Sidecar Motorcycles in Action
World War II

All the major and most of the minor combatants employed motorcycle troops in various roles throughout World War II.  On the Eastern Front both Germans and Russians used BMW or BMW-derived designs.  The Red Army also received thousands of Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles from the United States.

There are different versions of how BMW motorcycle technology evolved into a Russian military motorcycle. See the Cossack Owners Club Site for an authoritative study by P.J. Ballard or Wikipedia for the basic BMW-Ural story. 
 

Motorcycle riflemen  of 24th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front.  24th Panzer was formerly 1st Cavalry Division, thus the Leaping Horseman division sign.  The Division was wiped out at Stalingrad in 1943.	Red Army motorcycle troops in the Great Patriotic War with their M72 Ural, derived from the BMW opposed twin design.
Leibstandarte Motorcycle Unit.	Red Army troops entering Berlin (1945) on M72 Ural motorcycles.

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