Cycling All The Way to Victory (1 Viewer)

[King & Country]

Hi Guys,

When the Japanese Army invaded colonial Malaya in December 1941 they amazed their British and Empire opponents by the speed of their advance down the Malayan Peninsula.
One of the ways they did this was by using thousands upon thousands of bicycles!
Some of these they brought with them when they invaded... Most were commandeered from the local Malay and Chinese civilian population.
It was also rumoured at the time that hundreds of bikes had been hidden at strategic points by Japanese companies operating in Malaya before the outbreak of war.
As the wear and tear of constant use took its toll many of the Japanese ‘cyclists’ had, eventually, to pedal their way forward on the base steel rims of their wheels... From a distance the sound of these hundreds of bicycles appeared to the British to be like that of approaching tanks!

Best wishes,
Andy

 

[villagehorse]

Oh these are brillant Andy, you sure know how to hit the spot. No hint of these bad boys, no wonder they slipped into Singapore undetected. On the list, just too good. Robin.

 

[peterupton]

Stunning Andy

Andy - these are really inspired - what an excellent set. You are also right about the rumours about how bikes had been strategically stored..in the lead up to the invasion there were clashes between Japanese and British Agents on the border with Thailand at Hat Yai and one agent reported back about someone stockpiling bikes....

 

[Guy]

very nice figures Andy, and now we need some WW2 Germans on a bike ( truppenfahrrad)
guy

 

[El Pippo]

These are really great figures. Found something about the Fall of Singapore on the net

"To thwart the British defenders at fixed positions along the major Malayan roads, the Japanese units advanced on bicycles.
These highly mobile troops often arrived before the British expected, causing them to retreat.
Within seventy days, the Japanese were across the strait from Singapore (Photo: National Archives)."

 

[Larry Allen]

Oh these are brillant Andy, you sure know how to hit the spot. No hint of these bad boys, no wonder they slipped into Singapore undetected. On the list, just too good. Robin.

I'll second Robin's comments ... simply fantastic. Appears to be three different sets, but intermixed up and it looks like many different figures.
I am afraid that I'll have to get a pile of these to reproduce the same feeling ... darn ...^&grin

--- LaRRy