With A Motor Bike In The Bush

Blackie & Son, London. c 1920. 1st Edition. Brown cloth. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. numerous black & white illustrations. This is a very good hardback copy in the original brown cloth covers complete with the dust wrapper which has a few chips with minor loss . 176 pages. Scarce.

The South African Motor Cyclist Corps was formed in January 1916 under the command of Colonel James Fairweather. He was an Anglo Boer war veteran who had been awarded the D.S.O for “very good service at Patriots Klip, Cape Colony on 15th December 1901” and Mentioned in Dispatches twice. He had also seen recent service in German West Africa where he was again Mentioned in Dispatches. The Corps was made up mainly of railway men, possibly because of their familiarity with things mechanical, who were paid five shillings and six pence per day. The Corps hat badge with a winged wheel reflected the men’s origin as it was very similar to the badge used by Railway units. The S.A.M.C.C. machines had leather gun buckets mounted on the forks for carrying rifles, Lewis guns or signalling equipment.