How Hollywood Star Charlize Theron's Ancestor Came Up with Bicycle Troops
Agree that bicycle troops — it sounds strange and even funny. But believe me, there is nothing funny here and the military units on bicycles showed themselves perfectly on the battlefield. They appeared for the first time not in Europe and not even in China, and South Africa. And the father of this exotic kind of troops was the elder brother of Charlize Theron's great-grandfather. Yes, the same Hollywood beauty, originally from South Africa.
Transvaal lawyer Daniel Johanson Stephanus "Dani" Theron was not only an excellent lawyer. He was a man versed in many fields and possessed an extraordinary mindset. In 1899, the Anglo-Boer War began and Daniel did not stay away. His idea, which seemed crazy at first, became a real godsend for the Boers defending their homeland.
At that time, after man, the second most important figure on the battlefields was a horse. Unfortunately, this animal is far from ideal for South Africa. Boer horses are hardy and unpretentious, but they eat a lot and need water. Therefore, the arid climate of the Transvaal created serious problems for riders.
Lawyer and patriot Daniel Theron appealed to the authorities with a proposal to use bicycles instead of horses. It was hard to call this idea fresh. In the 80s of the 19th century, cyclists were in many European armies. But the soldiers on "pedal horses" did not have any advantages during the fighting.
The thing is that they rode on "penny-farthings", or so-called "spiders". These are the funny bicycles with a huge front wheel, when looking at which a modern person remembers a circus. Such mechanization provided almost no advantages. The cyclist could not ride over rough terrain, and besides, the high landing made him an excellent target.
Dani Theron suggested using the most modern bicycles at that time. These are the first machines with a design that is still in use today. The Boers liked the lawyer's idea. This was obvious, because "boer" in Afrikaans means "farmer" or "peasant". And for a peasant, as you know, there is nothing more valuable in the household than a horse. Now the harsh Boer warriors could not worry about their workhorses and leave them at home.
But there were also many skeptics in the military department of the Transvaal. In order to finally convince compatriots of the expediency of using bicycles, Theron decided to demonstrate the advantages of his solution visually. He organized the rider and cyclist races. During the 75-kilometer run under the merciless sun, a man and a car won.
After that, Dani Theron was allowed to organize a corps of 108 people. These were fighters whose tasks were reconnaissance and establishing communication between units. At a time when radio was still too young and did not go beyond scientific laboratories, couriers provided communication in the army. The cyclist was perfect for transmitting information, as he moved quickly, silently and did not consume resources.
When the pedal-powered warriors proved their worth in the theater of operations, Theron went further. He created an Intelligence Corps to conduct guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. They were 80 selected fighters on good bicycles.
Brave cyclists operated in the enemy's rear as at home. They struck lightning strikes and dissolved into the savannah, squeaking pedals. These guys committed sabotage and derailed trains with weapons and provisions. Other boers followed their example and soon many changed horses for bicycles.
The use of "pedal cavalry" could not turn the tide of the war and did not ensure victory over the British. But at the same time, the warriors with bicycles gave the enemies a lot of trouble. And most importantly, the farm horses remained intact and after the war, former soldiers began to plow and carry hay on them again.
The cyclists annoyed the British so much that they even put a bounty on Theron's head. But at the same time, they themselves thought about creating similar military formations. The "spiders" were forgotten and soldiers of various branches of the armed forces began to scurry along the front-line roads in modern fast cars.
The British even perfected Theron's idea. Their Australian units received special bicycles adapted for riding on railway rails. Such a bike tire could gain decent speed. If necessary, it could be turned back into a bicycle in a few minutes.
Full-fledged pedal-powered trolleys were also used, which could carry several people and even cargo. By the way, back in the early 19th century, a trolley was called a bicycle, which the rider moved by pushing off with his feet. By the end of the century, this name was already strongly associated with the railway.
The Anglo-Boer War was over, but Daniel Theron's case continued to live on. At the beginning of the 20th century, various armies in Europe began to think about how to strengthen the firepower of a warrior on a bicycle. This is how trailers with Maxim machine guns and even the most real bicycle cars appeared.
The pinnacle of engineering was the Simms quad bike. This is a four-wheeled pedal-powered machine equipped with a machine gun. To protect the shooter, a steel shield was installed in the front of the device. Such military equipment looked very strange, but it was of little use. The main disadvantage of ATVs was their low cross-country ability. Therefore, only a few experimental models were released, after which the project was completely curtailed.
But another invention of the militarists is folding bicycles, which we use in the 21st century. We owe their appearance to the French officer Henri Gerard. He reasoned sensibly that there are places where it is impossible to pass even on two wheels. Therefore, Gerard's bike could be folded and hung behind his back.
Folding bicycles were the first to be produced by the Peugeot company at the end of the 19th century. By the beginning of the First World War, all the armies involved in the conflict already had their folding bicycles. All of them differed little from their ancestor Gerard's design.
The French at the beginning of the 20th century took the palm from the British and there were most bicycles in their army. As of 1914, more than 100 thousand French servicemen moved on two and three-wheeled vehicles with pedals. The British could at the same time boast only 14 thousand cyclists. Taking into account the colonies, that is, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, this figure could be higher, but it was still far from the French.
In 1917, the United States entered the First World War. 26,407 bicycles of various types were transported across the ocean. The Germans also did not ignore the promising personal transport. There were no fewer cyclists in the ranks of their army than in all the Allied troops combined. We can say that by this time the bicycle had become a full-fledged military equipment.
In the Russian Empire, military cyclists appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. After the revolution, during the Civil War, "scooters" were actively used. This outdated word did not mean a soldier on a scooter pushing off with one foot. This was the name given to military cyclists before the revolution and the definition remained after the Bolsheviks came to power.
By the way, in everyday life, Russians called things by their proper names, that is, equipment — "bicycle", and its driver — "cyclist". But in official sources they always wrote "scooter" and "scooter". However, there was no confusion, since everyone knew well what it was about.
Cyclists performed well during the revolution and in battles with the White Guards. Many of the fallen soldiers were buried at the Kremlin Wall, and the Moscow street Novoblagoslovennaya in 1924 was renamed to Scooter.