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Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. After he landed, he would simply straighten the wheels, tighten the wing nuts and pedal off. The bike’s wheels attached to a parachute suspension line and when the chute opened, the paratrooper could lower the bike so it would hit the ground first. A bike could be airdropped with its own parachute but, when folded, it could also accompany a paratrooper when he jumped. The airborne frame was hinged and connected by two wing nuts that could be loosened to allow it to be folded in half. BSA produced about 130,000 military bicycles, including more than 60,000 airborne bikes that could be loaded into a glider or carried by paratroopers. The company continued to produce consumer bicycles after the Great War, so it was easy to return to military production when the Second World War began. Plus, they were easier to care for than horses.

The bikes quickly proved their worth, providing soldiers with quiet, easy-to-use and quick transportation. During the First World War, it supplied the British army with Lewis automatic machine guns in addition to outfitting British bicycle troops. The bike was retired, too, a treasured possession painstakingly cared for during his lifetime-and at his direction, donated to the museum after his death in November 2020.īSA began manufacturing bikes in 1880.

Some of those were also passed along to the museum.Ĭostil used the bike on the farm for 14 years, then on house-to-house rounds while working as a meter reader until he retired in 1985. The service corps put its bicycles to good use augmenting the heavy trucks and jeeps that supplied food, fuel and ammunition to the advancing troops-as well as to help personnel get around.Īubé, of Sherbrooke, Que., befriended a farm family in Banville, France, and when the corps left, he gave his bicycle to the family’s 14-year-old son, Christian Costil, sealing a lifetime friendship during which they exchanged many letters. He landed on the beach at Graye-sur-Mer on D-Day. The Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) Airborne Folding Paratrooper Bicycle was issued to Marius Aubé of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. “We have acquired a lot more than just a famous bike, we’ve also acquired the human story behind this object,” wrote exhibitions manager Marie Eve Vaillancourt, on the centre’s website.

Bsa bicycle history