Bicycle Brigades

While researching Soviet WWII history, I came across reference to bicycle brigades used by the Germans as part of the siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Evidently, the bicycle infantryman was seen as a replacement for the cavalry messenger and able to transport supplies in places where truck and tank travel was impossible. There’s a whole lengthy history here (including pics of folding bicycles in action). So, maybe another antecedent for my current trip.

2 thoughts on “Bicycle Brigades

    1. papish Post author

      I recently watched the Soviet Film “Only Old Men Are Going to Battle” about Ukrainian fighter pilots during the war. It features an all-women bombing unit based on the “Witches.” Of course, in addition to heroics, the USSR also formed a “voluntary” People’s Army (Opolcheniye) which basically sent 200,000 untrained and mostly unarmed civilians (women included) directly against German tanks with catastrophic results.

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