8th of May every year marks the end of World War II or the VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) when the Allied Forces accepted Germany's surrender in 1945. The VE Day celebrates the big names that helped win the war and also the little machines. One was the Royal Enfield Flying Flea, as it came to be known as.. For very specific reasons.
When the war started in 1939, Britain had no airborne forces but impressed by German paratroopers, Winston Churchill ordered 5,000 parachute and glider-borne troopers in June 1940. DKW's Dutch distributor Stovkis & Sonen was given the option by the Nazi of firing its Jewish directors or lose the rights to selling the German-built bike. The firm chose to give up the German bike and instead took the RT100 to Royal Enfield in Britain who produced a similar bike – the Model RE with a 125cc engine. (Photo: motorcycleclassics)
The first prototype ended up Royal Enfield getting an order from the War Department for 4,000 bikes. It was compact, lightweight and could be dropped safely from an aircraft in a cradle frame which earned it its name – 'Flying Flea'. Photo: royalenfieldflyingflea.weebly
To protect the bike from damage during the impact of a parachute landing, it was placed in tubular steel cradles. Several modifications were made to the motorcycle. The handlebars were rotated to fit in the cradle, kickstarter and footrests were replaced with foldable ones, seat height was raised and an expansion chamber was added to reduce exhaust sound for stealth behind enemy lines. Photo: royalenfieldflyingflea.weebly
The Flying Flea only weighed 56 kg and had a fuel tank of about two litres which gave a range of around 240 km at speeds of up to 60 km/h. The engine was paired with a three-speed gearbox and had a very low compression piston which meant it could run impure fuel. Photo: royalenfieldflyingflea.weebly
To commemorate the Flying Flea, Royal Enfield launched a limited edition version of the Classic called the Pegasus in 2018. The Classic 500 'Pegasus' is inspired by the RE/WD 125 and has a similar paint job as the bikes used by the British paratroopers. In February 2020, Eicher Motors filed trademark applications for two potential models – “Royal Enfield Flying Flea” and “Royal Enfield Roadster”. We might see the legendary name make its way on a motorcycle some time.
