Josie Steenhart
Most New Zealanders know something of the Anzacs, thousands of brave soldiers from New Zealand and Australia who fought in World War I, largely on foot, some on horses.
But less well known are a small group of Kiwis and Aussies who formed the Anzac Cyclist Battalion.
According to the New Zealand History website, the New Zealand Cyclist Corps was formed in New Zealand in March 1916, using recruits who were training to join the Mounted Rifles.
Intended as mobile light infantry, the cyclists found on their arrival in France in July 1916 that stationary trench warfare left them with little to do in that regard, and instead they spent much of the war behind the lines controlling traffic, laying cables and repairing trenches. New Zealand cyclists, as part of the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, were involved in the Flanders offensives of 1917, building an 1800m support track across no-man’s-land at Messines and laying signal cables behind advancing troops at Gravenstafel and Bellevue Spur.
In early 1918, the New Zealand Cyclist Corps was called upon to fight as infantry, taking part in important defensive actions in the Battle of the Lys and offensive
reports.
actions in the Second Battle of the Marne.
In April 2018, another group of Kiwi cyclists plan to follow in the tyre tracks that the Anzac cyclists rode 100 years earlier. Led by Wellingtonian Karl Woolcott, the group of around 30 cycling enthusiasts will tour parts of Belgium and Northern France where Anzac soldiers fought, and rode, a century before them. A cycling fanatic, each year Woolcott organises a cycling holiday through his tour company Ride Holidays.
Last year they rode the Canadian Rockies, this year they are off to Cuba – but the 2018 trip came about after Woolcott was approached by the New Zealand embassies in Paris and Brussels. ‘‘One of the main instigators behind this particular trip was the participation of our embassies over there. They actually approached me to see if they could help,’’ says Woolcott. ‘‘They’ve been excellent at setting up all the official wreath-laying ceremonies etc, and there are a lot of doors open that are usually closed.
‘‘And then of course we have the 100-year World War I commemorations. It seems to me that New Zealanders these days are taking more notice of Anzac Day and what it represents. It seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year.
‘‘For me personally, my interest increased after the opening of the Arras tunnel here in Wellington. And then to learn of the Anzac cycle corps and bingo – a tour was born.’’
Woolcott’s grandfather was an Anzac, as were all his grandfather’s brothers.
‘‘I was too young to appreciate it before he died,’’ he says.
But it’s his enthusiasm for cycling that has perhaps the strongest connection to the Cyclist Battalion for Woolcott. ’’I ride my bike every day. It is my work, my play, my sport. I can’t imagine life without a bike in it.’’
And ride their bikes they will, up to 100 kilometres each day, though their trusty two-wheeled steeds may differ somewhat from those ridden by the Anzacs, which featured a rifle clip behind the back seat and a paraffin lamp fastened to the front spokes.
‘‘The bikes are very different indeed,’’ says the tour’s resident history buff, Jamie Mackay.
‘‘The Anzac cyclists rode BSA Mark IV bikes. These would have been at least twice the weight of a modern road bike, even without the gun rack and various carriers. They would have been ridden in full uniform rather than lycra.
‘‘Most road bikes these days have 22 gears, this had one. They had bells though, not something you’re likely to see on a modern road bike!’’
Mackay says the cycling soldiers ‘‘were often exposed to enemy fire as they worked on developing communication routes between the lines and as this account of fighting at Vierstraat illustrates, it was not only the soldiers who were vulnerable targets: ‘Our cycles were still on the Veirstraat Road, and received a fair amount of shellfire and were badly damaged. On the nights of 29th and 30th small parties of men who could be spared from the line were engaged in moving the cycles back to the rear, and this saved the total loss of several; as it was some 90 cycles were so badly damaged as to be totally useless…’
‘‘While bicycles do not appear to have been used in active combat by the Anzacs, they were seen as useful means to transport men and light equipment over large distances in much less time than it would take troops on foot,’’ says Mackay.
‘‘They were, however, often hampered by the terrain and conditions: ‘Some of our climbs were long and steep and our energy and endurance was severely taxed in negotiating some of the rises, particularly a frozen road which was as slippery as glass. Spills were frequent and our temper sullen…’
‘‘On many occasions it was not just the conditions that slowed them down: ‘This trek from Ruminghem had taken us three full days and two half days, and the distance covered was about 90 miles. This is not quick travelling time for cyclists, who could do 40 miles a day easily, but we were hampered then by having slow horse transport, and the length of our day’s journey had to be paced accordingly.’’’
Mackay says 59 members of the cyclist battalions were killed and 259 wounded (51 of these were wounded more than once) across the duration of the war.
The 2018 tour aims ‘‘to retrace many of the roads that the Anzacs rode in WW1, stopping when we can to share the history’’ and Mackay and Woolcott agree there will be many sombre moments but also plenty of toasts raised to their cycling compatriots.