chunky

Funny thing is, I didn't mention him, as he was around longer. So, I just checked the stats, and Grubmuller actually has better figures than Funk! Didn't realise that...

So you didn't write that?

That must be true; it says so on Wikipedia!!!

I did get to see his compatriot Walter Grubmuller at Plough Lane.

Thing that depresses me - and it's not just with speedway tracks - is the things that have been introduced in my lifetime, and are already obsolete! VCR's, pagers, 8-tracks, teasmades... As far as tracks, off the top of my head, we have Weymouth, Newport, Arena Essex, Milton Keynes (Groveway), Milton Keynes (Elfield Park), Canterbury, Paisley, Reading, Somerset, Camarthen, Boston, Castleford, Doncaster, Cowdenbeath, Linlithgow, Ellesmere Port... None of those existed before I was born. That's without tracks like Bristol Eastville, Scunthorpe Quibell Park and Ashbyville, Berwick Berrington Lough etc...

Shut up, Norman! My first one was Wimbledon v Southampton. Both dead... Bob's first one was Newport v Long Eaton. Both dead... Salty's first one was Cradley v Newport. Both dead... HertsRacer's first one was Yarmouth v Norwich. Both dead... Arnie's first one was Reading v Eastbourne. Both dead... Sadly, I see a theme here... Oh, and checking the riders from your match, pretty sure Tommy Sweetman is still with us.

As far as I know, Peter is still alive.

So, Monday, 5 October, 1970, at Tilehurst for a Challenge Match. Jessup won from Sims, Hammond fell, and Vernam packed up. Reading beat Eastbourne 45-33.

So, Monday, 5 October, 1970, at Tilehurst, for a Challenge Match. Jessup won from Sims, Hammond fell, and Vernam packed up. Reading beat Eastbourne 45-33...

That's impressive... Who are they?

And you posted this on October 23, 2019, in reply to Gustix's identical question! "13th June 1964, Southern League match . Newport 52- Long Eaton 25. Heat 1 Alby Golden, Jon Erskine, Ken Adams, John Mills Time 68.4 secs. Alby broke the track record in this heat." To answer your question, Jon was born on 9 February, 1942, so he's 82. Ken died in 1998, John in 2003 (he was only 60), and Alby in 2004.. As far as I know, my first match was Wimbledon v Southampton on August 13, 1962. Briggo won from Ronnie Moore, Cyril Brine and Dick Bradley. Briggo is still with us. Cyril died in 1988, Ronnie in 2018, and Dick in 2022. Strangely enough, from that meeting, Reg Luckhurst, Bjorn Knutson, and Bob Andrews are all still with us. And here is your comment (on a different thread) from January 29, 2021. "I reckon some of us posters are posting less-maybe old age (say it ain't so). Here's one-we all recall our first meeting, how many of those riders are still with us? Here's mine- Newport 13.6.1964 versus Long Eaton. Newport riders:- Alby Golden (RIP), Jon Erskine, Dick Bradley, Geoff Penniket, Peter Vandenberg (RIP), Vic White, Ray Harris (RIP). Thus 4 Wasp riders are still with us- the grand-daddy is Dick Bradley at 96 and the second oldest World finalist still with us -a fine gent!! Re the visitors- Ken Adams (RIP), John Mills (RIP), Ray Wilson, Norman Storer, Ron Sharp (RIP), Howard Cole -then known as Kid Bodie, K.Vale (RIP)-thus 3 Archers are still with us." Seems like Dick is the only one we've lost since then...

Dammit! I thought I'd mentioned Edwin Youngs... Read the article, Bob...

Y?

So, alphabetically speaking... It does state that Dave Younghusband was - "without doubt" - the most successful "Y" rider. I can see where you are coming from, but personally, I think that two World Championships would have given Jack Young the edge? Others you could have mentioned were Jack's bruvva Frank (at Cradley), and young Tom Young at Plymouth, Scunny, Newport etc. Then there were the Yates brothers from the late 40's/early 50's, Fred and John, and Larry Young at Fleetwood and St. Austell. Then you have the Flying Finn, Vesa Ylinen, and the Latvian who was killed in a track crash in 1993, Artur Yudin. Finally, there is my good mate, Keith Yorke.

