The Cycle Corps - on your bike to the Boer War
Listener's query
"What was the background of the Cycle Corps in the Boer War and how were they recruited?"
Brief summary
The first use in war of the bicycle seems to have been in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. When it came to the Boer War, horses were dying at an alarming rate. The bicycle's efficiency had by this time been considerably increased. The feeling was that the bicycle would enable a soldier to move more quickly than on foot and would allow him to carry more. It also avoided some of the problems of horses - the need for feeding, and disease. The disadvantage of the bicycle is that it cannot withstand the recoil of a gun and riding requires such balance that even wielding a sword is virtually impossible. It is most effective therefore as a means of transport, taking people to places where they can fight, for scouting and for message-carrying. Bicycles were used in conflicts through the First and Second World Wars and even in Vietnam. The Japanese had 50,000 cycle troops in the 1937 Sino-Japanese War.
In the Boer War, Colonel George Knox received support from Kitchener for the use of cycles. Knox had trained troops in their battlefield use before the conflict, and several corps were to be sent out when war broke out. Not everyone was convinced of the usefulness of cycles and some troops were coerced into using them. The Cape Cycle Corps, which was formed in January 1901, was a unit of 500 troops. The main jobs they were involved with in South Africa were despatch-riding, linking between cavalry and infantry, reconnaissance, carrying mail and stores in rucksacks, and even transporting carrier pigeons.
Our listener's ancestor Private William Duncan was enlisted in the Cape Colony Cyclist Corps in 1902.
"He wasn't paid for the voyage until 9th January when he was paid £3 and discharged as a horseman, but he did not receive the extra wages he was expecting for having worked as a carpenter for part of the journey. He sent £2 home at this stage. Family tradition has it that he was forced to enlist because on arrival in South Africa he and others were told that they would have to pay for a passage home, but if they enlisted they would be shipped home on discharge. The period of enlistment was for six months. In 1901 Kitchener had asked for 1000 cyclists for South Africa but volunteers in Britain produced only 2 of the 8 companies requested. A.H. Trapmann in Cyclists in Action [a handbook basically for military cyclists] says that cyclists were paid only at the ordinary rate while yeomanry could command higher wages, and so recruitment fell flat. He says that the cyclists did useful work in South Africa in spite of the terrain. William Duncan certainly describes the difficulty of riding a bicycle on some roads deep in sand."
(Courtesy of Linda Knox)
Expert consulted
Andrew Robertshaw of the National Army Museum
Further reading
Lord Pakenham, The Boer War (Abacus, 1991)
Denis Judd and Keith Surridge, The Boer War (John Murray, 2003)
Martin Marix Evans, The Boer War: South Africa, 1899-1902 (Osprey,1999)
Websites
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Vanessa has presentedÌýscience and current affairs programmes for ±«Óãtv, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for ±«Óãtv Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.Ìý