Cycle Corps Exercise

The Bicycle Infantry train for action

Although never deployed in combat formations in the Boer War, the Cycle Corps were ready for action. But to go by the quality of the drills seen here, it is perhaps no surprise that the Corps were mainly used for reconnaissance and communication. This film, which belonged to the collection of Charles Goodwin Norton - celebrated lanternist and one time projectionist for Queen Victoria - was likely made for the Velograph Company, one of the many cinema ventures that folded before the end of the century, shuttering in 1899.