an avid motorcyclist himself, preferring the Indian.
“Motor Scouts in Action”
Harley-Davidson powered team appears on postcard posted December 6, 1917 from Greenville, SC. The U.S. would not enter WWI until 1918 in the last year of the war with both Harleys and Indians serving their country.
The illustration of a WWI era English army combo fitted with armor plating around a Maxim machinegun appeared on a so-called “Cigarette Collector’s Card” as perks packaged in packs of cigarettes.
Coming to the Rescue
Another WWI “cigarette card’ from the same series depicts a medic and his canopied stretcher combination.
Mid-1930s Japanese Commercial Postcard – War in China
During the Second Sino-Japanese War Imperial Marines fire at Chinese defenders from a sandbagged fortification. Though impossible to tell what brand of motorcycle as seen in the illustration, it could be an imported Harley-Davidson or a Rikuo which was basically a Japanese clone built under license with Harley-Davidson.The first Sino-Japanese war fought in 1895 brought Korea under Japanese domination. The second Sino-Japanese war began in 1931 and continued until the end of WWII with Japan’s surrender in 1945.
“Tommies” rolling through English street during WWI aboard Ariel camo painted sidecar combos mounted with machineguns.
The Blitzkrieg Begins
Inter-war Solution – Early 1930s – RW Registration Plate
A simpler and easier mobile machinegun platform incorporating a BMW motorcycle sidecar equipped with an M34 machinegun won over the German military planners during the inter-war Reichswehr era, the design later incorporated into the Third Reich’s Wehrmacht arsenal of highly mobile motorized strategic planning.
Stamp of Approval
A leading graphic designer well known for his dramatic film posters designed this postal stamp, though inaccurate in detail. As of its printing date of 1943, German motorcycle troop units had been officially disbanded, the troops sent to the deteriorating Eastern Front. In addition, the depicted BMW R 11 is an obsolete model that appeared in 1929 and out of production by 1935, replaced by R12. The +4 indicates an addition ‘war tax’ added to the postage.
Grandstanding
Sidecars were attached to a variety of BMW models for use by various branches of the German Wehrmacht. The painted insignia on the BMW’s front fender identifies the machine as a member of the 13th Panzer Division.
‘Tank Buster’
The BMW R12 carries a Steib sidecar modified to carry anti-tank armaments as this soldier had the dubious task of taking on Russian tanks. The so-called ‘tank buster’ is fitted with dual purpose on and off-road treaded front tire and ‘blacked out’ headlamp providing only a sliver of light in the darkness.
End of the Russian Line
Apparently without help, a soldier attempts to load his BMW sidecar onto a train car standing at the end of the rail line. Fortunately it wasn’t the 880 lb. R75 but the lighter 500 sidevalve model. It’s likely the engine was running and his hand on the throttle as he edged it up the ramp.
The Wehrmacht was hampered in its supply efforts in part due to the smaller gauge of the Soviet rail lines requiring time-consuming reconstruction, indications of the rebuilding materials visible in the photograph’s background.
Unstoppable…for the Moment
A factory matched BMW motorcycle and sidecar slogs through the mud, a hint of what was to be encountered in the Russian rainy seasons when progress of motorized vehicles came to a crawl if that.
BMW R-75 Sidecar
Also known as the ‘Type Russia,’ the motorcycle/sidecar outfit (Kraftrad mit Beiwagen) was high highly maneuverable and literally unstoppable until it encountered the snow drifts outside Stalingrad. Designed during 1939-41, the tank tough R75 combined with its crankshaft driven third-wheel sidecar proved itself a major success, clocking 52 miles to the US gallon offering and a range of 225 miles. Capable of climbing 40-degree inclines it also provided a carrying capacity of over 1,000 lb., about equal to its own 929 lb. weight. The 745 cc air-cooled four-stroke ohv twin cylinder engine produced 26@4000 rpm. Its 8-speed transmission included two reverse gears while a top speed was a reported 60 mph. But it arrived too late in the war and in too small numbers (16,510) to affect the final outcome, its factory in Eisenach destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombing. Today it is a most sought after collectible.
