T
hink of 29thOctober,1944,
Sundayafternoon.That’sthe
generally accepted date forthe
first-everforcesspeedway race
whichtook placeatTrani in Italy.The event
wasoriginall ydesigned asamorale-booster
forthe injuredtroops convalescingat the
near by hospital,asS gt PeterNuzumrecalls.
‘Weobtained permissionto visit the REME
depot wherethere wasadump of despatch
rider machines,which hadarrivedfromthe
UK minus parts and whichweresupposedto
be attended to when someone got around
to it. Afterthree hours of applied scrounging
we droveoffwithabout25machines plus a
considerable amountofs pares and anything
considered useful,considerably inexcess of
amountswe hadbeenofficially authorised
to collect.
‘NobbyStock,withwillinghelpers, built
up four racing machines,strippedto the
bareessentials,but still heavy by modern
standards.Byt he time they hadfinished that,
anothergroup hadconvertedthe running
track into apassablespeedway circuit,the
topsurfaceconsisting of theresidue of
clinkers from the local soap factory.Iacquired
some scaffolding and boards frommy own
engineering unit andconstructedasmall
grandstand andjudge’s bench.
‘Somebody even came up withadesign
forastarting gate supportedontripods and
activ ated by amultitude of saddle springs.
One instructionto competitorswastot ake
carecoming out of the second bend aswe’d
not yethad timeto properlycover thewater
well –situatedinfront of thewall coming
down the back straight.’
Thatfirst ever meetingwasanunqualified
success,and fortnightlyracessoon followed.
By the spring of 1945over athousand
spectators weredriving upto Trani from
the various units in the area. But also
in Aprilin1 944, over in Egypt,Corporal
Alan Johnson and SgtGeoffSteerstarted
organising motorcycle eventsforfellow
despatchriders.Starting with trials and
hillcl imbs,the clubwascalled the Bar-None,
and inSeptember 1945asand track trial (or
speedway)was stagedat Al maza, with some
sixty riders competing inover 50racesona
knock-out basis.
The690 yard trackwasovalbut with
varying radius bends.Wastewaterand engine
oil were usedto bind the loose sand surface.
Some 6000 troops and locals arrivedtowatch
the proceedings,leadingto similar scenes
of mayhem as the famous 1928High Beech
meeting in the UK.
It wasfromthese beginnings thatwarzone speedway wasborn. Mostly it
wasencouragedby the topbrass.The
warwas winding down, and keeping the
men occupied and morale highwasa
primeconsideration. Whatisn’tperhaps
immediately obvious is just howstrongly
the Bar-None Clubwasgoing against the
conventions of the time.Officers and enlisted
menwere very muchtwodifferen tand
distinctclasses,but the Bar-None Clubwas
opento everybody,regardless ofrank,hence
its name–aformofsocialism ,ins omeways.
From the end of thewarand into the
1950s,speedwaytook placejust about
ever ywhere forces wereposted.FromMalaya
to Kuwait, Iraq to Kenya,Palestineto Hong
Kong,teamswere formed and greatrivalries
took place, particularly between the army
and theRAF. It would beamistake to think
thatbikes werestill the same old sloggers
the militaryhanded outto itssquaddies
though.This wasseriousracing,and as
suchreceived all the engineeringattention
available–which ,asy ou mightimagine,
giventhe workshopsrequiredto keep
everything from tanks runningto aircraft
flying,was considerable.Frameswerecut,
shortened, lowere dand lightened.Girder
forksblade swerereversedto gi ve better dirt
track handling.And enginesweresubjected
to allmannerofc onfigurations.
Jim G riffiths ofTe et Kabir,Egypt:‘12
Shed sandwicheda600ccNortonsidevalve
barrelontop ofa350 Matchless crankcase,
toppedover all withaMatchless head.
Suitable slots having been laboriously
carvedinthe sidevalvebarrelenabled the
ohvtobesuitably prodded,which gave us a
250ccadvantageover the opposition.It was
also said thatthe cams had been breathed
on by one of theGerman POWs whohad
been involved with the BMWracing team
beforethe war.’
WGHerbert, RAFKibrit 1949:‘Weused
modified Norton 16H machines,comprising
the frame and bottom end.Withabit of
beggingat RAFElFirdan,Matchles sheads
arrivedtoenabl emodificationsto the54 I AUGUST 2019 More old bikes online: Real-Classic.co.uk
Howitwas,followedbyhowtomakeitasitnowis.Old bikescanbealmost immortal, which is handyinthe militarylifeBasic.Everything
the rider needs,
andnothing more