BSA Military Bicycles

[buddy]

I have a photograph of my wife's great Grandfather with his Army issue bicycle, in a bracket he has his service rifle.
His name was Matthew Scott and it could only be the Anglo Boer war or first world war or shortly after, as he was born in 1881.
I have been through the BSA bicycle Museum online presentation but have found no contact address. Other sites that start out as bicycle sites tend
to inundate we with e-mail messages or posts from bikers.

I would be very interested to have any information that could be gleaned from the photograph.

 

[dwilly]

https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com/online-vehicle-museums-contact-details/

There is someone contact details on this website, at the bottom of the page, in the advert

 

[maypolebaz]

I have a photograph of my wife's great Grandfather with his Army issue bicycle, in a bracket he has his service rifle.
His name was Matthew Scott and it could only be the Anglo Boer war or first world war or shortly after, as he was born in 1881.
I have been through the BSA bicycle Museum online presentation but have found no contact address. Other sites that start out as bicycle sites tend
to inundate we with e-mail messages or posts from bikers.

I would be very interested to have any information that could be gleaned from the photograph.

View attachment 91140

The only info that I can glean from that great photo, buddy, is that Matthew is armed with a Lee - Enfield Mk 1 rifle, (also known as the Long Lee - Enfield).
The rifle first made its appearance in late 1895.

 

[dwilly]

https://samilitaryhistory.org/vol041dm.html

Some history of cycles in Boar War, dress looks similar but guess it might well of been similar in WW1

 

[wam]

I don't know if this helps at all https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com/rifle-mounting-clips-on-military-bicycles/ Different models of bicycle seem to have different mounts for rifle.
There may be other options than the Boer War/WW1. All you have is a picture of someone in military uniform. There is no guarantee that he served in a war. The British army would have had men posted to many bases around the world that were not engaged in any War. One of my grandfathers served in the Boer War and in India.

 

[buddy]

Thanks to the expert and journeyman Brummies for their replies to my post and for
sharing their expertise with me. As I

 

[paul stacey]

The photo is from the Boar War, with African bush hat, and style of buildings in background, never seen anything like the weapon support on a bicycle before fairly unique I would think.

 

[maypolebaz]

The figure on the Boer War memorial, in Queen's Park, Crewe, is dressed in the same way as the chap in buddy's photo. Even the rifle is the same.

 

[buddy]

Firstly, thank you for all your posts they certainly help! Some recent information from family of Matthew Scott
the Militia man in the photograph.
His discharge papers for the period of service in the Natal Militia state service as 95 days and are dated in 1906.
This is consistent with the Bamabto uprising or sometimes referred to as The Zulu Rebellion. He served in the Natal Militia.
Buddy

 

[paul stacey]

Natal was indeed "Zululand", so any operations within its borders would have been against tribal uprisings, I have not heard of a "Bambabto", uprising but I have "Bambatha", in 1906, a pole tax was introduced against native tribes to pay for policing, and a the "Amazondi Zulu Clan", living in the Mpanza valley Natal, led by its clan chief "Bambatha", rose up against this tax and some fighting ensued, but it was short lived. A strange end note was that "Ghandi" then a solicitor, lobbied successfully the South African legislature for Indian troops to be used as stretcher bearers for the British Army.