Royal Enfield T-Shirt 1939 WD/CO

Royal Enfield T-Shirt 1939 WD/CO

The best known Royal Enfield produced for the Second World War was the WD/RE 125 cc which was known as the Flying Flea and designed to be dropped by parachute with airborne troops.

After the German authorities stopped the Dutch franchisee of the DKW RT100 motorcycle from receiving any more supplies in 1938, preferring a non-Jewish company, Royal Enfield was contacted by the displaced importer about producing a similar motorcycle. Royal Enfield's version of the bike was produced by Ted Pardoe, who expanded the engine. Two prototypes under the name 'Royal Baby' were shown at Rotterdam in April 1939. Using a less sophisticated but increased-capacity two-stroke engine in the same frame, a few of these RE motorcycles were made before the outbreak of the Second World War.