To answer the initial question Canadian Dispatch Riders (Don R’s) rode BSA, Matchless, Triumph, and Norton. The Canadian Provost Corps rode Harley.
Don R’s went through them quite quickly usually putting them in the sticks, laying them down, vehicle collisions, etc.
I too am trying to gather some information on the Canadian army’s dispatch riders in WWII. I have attached a photograph of my Uncle Harold taken somewhere (over there) - Italy, I think. I had at first thought this to be a Harley-Davidson and had sent the photo to them in hopes of gathering further info. They were kind enough to respond that the bike in the photo is actually an Indian and I am only now beginning my quest for more information with this new knowledge. I will be more than happy to share with you any information I gather. And I would love to hear from anybody who can assist me in my quest.
Very nice picture. I don’t believe the Canadians used Indians and that ‘looks’ like a BSA but I’ve been wrong before 
I’d know better if the lighting was toned down.
Sadly my uncle passed away last Monday so I will not be gleaning any more information from him.
He went from being a DonR to driving tanks as a Recce when his kidneys got too bad from driving the motorbike over tank tracks for years.
When you say you ‘sent the photograph to them’, who is ‘them’?
What unit was your uncle attached to?
Thanks for getting back to me. Thinking the bike was a Harley I contacted Harley here in the States and worked my way through several departments and eventually was able to forward the picture to HD-Buelservices and they were the folks who identified the bike as an Indian. I’ll see what I can do about toning down the picture but it’s the only one I have and it’s in an album so it may take some time.
I’m sorry to hear about your uncle. I would have loved to ask him some questions. Perhaps you can give me some leads from the information you got from him.
Let me start at the biginning. I had a massive seizure in 1985 and lost most of my personal memories. I could still operate in the business mode but most of my childhood is gone. I’m now 69 years old and my family is asking that I pass along whatever I can. I lost any threads I may have had to my Canadian relatives because of the seizure.
I was born in Montreal and spent most of WW-II at my grandparents and they lived at No. 61 Beaconsfield Rd. Their names are/were Douglas and Margaret Williams and their 3 sons, Tom, Doug and Harold were in the Canadian Army and I believe they left Canada in 1939. Tom was in the Medical Corps and Douglas was an officer (no information beyond that) and Harold was the dispatch rider. I am only now starting a journey to find out what I can about my family. I am hoping I can get enough information to send to the Canadian Army in hopes of them assisting in my quest.
Had a friend who was a Motorcycle scout early in WW2.
He as with the initial effort in N Africa.
He spoke quite a bit about our inadequate equipment and undeveloped tactics.
The Germans also had air superiority at the time.
He rode HD 45s and was with a unit that had 75s mounted on halftracks. Dismal affairs, as described by him.
He went on and served in Italy where they upgraded to scoutcars.
He got a siver star fending off German attacks against his disabled vehicle.
He reported bouncing a couple .50 bullets off the Tower of Pisa when nobody was looking.
Served in Korea and VN with SF assigned to SOG, retiring as a CSM.
Triple CIB recipient before the recent period redesignations.
A tough old bird.
Honored to have known him.
De Opresso Liber
If you can get Harold’s, or your other uncle’s death certificate(s) you can get all of his/their military records from Collections Canada. The records are amazingly comprehensive and well worth tracking down the certificates.
I cannot post links so go to collectionscanada.ca and from there ‘genealogy’ and then military records. You can print the forms and fax them to Collections Canada and 6 weeks later have more information than you believed possible!
Hi Shayne,
I really appreciate this lead. I will check the site and see if I can trace the family starting with my grandparents.
Harold was any lads dream uncle. The first thing he did when he got home was to show me his service revolver - then he threw me on the back of his Harley. Now that’s just a little bit of heaven. It’s wonderful news to know where to go after I find more information and I am most grateful for your help.
I’m pretty sure he was in North Africa because I have a letter he sent my mother just before going in on the Italian campaign. He was on active service so I can’t discern whether he was going into Sicily or the Italian mainland. I also know he had enough medals to cover a fedora because I had them as a youngster.
Thanks for picking up my comment. I am assuming your friend was in the American Army and I would guess he rode a Harley-Davidson WLA. There were a few Indian’s available early in the war but then H-D got the contract and built 80-90,000 WLA’s and had enough parts at the end of the war to build another 30,000 bikes. Harley also built 1,000 XA models with a shaft drive copied from the German BMW’s but not many of those made it into combat because they were not chosen for further production.
Shayne,
My friend played with the photo a little. I have it as an attachment because I don’t know how to put it in the message. I’m hoping the increased detail may be helpful in identifying the bike for you. Your help is appreciated as always!
Hello,
There vas a discusion abouth motorbikes in the second world war in Lithuanian vebsite, of whih i am the proud member. You can read the tread here
http://antraspasaulinis.net/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?129286.0
I think it covers al the ofensive or dispath bikes used in the war. I know it is in lithuanian, but names, pictures and links are mostly ok. If you nedd some bit to bee translated just ask.
Abouth the canadian dispath. I think that thei mostly used british bikes like
BSA M20
http://www.autogallery.org.ru/m/bsam20.htm
Ariel W/NG 350
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_W/NG_350
And Matchless G3/L
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchless_G3/L
Harley Davidson built two models specifically for Military use, the Base model being the “WL” series 45 cubic inch flat head solo. The models produced for the military’s for the U.S. and the Allies were the “WLA” (American) and the “WLC” (Canadian. ) Harley Davidson also produced a Model specifically for Desert use, the “XA” which appears to be a copy of the German flat opposed BMW Military Bike.
