35010 BRITISH DESPATCH RIDER 1942-45

During World War II, several dozen divisions were formed as part of the British Army, and at the end of the war they served in its ranks about 2.9 million people. Despite the well-developed radio and telephone communication, despatch riders still played quite a role in this. For the first time such messengers were used in the British Army at the beginning of World War I and operated in the structure of the Royal Engineers Signal Service. It is worth adding that initially only volunteers enlisted in this service. In the course of the next world war, the role of despatch riders did not diminish. They served not only in the British Army, but also in the aviation (RAF) and the Royal Navy, most of which were subordinate to the Royal Corps of Signals (RCS for short). It is worth adding here that both the British infantry division and the armored division included a separate RCs battalion, which included despatch riders. British motorcycle messengers used many motorcycle models from brands such as Triumph, Norton, BSA and Matchless in their service. It is also worth adding that one of the most used models was the Norton 16H.