Anzac cyclists

Prime Minister William Massey and Joseph Ward inspect the New Zealand Cyclist Corps.

The New Zealand Cyclist Corps, part of the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, was heavily involved in the Belgian offensives of 1917. Bicycles were useful for transporting men and light equipment over large distances in much less time than it would take troops on foot – despite often being hampered by the terrain and muddy conditions, they could easily cover 60 kilometres a day. Cyclists also performed tasks such as traffic control, tree felling, cable laying, trench repairs and reconnaissance.

At Messines the battalion prepared an 1800-metre track from the Allies’ reserve line across the former no-man’s land and through abandoned German trenches to a point called Middlefarm to enable the mounted troops to get through. Several members of the battalion were killed, and 19 were wounded carrying out this dangerous work.

At Gravenstafel and Bellevue Spur in October the cyclists were largely employed laying cables behind the advancing troops. According to the official history, ‘The enemy shelling throughout was heavy and the going bad owing to the rain and the sea of shell holes filled with water, but the men stuck to their work well and accomplished a result which any army may be proud of.’