Gifts from above: The Welbike.

Via: memorial grove

"The Welbike was developed at the Frythe, Station 9 in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, a top secret SOE establishment for design and research. Other items they designed, some with limited use and effect, also carried the "Wel" prefix. A couple of other examples being the Welrod, a silenced pistol, believed to still be in use to this day by Special Forces, and the Welsub, a one-man submarine. The original concept and design of the Welbike was by the Frythe's Harry Lester, his brief was to design a small folding motorcycle that would fit within a cylindrical drop container, of no more than 15 inches in diameter and be able to be dropped by parachute. It is believed that six prototypes were built, however they did not receive acceptance for their role intended by the SOE, this being to provide motorised transportation for an Agent parachuted into occupied territory.

The Welbike did not however flounder as a result of this apparent and seemingly unrecorded rejection by SOE; instead it found a new ally in the newly formed Parachute and Airborne Regiments. They used them on numerous occasions, with varied success. It is claimed that a Paratrooper could remove the Welbike from its special green container, marked in white lettering with the words "Motor Cycle" and its identifiable colour parachute, and be mobile within 11 seconds. Photographs exist that were taken in wartime showing the Welbike in other varying uses, this includes being carried from Landing Craft at Normandy by Commandoes on D-Day. The Welbike weighed in at 70lbs, had a top speed of some 30mph and a fuel capacity for a range of approximately 90 miles."

war veteran: a unrestored Welbike