Cyclists of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion Hampshire Regiment, Beaulieu Camp, Hampshire, July 1907

Photographic postcard by Willsteed, Southampton, 1907.

Volunteer units were enthusiastic adopters of the bicycle from the 1890s and many had bicycle sections. The 3rd Volunteer Battalion Hampshire Regiment had their headquarters in Portsmouth and this photograph was taken at their annual two week camp in the summer of 1907. In the following year the battalion became part of the newly formed Territorial Force.

Edward and Herbert Willsteed were brothers who operated independently as photographers in Hampshire before World War One (1914-1918). Edward was killed in action in 1916, serving with the Gloucestershire Regiment on the Western Front.