WWII Despatch Bike

Ok, firstly I admit that this photo was taken yesterday, but I did edit it today. My reason for breaching the rule is that I wanted to share a story with you. This is a Norton model 16H, part of a batch of 10,000 similar bikes supplied by the War Department in Nov 1941 to supply British forces both at home and abroad (100,000 of this model were produced for military use during the War). GracieG called me over to look at it in the garage yesterday as she knew that part of my dad's role was to deliver messages by motorbike in WWII. 

My dad was in the Royal Corps of Signals (he was 20 when the War ended) and mentioned he was based at Whaddon / Windy Ridge and as part of his role he delivered messages by motorbike to Bletchley Park a few miles down the road.  He died around the time that Bletchley Park started being written about, so this was about all he revealed as everyone involved kept it secret for decades. I've since found out that the work undertaken at Whaddon in 'Section 8' was originally part of BP, but they needed more space so it was moved to Whaddon / Windy Ridge. Googling the Norton 16H today, I found out that it was widely used at BP and that despatch riders from the Royal Corps of Signals regularly delivered messages to BP from Y stations such as Windy Ridge, and from BP along the A5 to the War Office. The Norton 16H played a key role in BP's logistical operations due to its robustness. My dad once mentioned he was running to deliver something in the Cabinet War Rooms and ran round a corner and nearly knocked Churchill over, so maybe he went there on a similar bike. 

After the War my dad was transferred about 15 miles away to Hanslope Park (the precursor to GCHQ) for more secret work for MI6 (we just knew he was a civil servant). He worked there all his life and never talked about what he did, so it's interesting to find out some things as the information is not as tightly controlled as it was. 

You might be interested in this clip from a few years ago from the BBC, I think I recognise my dad in the middle of the group photo in the clip, but it's poor quality so I can't be sure.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-36248874