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British paratroopers from WWII are outdoors

3,267 Views | 21 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by shimmeringshark
Swarely
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1:49p, 2/15/17
I saw this picture on Reddit and needed to share it with somebody. I just can't stop grinning at it.

British paratroopers retrieve folding motorbikes, or "Welbikes" from equipment containers- Belford South Weat England, 9 June 1943




Here's a little more information on the bikes.
http://home.earthlink.net/~flyboyken/id15.html
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highvelocity
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1:52p, 2/15/17
AG
seeing such a badass on a child size bike makes me smile
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CactusThomas
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1:54p, 2/15/17
AG
I spot two soldiers.
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agfan2013
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1:58p, 2/15/17
AG
They look like the old mini-bike dad has that he restored so we could ride it as kids back in the day. It's funny to watch a full sized person on them, but they still work.
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suprafly03
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2:04p, 2/15/17
AG
If those are gas powered you would think they'd be really loud. Louder than what I would think would be functional for a paratrooper behind enemy lines.

I'd like to know more about these things.
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AgEng06
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In reply to agfan2013 • 2:07p, 2/15/17
AG
agfan2013 said:
They look like the old mini-bike dad has that he restored so we could ride it as kids back in the day. It's funny to watch a full sized person on them, but they still work.
Reminded me of a story:

We used to have a small Suzuki 4-wheeler when we were kids. My uncle was a very large man, probably 6' 6", ~350 lbs. He was riding the 4-wheeler once and my grandpa said he looked like a "monkey ****ing a football". I still laugh every time I think about it.

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P.H. Dexippus
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2:13p, 2/15/17
AG

From the link. Juno Beach.
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BCO07
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2:19p, 2/15/17
AG
Could you imagine today's 18 year olds doing that?
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Swarely
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In reply to BCO07 • 2:21p, 2/15/17
I have an 18 yr old cousin that will attending USAF Academy that I could easily picture doing that.
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shimmeringshark
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6:18p, 2/15/17
AG
A modern version and not as small but motorbikes are still dropped in the field, I believe.


circa 2014.
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CanyonAg77
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In reply to Swarely • 6:20p, 2/15/17
AG
AP4P2020 said:
I have an 18 yr old cousin that will attending USAF Academy that I could easily picture doing that.
Yeah, I've got one kid who was a zoomie, one who was in the Aggie Corps. Lots of good people in that generation.

I had a minibike as a kid and loved it. But then, no one was shooting at me while I rode. And the bike reminds me of the Lewis Grizzard book title:

Shoot Low Boys, They're Riding Shetland Ponies
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3rdGenAg05
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In reply to BCO07 • 7:44p, 2/15/17
AG
Yes.
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MouthBQ98
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8:44p, 2/15/17
AG
One of my coworkers was a combat air controller, and did a lot of training with special forces. They rode cycles in the field sometimes to cover lots of ground. They've been part of special ops for a long time.
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Centerpole90
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In reply to MouthBQ98 • 9:09p, 2/15/17
AG
In 'Not a Good Day to Die' Sean Naylor talks about this. He said something to the effect that ATV manufactures had taken it as a challenge to muffle their units such that operators and FACs could almost ride through a small village without waking or disturbing anyone.
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awesome sauce
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In reply to BCO07 • 9:33p, 2/15/17
AG
With the new History Channel drama SIX out they're playing documentaries about modern Navy SEALs like Jason Redman (when the channel's not playing BS pseudo-history crap) . . . and you realize - YES we do still have military badasses in every branch of the armed services today doing stuff that most all of us would be unwilling (or incapable) of doing.
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BenderRodriguez
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In reply to BCO07 • 7:34a, 2/16/17
AG
BCO07 said:
Could you imagine today's 18 year olds doing that?


This generations 18 year olds have been volunteering to go to war since 2001 for the longest ongoing war this country has ever fought.
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BCO07
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In reply to BenderRodriguez • 7:57a, 2/16/17
AG
Those 18 year olds are now 35. While they (we) are pretty damn soft as a group, they are nothing compared to the mentally weak, whiney, dependant babies I see every day.
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BCO07
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In reply to awesome sauce • 8:00a, 2/16/17
AG
There are certainly general bad asses in this current group of young adults. However, I could not imagine the trouble we'd be in if we asked basically that entire generation to take up arms in our defense. Didn't mean to derail, just meant to point out how incredible that generation of men was when they needed to be.
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CanyonAg77
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In reply to BCO07 • 8:16a, 2/16/17
AG
We will probably not know how awesome a current generation can be, because huge land wars requiring millions of soldiers are likely a thing of the past.

I will also point out that before WWII, the "Greatest Generation" didn't look all that great. The Depression came close to producing a communist revolution, tons of young men were jobless, and one of the biggest political movements of the time was sympathetic to Hitler and the Nazis. The bad economy also meant that lots of young people were under nourished and unhealthy.

If you were looking at the young people of 1939-1940, you wouldn't have been very impressed.
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BCO07
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In reply to CanyonAg77 • 8:23a, 2/16/17
AG
Interesting point. I may very well be wrong in my assessment of this group. Hell, I hope I am.
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CanyonAg77
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In reply to BCO07 • 8:28a, 2/16/17
AG
BCO07 said:
Interesting point. I may very well be wrong in my assessment of this group. Hell, I hope I am.
Well, you are getting old enough to gripe about "New Army".
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BCO07
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In reply to CanyonAg77 • 8:35a, 2/16/17
AG
CanyonAg77 said:
BCO07 said:
Interesting point. I may very well be wrong in my assessment of this group. Hell, I hope I am.
Well, you are getting old enough to gripe about "New Army".


Been doing that since 2008
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shimmeringshark
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7:58p, 2/16/17
AG
CA77 makes a very valid point point that the greatest generation, while they indeed served grandly, was god-awful poor, underpaid, under-educated and some malnournished. It is too easy to be rah-rah about the past and gloss, John Wayne style, over the the harsh facts of their daily existence. I bet the soldiers, marines, sailors and airman fighting our longest war today are products of the sacrifice and patriotism of their elders. Just speaking from my own family experience.

That photo I posted earlier? I know both and only one came home. And that is all I will say about it.
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