Bouncing back

Every nation involved in war suffers huge losses, even if they are perceived as victors, and for the motorcycle world, this statement applies. Personnel, expertise, raw materials, funds, premises, time, design drawings, ledgers and more were/are gone forever.

Relief and joy at the war’s end in May 1945 was tinged with emotions from sadness to downright annoyance. My maternal grandfather Reg Stevens, a true Londoner, remained saddened by bomb sites and evidence for the rest of his life. But sorrow apart, there was joy too. The war’s end and demobilisation brought their own rituals to help start the personal healing process. Although the war ‘officially’ ended in May, the military’s tasks didn’t instantly finish, thus demobilisation was progressive. This applied across the board to all servicemen, including motorcycle sport competitors and manufacturing personnel. That’s not to say that an amount of pre-demobilisation civilian sport and factory design work didn’t take place. It did, but huge numbers of servicemen and women were still needed.

It became an unspoken ritual after the Second World War for service personnel from all walks of motorcycling life to call in at the London offices of and immediately after ‘demob’ – a gesture of signing on rather than off. And in late May 1946 staff photographer captured four who had served as Army Training School instructors at Keswick for the Green Un. Charlie Rogers (en route to rejoin his Royal Enfield factory team) and Maurice Laidlaw were decked out in smart three-piece suits, as was Peter Chamberlain, who had been forced to delay