The Bicycle at War

Twice in the 20th century the bicycle made a significant difference to the outcome of military campaigns. In the 1941 Japanese invasion of Malaya and the 1954 Vietnamese victory over the French at Dien Bien Phu, the winners made extensive use of bicycles.

Japanese Bicycle Infantry 1942

The Japanese army that invading Malaya did not bring bikes they looted local bikes. Once established ashore they quickly looted all available bikes and got their infantry mounted. They quickly established air, naval and armored supremacy and began to push south.

The motorised British defenders were road bound, Japanese bicycle infantry moved quickly inland on jungle trails, outflanking the defenders. Almost every time the British tried to set up a defense line on the coastal roads, Japanese infantry cycled through the jungle, infiltrated their rear and threaten  lines of supply and communication.

Blowing bridges, did not slow down bicycle infantry, they quickly improvised crude bridges and kept rolling south. By mid February it was over, the British garrison at Singapore surrendered. It was the most humiliating defeat in British history, and the bicycle played a major part.

Viet Minh Bicycle Porters

The 1954 the French base in the remote Dien Bien Phu valley in Vietnam was intended as a trap for the Viet Minh guerillas. The base was to be supplied by air, the plan was to draw the Viet Minh into the open and destroy them. But the Viet Minh cut trails through many hundreds of miles of jungle from supply bases in China, manhandled a powerful collection of heavy artillery and anti aircraft guns to Dien Bien Phu and sorrounded the French with a force of five divisions.

The Viet Minh supplied their forces through the 57 day siege with an army of bicycle porters and pack animals. A bicycle porters carried up to 200 kilos (440 pounds) on a standard bicycle. They replaced the seat with a short holding stick and walked alongside. It was the most amazing feat of logistics in the history of warfare and the bicycle was critical to its outcome.

Since 1940 warfare has been dominated by oil powered machines, in the post peak oil world the power of the bicycle as a force multiplier will likely see it move centre stage as a machine of war.

A short history of Bicycle Infantry in Wikipedia