The Arctic Expeditionary Force

The photograph above shows one of the light artillery support vehicles of the Imperial Arctic Expeditionary Force. In 1877 these troops were sent to the island of Svalbard to support the Kingdom of Norway in their increasingly-fractious territorial disagreements with the Russian Empire.

Russian submersibles had, five years previously, planted the double-headed eagle flag on the seabed beneath the Arctic ice, ostensibly claiming the entire Arctic Ocean as their sovereign territory. Naturally, the Norwegians objected strongly to this claim, and the area around the islands of Svalbard and Novaya Zemelya became the scene for a high-stakes game of political gamesmanship and military maneuvre.

Imperial commanders were reluctant to become involved, convinced they could do little to assist; the Imperial Navy was ill-suited to the ice-clogged waters and the Royal Aeronautic Corps could not fly dirigibles in the frigid and stormy skies. However, following a direct appeal to the Queen, Imperial military chiefs were instructed to do all they could to support the Norwegians.

The following summer, the Arctic Expeditionary Force left harbour and sailed for Svalbard. Despite the Force never seeing any action, this open show of support from the Empire was to give the Romanov dynasty pause for thought. The brief hiatus in Russian operations allowed the Norwegians to properly arrange their defence forces, albeit for a conflict that never materialised. Russian plans for territorial expansion were to be forgotten in the chaos of Revolution only a few years later.

In truth, the Arctic Expeditionary Force was woefully ill-equipped. Most commentators agree that if conflict with Russian forces had ensued on Svalbard, Imperial troops would have been quickly overwhelmed. This was an Imperial bluff that could have proved an embarassing defeat.

Further photographic images of this vehicle may be viewed here.

The Land Rover

The "Land Rover" was first manufactured by the Rover Company of Coventry in 1882.

Originally producing sewing machines and bicycles, the Company was to diversify into the production of steam-powered automobiles when flamboyant owner J.K. Starley (pictured above) brought engineer Maurice Wilks into the design studio.

Wilks owned a small farm on Anglesey and his experiences there prompted him to write to The Times, roughly outlining his idea for a "rugged and efficient steam-powered vehicle which would prove a boon to landowners and factors across rural England". Intrigued, Starley contacted Wilks to hear more and the two became firm friends and business partners, united in their vision to bring cost-effective steam power to farms across the nation.

The Land Rover Mark I was an instant success, selling many more than forecast, largely due to an appeal well beyond the practical farming folk originally envisaged as the likely purchasers. These large automobiles, designed for the muddy lanes and rough fields of the country, became a common sight on the streets of London, particularly popular amongst the capital's growing class of moneyed (but otherwise rather common) financial speculators.

The interested reader is invited to view further pictures of J.K. Starley at the wheel of a Land Rover here.

The American Zephyr

The "American Zephyr" motorised bicycle gained early notoriety through its adoption by the rakish young men of New York high society in the 1860's. Although originally designed for "efficacious conveyance" through rough countryside, the Zephyr's stylish lines and raw power quickly saw it become the preferred mode of transport for eligible bachelors looking to project an attitude of youthful rebellion.

Motorised bicycling became something of a sport for these young bucks, with illegal races regularly held on the deserted streets of Manhattan in the small hours after midnight. The New York Times was to write with dismay of "the interrupted sleep experienced by residents of Broadway as boorish young men engage in noisy transits of the thoroughfare astride these mechanical contraptions". So great did the nuisance become that the newly-formed New York Police Department was forced to introduce a late-night police patrol.

Initially the patrolmen were mounted upon horses, but the noise of the bicycles proved too much for the poor beasts, often startling them into panicked bolting. Embarassed by the poor press its products were receiving, the Davis & Harleyson company donated three Zephyr-model bicycles to the Department in an attempt to level the playing-field.

This development saw the birth of what was to become known as a "Police Chase"; ever-after a staple of the more action-oriented cinematographs. The chases and subsequent arrests saw a number of the heirs of prominent New York families brought before the Courts for "the reckless endangerment of life and property through the inprudent operation of a vehicle". With a handful of embarassing convictions, the fad for illegal street racing died away amongst the idle rich, but the Zephyr's rebellious image was cemented in place and an American icon was born.

The interested reader is invited to view further photographic images of the Zephyr here.

The "Endurance"

In 1877 the tracked vehicle "Endurance" was to carry its designer and driver Cyril Neveu to victory in the first of the famed Paris-Dakar Rally Races.

Although it proved a cumbersome and uncomfortable drive on the roads of France, falling far behind the other competitors, the Endurance was to come into her own on arrival in Algiers with the commencement of the gruelling desert stages of the seven thousand mile trek.

Neveu's vehicle, designed especially for the shifting sands and merciless heat of the Libyan Desert, was to prove itself remarkably reliable, arriving at the finishing line in the Senegalese capital a full two days before any of the other racers.

Neveu's victory was celebrated throughout France, hailed as a triumph of superior French engineering. The Dakar Rally was to become a keenly-contested arena in which nations would finance entries in attempts to demonstrate the might and ingenuity of their industrial bases. Much to Imperial, Prussian and American chagrin, the French were to prove the masters of desert vehicle design over and over again, winning the Dakar Rally no less than nineteen times in the next twenty years.

Further images of the "Endurance" are available here for the interested reader.