There are many references written of the 7th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment formed in 1908, which, on outbreak of the First World War, became part of the Southern Command. Based at Totnes, they patrolled along the coast from Lyme Regis to the River Yealm, east of Plymouth. Just think, they would have cycled the coast roads we are so used to ourselves!
We turned out in force with the largest ever gathering of Pedallers at the Rousdon memorial, on this 100th anniversary year of some of the worst fighting these pedallers would have experienced. While the cyclist battalion remained in England throughout the war, many were sent over seas, for example, in 1916 a number joined A Company of the 2nd Devons to fight in the Cuinchy sector on the Somme. A sobering thought.
