![]() The WWII version was a completely different design to its earlier counterpart, more suited to the unique needs of a paratrooper. ![]() This specialist manufacturing knowledge made them the perfect choice to produce the paratrooper's folding bicycle. The BicycleīSA – Birmingham Small Arms company – had produced bicycles for the British Army during the Great War, including a folding variety which worked by means of a single-lever hinge with a thick tube running from the top to the bottom of the frame, approximately halfway between the saddle and the handlebars. The paratrooper's folding bicycle allowed this to happen.Īn additional advantage of the bicycle as a means of transport was that it did not require fuel to operate petrol stations and fuel depots were often among the first targets destroyed in war zones. A lightweight means of allowing paratroopers to regroup quickly, reach their target speedily and quietly without being detected was needed. Also, paratroopers were often dropped a distance from the intended target to minimise the risk of being spotted. ![]() When dropped from aircraft the unguided parachutes drifted and paratroopers often ended up dispersed over a wide area, with valuable time lost in regrouping. One of the major problems, faced by paratroopers on raids into enemy territory, was how to get to the intended target quickly and silently, without being spotted. ![]() During the Second World War Britain had a secret weapon – the BSA Paratrooper's Folding Bicycle.
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