What scares me is that I vividly remember watching six of the twelve OLDEST World Finalists race!

Here is the updated list after the sad passing of John Louis. Getting scary now... 01 - Arthur Payne - 28/08/23 02 - Chum Taylor - 04/04/27 03 - Ian Williams - 04/08/31 04 - Ove Fundin - 23/05/33 05 - Dan Forsberg - 25/03/34 06 - Josef Hofmeister - 17/06/34 07 - Brian Crutcher - 23/08/34 08 - Mike Broadbank - 25/09/34 09 - Barry Briggs - 30/12/34 10 - Bob Andrews - 27/10/1935 11 - Reg Luckhurst - 11/11/193512 - Sverre Harrfeldt - 23/11/1937 13 - Leif Larsson - 16/02/1938 14 - Bjorn Knutson - 27/04/38 15 - Gunnar Malmqvist - 25/12/1940 16 - Andrzej Wyglenda 04/05/1941 17 - Jim Airey - 19/08/1941 18 - Bengt Jansson - 09/01/1943 19 - Anders Michanek - 30/05/194320 - Trevor Hedge - 30/08/194321 - Terry Betts - 15/09/194322 - Howard Cole 29/12/194323 - Martin Ashby - 05/02/194424 - Jan Simensen - 26/07/194425 - Zygfryd Friedek - 19/10/194426 - Jerzy Trzeszkowski - 10/01/194527 - Eric Boocock - 02/02/194528 - John Boulger - 18/06/194529 - Hasse Holmqvist - 18/06/194530 - Jim McMillan - 03/12/194531 - Soren Karlsson - 23/10/194632 - Ole Olsen - 16/11/194633 - Ray Wilson - 12/03/194734 - Doug Wyer - 16/08/1947 35 - Grigori Khlinovsky - 11/11/4736 - Egon Muller - 26/11/194837 - Christoph Betzl - 13/02/194938 - Jiri Stancl - 18/11/194939 - Viktor Kuznetsov - 27/11/1949 40 - Georg Hack - 20/02/195041 - Marek Cieslak - 28/06/195042 - Alois Wiesbock - 31/07/195043 - Tommy Johansson - 21/10/1950 44 - Vladimir Gordeev - 30/11/195045 - John Titman - 26/01/195146 - Dag Lovaas - 25/02/1951 47 - Jan Verner - 03/03/1951 48 - Petr Ondrasik - 08/10/195149 - Phil Crump - 09/02/195250 - Henny Kroeze - 11/03/195251 - Valery Gordeev - 28/08/195252 - Dave Jessup - 07/03/195353 - Ales Dryml - 10/06/195354 - Scott Autrey - 09/07/195355 - Robert Slabon - 15/09/195356 - Peter Collins - 24/03/195457 - Larry Ross - 15/06/195458 - John Davis - 10/11/195459 - Finn Thomsen - 16/02/195560 - Mikhail Starostin - 24/02/195561 - Tommy Nilsson - 10/03/195562 - Jan Andersson - 07/05/1955 63 - Kai Niemi - 15/09/195564 - Jerzy Rembas - 18/04/195665 - Chris Morton - 22/07/195666 - Steve Bastable - 16/09/195667- Bruce Penhall - 10/05/195768 - Karl Maier - 24/08/195769 - Roman Jankowski - 05/10/195770 - Bo Petersen - 21/02/195871 - Les Collins - 24/05/195872 - Mitch Shirra - 27/09/195873 - Michael Lee - 11/12/195874 - John Cook - 18/12/1958 75 - Richard Knight - 26/05/195976 - Dennis Sigalos - 16/08/195977 - Erik Gundersen - 08/10/195978 - Hans Nielsen - 26/12/1959 79 - Olli Tyrvainen - 11/01/1960 80 - Phil Collins - 02/06/1960 81 - Sam Ermolenko - 23/11/1960 82 - Rick Miller - 12/01/1961 83 - Jeremy Doncaster - 16/06/1961 84 - Tommy Knudsen - 09/11/1961 85 - Zoltan Adorjan - 15/11/1961 86 - Shawn Moran - 19/11/1961 87 - Peter Ravn - 16/03/1962 88 - Zenon Kasprzak - 10/05/1962 89 - John Jorgensen - 18/07/1962 90 - Antal Kocso - 22/12/1962 91 - Sandor Tihanyi - 28/04/1963 92 - Lance King - 13/08/1963 93 - Armando Castagna - 22/09/1963 94 - Kelvin Tatum - 08/02/1964 95 - Marvyn Cox - 11/07/1964 96 - Zdenek Tesar - 30/07/1964 97 - Mikael Blixt - 08/08/1964 98 - Paul Thorp - 09/09/1964 99 - Tony Olsson - 13/03/1965 100 Gerd Riss - 17/03/1965 101 - Conny Ivarsson - 15/04/1965 102 - Simon Cross - 31/05/1965 103 - Bohumil Brhel - 10/06/1965 104 - Slawomir Drabik - 06/02/1966 105 - Per Jonsson - 21/03/1966 106 - Andy Smith - 25/05/1966 107 - Jan Staechmann - 05/06/1966 108 - Ronnie Correy - 08/11/1966 109 - Jimmy Nilsen - 16/11/1966 110 - Brian Karger - 09/02/1967 111 - Jan O. Pedersen - 27/07/1967 112 - Craig Boyce - 02/08/1967 113 - Troy Butler - 22/09/1967 114 - Piotr Swist - 20/06/1968 115 - Todd Wiltshire - 26/09/1968 116 - Gary Havelock - 04/11/1968 117 - Stefan Danno - 10/02/1969 118 - Martin Dugard - 18/05/1969 119 - Gert Handberg - 30/05/1969 120 - Chris Louis - 09/07/1969 121 - Billy Hamill - 23/05/1970 122 - Greg Hancock - 03/06/1970 123 - Henrik Gustafsson - 14/08/1970 124 - Tony Rickardsson - 17/08/1970 125 - Mark Loram - 12/01/1971 126 - Tomasz Gollob - 11/04/1971 127 - Leigh Adams - 28/04/1971 128 - Josh Larsen - 12/05/1972 129 - Joe Screen - 27/11/1972 130 - Jason Crump - 06/08/1975

