However, few projects were as bold as the use of folding bicycles built specifically to be dropped with British paratroopers during the World War II.
For this purpose, Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) designed a folding model intended for parachute deployment. The basic idea behind the folding bicycles was to provide paratroopers with a discreet, silent means of transport that required no supply chain, could cover significant distances after landing, and could be discarded whenever tactical circumstances made it more of a burden than a benefit.
Between 1942 and 1945, BSA produced more than 60,000 folding bicycles for paratroopers, which were then supplied to British and Canadian troops in time to be used on D-Day and later in the Battle of Arnhem, among other smaller operations.
In theory, the procedure was relatively straightforward: paratroopers held the folded bicycles, their wheels secured to the parachute harness strap, as they jumped from aircraft and descended to the ground. Two wing nuts — one at the top of the frame and another at the bottom — could be loosened to fold the bicycle in half, rotating the front wheel to the right so that it rested against the rear wheel, forming a compact 14 kg unit.
On the ground, brackets attached to the frame allowed paratroopers to secure their M1 Garand rifles to the bicycles, which were usually painted khaki green, although some of the final models were finished in brown due to shortages of green paint.
Many were abandoned during operations, and it became common to see them later used by French, Dutch and Belgian civilians in the post-war years.