question WW2 RAF Motorcycles

[DWS]

Hi All

 

My first post. I am looking for information and/or photos of WW2 RAF Motorcycles, especially RAF Police Motorcycles. I am also interested in the colours used on these motorcycles, I believe early ones were RAF Blue, changing to Army Green later on. Can anyone help please?

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Stefano]

Hiya,

The accepted opinion is that prior to the outbreak of WW2 RAF motorcycles were either gloss blue-grey or army bronze green, and when the shooting started anything even remotely shiny got plastered with the first camouflage paint at hand as soon as humanly possible, which quite naturally would have been either matt green or matt earth ('plane colours), or dk grey / dk. brown (hangar colours), the first vehicles to undergo this treatment being obviously those based in France and Southern England. The transition was probably complete by the time the Battle of Britain was underway. As for the machines coming off the production line, these were delivered to the RAF without any deviation from standard practice, therefore Khaki green G3 to late 1941 /early 1942, S.C.C. 2 Brown from then on to early/mid 1944, and S.C.C. 15 olive drab from there to the end. After the war the transition back to peacetime colours was not as quick as might be suspected, and initially the motorcycles still in service would have had a better chance of getting a coat of bronze green than RAF blue.

I'm useless on anything postwar, so I can't tell you when RAF blue-grey was brought back to stay, but there are surely lots of people on the forum that will be able to give you a better idea.

Of course this is the official version, and in reality there could be any number of variables (caunter scheme, light stone, desert pink, tunisian mud and maltese drystone wall spring to mind).

Hope this helps,

Stef

[DWS]

Hi Stefano

 

Many thanks for your reply, most informative. I am also searching elsewhere for this information and what you say ties in with other information I have found. Thank you.