Oh no, that is shocking to hear that! I remember when John started, and he was the main reason we went to the 1970 Bonanza Best Pairs at Hackney. Very, very sad...

I'd already covered George Pepper on here a while ago...

Following on from my recent post about 'Smiling' Jim Kempster, here are some riders (or ex-riders) who did not survive the war - for various reasons, as you will see. I'm sure there are more, but this is what I have for now. PAT BIDDLE Born in Birmingham, Pat made several appearances for Birmingham Hall Green in the 1931 National Trophy. Private Biddle of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps was 34 years of age when killed in action in Tunisia on 5th May, 1943. He is buried in Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery in Bajah, Tunisia GEORGE COCKBONE Pilot Officer Cockbone of RAF 175 squadron was flying Hawker Typhoon IB EK 184 near Dieppe in northern France, when he crashed. He was 26, and is buried in Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery. DAVID GITTINS Known as “Dilly”, David Hugh Gittins rode with some success for Coventry in the 1929 Southern League, and also made a couple of appearances for Leicester in the English Dirt Track League. On 5th March, 1941, Pilot Officer Gittins of the RAF Volunteer Reserve was flying a Magister 1 P6453 at the 24 Elementary Training School at Luton when the aircraft crashed. He was 37. His grave can be found in the Hagley Cemetery, Hagley, Worcestershire. As a footnote, Gittins’ daughter Dawn married Sir David Gamble, 5th Baronet Gamble, thus becoming Lady Gamble. SYD GRIFFITHS On 11th September, 1940, the Cunliffe-Owen aircraft factory in Swaythling, Hampshire (adjacent to Southampton - then known as Eastleigh - airport) was subjected to a dive-bombing raid by eight Messerschmitt Me-110’s. 52 people were killed, and a further 92 injured. Among the dead was Syd Griffiths, who had ridden for Southampton since 1936, and had actually appeared earlier in 1940. He was 35. JACK HARGREAVES After spending the 1936 season at Liverpool, Jack Hargreaves joined Belle Vue. He proved to be a very capable reserve/second-string, and was a vital part of their 1939 National Trophy winning side. During the war, he found employment working as a mechanic at a local garage. On 15th January, 1944, his motorcycle collided with a bus, and he died later in hospital. He was 31. REG LUCAS Reg Lucas rode for Nottingham from 1929 to 1931. On 10th March, 1941, Handley Page Halifax bomber L9489 of No. 35 squadron was returning to base at Linton-on Ouse, from an attack on the docks at Le Havre. The Halifax was mistaken for an enemy aircraft, and was shot down at 22.40 by British night fighters, crashing in the grounds of Merrist Wood Agricultural College, near Worplesdon, Surrey. Two of the six-man crew were able to parachute to safety. The remaining four, including Pilot Sergeant Lucas, who, as 2nd Pilot, had just assumed control of the aircraft, were killed. He was 29, and is buried in Mansfield Cemetery, Mansfield, Notts. HECTOR 'SKID' SKINNER Hector ‘Skid’ Skinner spent the 1928 season competing at the Manchester White City circuit, and other regional tracks. The following season, he became an integral part of their team in the 1929 Northern League alongside Arthur Jervis and Walter Hull. He then moved on to become a famed “Wall of Death” performer with his wife Alma. On 4th December, 1944, Skinner was shot and killed in a tragic hunting accident near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. REG STAINER Better known on the Midlands grasstrack circuit, Reg made sporadic appearances on speedway tracks in the immediate pre-war years. In May 1939, he finished 3rd in the C.V. Bolton Trophy at Oxford, behind Jim Boyd and Jack Adams. He succumbed to injuries sustained in a "blackout" car accident during an air raid in 1940. ARTHUR 'BLUEY' WILKINSON Arthur ‘Bluey’ Wilkinson spent his entire British career with West Ham, and of course, became 1938 World Champion. On 27th July, 1940, ‘Bluey’ was riding his motorcycle in the Sydney, NSW, suburb of Bondi, with his wife Muriel as pillion. A lorry swerved to avoid hitting a car, and collided with the motorcycle. ‘Bluey’ suffered a fractured skull, and was killed almost instantly. Muriel suffered only cuts and bruises.

I know hijacking threads is all part and parcel of the BSF, but I must admit, I can't say I'm totally okay with the turn this one has taken...

Good call! I thought I was forgetting someone...

Um, wrong thread, Bob! Anyway, it was Arne Pander. Then Preben Andreasen.

Reading the last update posted about Morian Hansen got me thinking... I do have more than a passing interest in speedway riders who "served" in World War II. In addition to Hansen, we've also mentioned Pole Max Rech, who became an RAF pilot during the war, and Canadian George Pepper, who was killed in a test flight in 1942. There is another rider who sadly, was unable to survive the conflict; former Wimbledon captain, 'Smiling' Jim Kempster. Born "Ernest Kempster" on October 9, 1900, Jim really wasn't around for long. In a short career, he was listed both as "English Champion" (after beating Roger Frogley in a match race in 1928), and "World Champion" (when beating Sprouts Elder). Of course, nothing was official, but he still proved himself a quality rider, posting an average of 10.00 in 1929, and 9.21 in 1930. His average dipped to below 7 the following season. After taking a season off, he reappeared for Clapton in 1933, but was never the same rider. Still, in such a short space of time, he managed to find himself pictured on at least two sets of cigarette cards! So, on to the war, and he served with the Air Transport Auxiliary. The ATA delivered everything from mail and medical supplies to personnel and aircraft. On 29 June, 1945, Jim was piloting Anson DG916 when the aircraft hit some HT cables in bad weather, and crashed into the River Rhine. Flight Officer E.A.D. Kempster was killed along with Second Officer Harry Race. He was 44. His grave is at the Rheinberg War Cemetery in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

When you think about it, Morian Hansen's story is perhaps the greatest of any speedway rider, but he has still largely been forgotten. If only we'd had the internet back then...

Well, it's not really the same when you only have three teams in the league, is it?