Maximum Capacity Zundapp
A heavy duty Zundapp K800 sidecar combination seems to be overloaded with crewmembers, members of the Luftwaffe ground troops. All wear carry Mauser carbines and MP38/40 submachine guns. The well-worn front tire speaks to miles of service while the horseshoe indicates membership in a cavalry detachment
Z is for Zundapp:
Established in 1917 during the company was located in Nuremberg. The name was comprised of the merger of two companies, Friedrich Krupp and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name ‘Zunder-un Apparatebau’ translated from the German to ‘igniter and Apparatus’ Zundapp began building high quality motorcycles in both two- and four-strokes engine designs. By 1933 the company had produced 100,000 motorcycles. The best known Zundapp was the KS 750 flat twin built exclusively for the army. Other military models included the DB 200, K 500W, KS 600 W, K 800 W, and KS 750.
Zundapp KS750 Sidecar Combination
Housed in a pressed steel frame, the transverse 751cc twin cylinder made 26 HP and featured eight gears, divided into four forward, four reverse integrated along with the power driven sidecar. The KS 750 went into production in 1940, an estimated 18,695 units built. Weight was 920 lb. with a top speed of 60 mph. It was frequently equipped with the lethal M34, later the M43light machinegun attached to the sidecar. It eventually was seen as superior to the BMW R75 sidecar also in military service. However, in 1942, a Zundapp-BMW hybrid was designed, the BW 43 that saw a driven BMW 286/1 sidecar grafted onto a Zundapp KS750. In addition both companies agreed to standardize some 70 per cent of both machine’s components thus simplifying production and repairs.
Zundapp Hi-Bar in Motion
Gymnastic dexterity displayed during a public demonstration of riding skills at a German military base. The Zundapp K800’s ‘third wheel’ has been removed from the sidecar as one soldier is acting as a counterweight to the gyrations of his comrade swinging on the gymnast’s high bars. The skills practiced transferred to challenges met on the battlefield.
War’s End in North Africa – Self-Propelled POWs
Against a backdrop of thousands of the once-vaunted Afrika Korps troops, a crowded Zundapp pulling a small trailer brings more German prisoners to an Allied assembly area in Tunisia.
DKW: Established in Zschopau, located in the Ore Mountains some 14 km south-east of the Saxony city of Chemnitz, the company was founded in 1919 by a Danish entrepreneur, J.S. Rasmussen. It became the largest brand not only in the German Reich, but at one point in the world. By 1928 DKW was producing some 65,000 engines annually that found themselves powering some sixty German inter-war produced motorcycle brands .Success came with the development of developed of an innovative engine design based on the Schurle two-stroke loop scavenging process thus eliminating the need of a deflector piston which improved the combustion process , further enhanced by improved exhaust ports, all of which they applied to their highly successful commercially produced RT 125 with ‘RT’ standing for ‘Reichstyp’ or National Model. In 1932 the company merged with Auto Union, composed of DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer car makers. German military motorcycle models included the RT125 and NZ350. Post-war the proliferation of RT design led to the development of several other motorcycle company models including the now iconic BSA Bantam and the Harley-Davidson Hummer as well as the Yamaha YA-.
French Girl in German DKW/Steib Sidecar Combination
Wearing a perturbed expression, the passenger in the two-toned, color matched Steib sidecar awaits the rider of the well-maintained civilian DKW fitted with its right-hand, gas tank mounted gear shift. The Steib Sidecar of Nuremberg founded in 1914 by Josef Steib did not begin sidecar production until prompted by an order from the Ardie motorcycle company, eventually becoming the largest sidecar producer in Germany. Most sidecars in use by the German military were produced by Steib.
Armed Forces Day – Nazi Germany 1942
A cartoon illustrates a commercial postcard of the day. While cheerful in appearance, the war is turning against the Germans on the Eastern Front as Rommel is defeated in North Africa and the battle of Stalingrad ends with
disaster for the Germans. Note blackout cover on the headlamp.
Trophy of War
Soviet soldiers proudly stand by captured Zundapp now bearing Russian plates. The Russian soldier had been fighting their German invaders since 1941 but eventually, through the sacrifice of millions, brought liberation to their country.
Russian Counter-Attack’
After Nazi Germany and its allies had been defeated, Soviet soldiers brandish the famous PPsh submachinegun while another machinegun stands propped on the sidecar which could be a captured German machine or one of the copies made by the Russian based on the R75.
