Bicycle salutes little-known tale from Great War
Dubbed ‘suicide squadron’ by others, cyclists suffered 25 per cent casualties
This bike still has the dings, dents and bullet scars of battle.
It’s a hardy, 102-year-old, Canadian-made machine — and Brad Christensen still finds it a pleasure to ride. “It handles nicely,” he said, even if it has its flaws.
“It’s a slow bike,” he explained. “It’s made for carrying all that weight through the mud.”
The Canadian soldier who used this bike in the First World War would have carried 90 pounds of gear. He likely slogged through tough conditions, sometimes riding 50 kilometres or more in the dead of night. He often had to fight the next morning.
Christensen is trying to keep the memory of that unknown soldier alive, as well as those of the hundreds of other members of the Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion.
The bicycle is on display this week at Regina’s Western Cycle Source for Sports, on the edge of the Warehouse District.
“This is just a small story,” Christensen said. “But it’s just a small story that is forgotten.”
Christensen’s exhibit honours Sgt. Garnet Durham of Regina, whose squad of cyclists were the first Allied soldiers to cross into German territory after the armistice.
Christensen is troubled by how few people know about the centennial. He thinks his exhibit can help get people interested in a littleknown part of Canada’s war effort.
“The bicycle is what gets people’s attention,” he said. “Then they come over and start talking and then when they leave they have a greater appreciation.”
But the bike was almost trash. Christensen said he got it from a farm family that was harbouring it in a barn — a barn they wanted to tear down. “This bike would have been gone forever and been farmed over,” he said.
Christensen took it off their hands and restored it. Most of it is original, as is the attached air pump and the coal oil lamp. He added a reproduction seat, tires and leather tool bag, to replace those that had rotted-away.
The bell was lost. But Christensen found an original from a similar bike in Nova Scotia.
He’s taken it to events in Saskatoon, to a car show in Rosetown and to a parade at the RCMP Academy. He dropped it off on Monday at Western Cycle. It will remain there until Friday at 4 p.m. Then it goes back to Saskatoon for Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Sasktel Centre.
Christensen, a member of the RCMP for 42 years, said the bike was his entry point into the history of the cyclist battalion, which was formed in 1914. It returned to Canada four years later, after staying put for the occupation of Germany.
By the end of the war there were about 1,200 members, he said, all volunteers. They faced a 25 per cent loss rate during the war, according to Christensen.
The cyclists, armed with either a Lee Enfield rifle or a Lewis machine gun, played many roles. They saw front-line action, riding as far as two days ahead of infantry units and holding advance positions. They relayed messages and laid telegraph lines. They gathered the dead.
They saw action in key battles, especially in the later stages of the war, like the Battle of Amiens. The bikes were considered “state of the art,” according to Christensen. They had an advantage over horses.
“They don’t tend to run away when the shooting starts,” he said.
Christensen said soldiers in other units called the cyclists the “suicide squadron.” But they had another name for themselves. “The cyclists called themselves the pedal pushers,” he said. “Through the mud and all that crud they ended up pushing, not pedalling.”
Christensen said everyone reacts the same way when they learn about those struggles at his displays: With surprise, even disbelief.
“There’s lots of other forgotten stories,” he said. “If we don’t bring them something to look at to catch their attention, it’ll be gone.”