At least 30,000 Harleys were sent over & I believe the bulk
of those ended up in Russia . There's a company in the
Netherlands? ( I think that's where it is? ) that is still selling
OEM HArley parts . Here's the whole story from Wikipedia's eyes ,
interestin read .
On 11/22/24 7:25 AM, Mike Poore via
groups.io wrote:
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I recall lend/lease was already well underway by spring of 1941.
We entered the war by the end of 1941. Lend/lease began, I think,
in the late 30's when the UK entered the war. By 1942, we were
sending massive amounts of equipment and soldiers to the UK to
stage for invasion. A lathe made in spring of 1941, would have
taken several months to find its way to the UK by ship. Assuming
the bearing date is meaningful, I think it is equally possible
that the lathe was part of lend/lease or part of the US Army
supply chain. We are known to leave a lot of equipment behind
after a war so that our military contractors can make more profit
resupplying us.
Bearing dates during that period are probably not as certain of an
indicator as one might think. It was obviously? a little chaotic.
Those bearings may not have been immediately used. They could be
replacement bearings too. Atlas would not have been directly
involved in lend/lease, but they were certainly a supplier. The US
government would buy products from manufacturers and lend/lease it
to the UK. You will often find a tag on machine tools made for the
War Dept with some language indicating such. I do not know if that
was required or done because the machinery was not always made to
the same standards as commercial products. I doubt too many people
were actually making parts at home for the war. However, nearly
everything was rationed due to shortages. Having a lathe at home
to make or repair parts not available would make sense.
On 11/21/2024 2:41 AM, hedgesben via
groups.io wrote:
It would be interesting to try and find out the history of
my lathe and how it came to be in the uk.? It appears that it
was made end of april /beginning of may 1941 (going by the
dates on the headstock bearings) so right when America was
ramping up the lease lend program during ww2.
?
Was atlas involved in the lease lend?? where lathes sent to
the uk?
?
of course the slightly less historical important theory is
that an american solder bought it before the americans went to
war and then relocated over here after the war sometime
?
many thanks
Coop
