past_era

The Jack Young Story
The Early Years.
Chapter 1
Born 31/01/1925 - Died 28/08/1987
It was always on the cards that Jack Young would acquire an interest in motorcycles. Jack's father, Wally, was a keen follower of the racing at the Wayville Showground during the pre-war years, and, thanks to his "Ham Radio", was able to follow the fortunes of Australian riders in England. Jack wrote of his father: - " ...... probably I'll shake you when I tell you that my Dad is an Englishman, not an Australian, and that he was born within the sound of Bow Bells in London. That makes him a Cockney, I reckon, but you wouldn't think so to hear him talk. Cor blimey, no ! He went out (to Australia) when he was quite young and married out there. .." Jack had two brothers and a sister. The boys, Walter, Frank and Jack, all raced motorcycles. I won't go into the reason why Walter preferred to be known as "Joe", but it was he who played a pivotal role in Jack's entry into motorcycle racing. Jack Young left his Adelaide school at the age of 14 to help support his family when ill health forced his father to give up work. He quite liked the idea of becoming a jockey, so he applied for a job as a stable boy at a local stables complex. Although he was earning ten shillings per week, there was one problem with the job - most of his time was spent cleaning the stables, not riding the horses. He decided the job wasn't for him. Next he took a position at a tinsmith's where he was paid more than he was earning at the stables. Jack wasn't happy there either. At the age of 16, he decided he wanted a better-paid job. Truck drivers at the time could earn quite sizeable pay packets, so Jack decided to give that a go. There was one small problem, however, he didn't have a driving licence. When applying for a driving position Jack brazenly told the interviewer he was 18 years old and possessed a driving licence. When doubts concerning his age were raised during the interview, Jack made assurances that he was indeed 18. He replied, "I should know, I was there when my mother had me." Jack bluffed his way through to the next stage of the interview - a driving test in one of the company's trucks. He was greatly relieved when he saw the vehicle he was to take the test in - it was the same model of truck in which his brother Frank had given him some driving lessons. 16 year-old Jack got the job which paid 3 pounds 10 shillings a week. In two years his pay packet had increased seven-fold. A "misunderstanding" with his employer over some time he took off work resulted in Jack once again becoming unemployed. Jack's brother Frank was employed by an Italian who owned a market garden. The pay was good - 6 pounds per week. Frank announced that he was joining the Army and suggested to Jack that he should take over his market gardening job. Jack got the job and, at last, was happy in his employment. He worked for the Italian for five years. While he was at school, Jack became quite adept at racing his bicycle around a banked cycle track which had been built by the local lads. He soon became the one to beat. Two youngsters who provided the stiffest opposition to him in the races conducted on the track were Bob Leverenz and Merv Harding. As they grew older, Joe, Frank, and later Jack, spent many hours riding their motorcycles on weekends at areas of vacant land in Adelaide. One of the sites used was Flinders Park. Another was known affectionately, and rather appropriately, by those who used it as "Royal Park Wembley". Many future South Australian speedway stars used these practice facilities. Not being satisfied with just being able to hone his motorcycle skills on weekends, Jack devised a cunning plan which would enable him to practise during the week as well. There was one person he had to convince about the merits of this idea though - his father. The Young family had their own market garden. One of the onerous chores associated with such a venture was the weeding. Jack's bright idea was this - if a track was constructed around a section of the vegetable rows, there would be no need for weeding in that area. Jack finally convinced his father of the merits of his plan and the track was constructed around vegetable rows 1 to 11. All progressed well for a time until Jack started to become adventurous. While developing the knack of "backing it in" about three-quarters of the way down the straight, more than the weeds were removed on occasions. His father, although no doubt impressed by his son's improving bike skills, decided enough was enough and the practice track was closed.

Three friends who all started out on Road Bikes at Kilburn. From the left - Jack Young, Bob Leverenz and Merv Harding.

Above: Joan and Jack Young, and Jack's brother Frank (holding the coat). In front is Carol Young (Jack & Joan's daughter). This photo was taken on a bleak London day in 1950.
The First Steps Towards Wembley Glory
When racing commenced at the Kilburn Oval in South Australia following the war, the initial programmes were day meetings. Due to the acute shortage of speedway motorcycles at the time, separate events were programmed for road machines (Road Bike class) and specially built speedway bikes (Dirt Track class). Frank was the first of the Young boys to try speedway. He entered his stripped-down Norton in the Road Bike section at a Kilburn meeting. The hours Frank had spent practising paid dividends - he was somewhat of an instant success on the racetrack. Jack also decided to give racing in the Road Bike class a try when his brother Walter offered him the use of his motorcycle. During the early months of 1947, Frank Young, Jack Young and Jack Williams were three who appeared at Kilburn in the Road Bike class. Jack Young's first taste of success was when he won the Road Bike Handicap at the January 18 meeting. The interesting point here is that this was his first racing appearance, as he had only been issued with a racing licence on Tuesday January 14. At the following meeting he finished second in both the A Grade Scratch and A Grade Handicap events in this class. It wasn't long before Jack was racing his own road machine at Kilburn. He'd ride the bike to the track (with wife Joan as pillion), remove all the bits and pieces to conform with the regulations in place, race the bike, re-assemble it, and then return home. Following the installation of lights at the ground, the first night meeting was staged at Kilburn on Friday, March 21, 1947. At the third night meeting, Jack and Frank Young finished first and second in the Road Class Handicap. As the 1946/47 season was drawing to a close, Laurie Jamieson, an experienced motorcycle racer, and one of the stars of the Dirt Track class at Kilburn, made Jack Young an offer which was to change his life. Jamieson offered Jack one of his dirt track machines to race. Jamieson would maintain the machine and the pair would share any winnings 50-50. The bike, which was something of a "clunker", was a Rudge frame fitted with a J.A.P. engine. Jack was hesitant to accept the offer and told Jamieson that there was no money to be made from racing speedway. Jamieson insisted there was if one had the talent and a competitive bike. Over a period of several months, Jack had shown considerable skill while racing in the Road Bike class, but how would he fare on a speedway motorcycle? Following is a sentence from my report of the May 9 meeting at Kilburn, which marked Jack's first appearance on the Jamieson machine: - "A feature of the evening was the appearance of Jack Young on a dirt track machine." For this May 9 meeting, Jack entered for both the Road Bike events and the Dirt Track events. In the feature scratch event for Dirt Track motorcycles, Jack finished in second place to the seasoned campaigner Les Fredericks. Fredericks had returned to speedway competition the previous month following ten years spent in racing retirement. He showed on his return to racing that he'd lost few of the skills he had exhibited when, at the age of just 19, he had graduated to A Grade at Wayville in 1931. At his comeback meeting on April 11th, Fredericks had broken the Kilburn track record. The following week he repeated this feat. As for the feature handicap event for Dirt Track motorcycles that May 9 evening, Jack dead-heated for second place. A creditable performance for his debut meeting riding a speedway motorcycle. On many occasions in later years, Jack told the story of his first ride on Jamieson's machine at the May 9 meeting. He hadn't had the opportunity to have any practice at all on the strange bike, and, naturally, it handled completely differently to his road machine. When he let the clutch out at the start, he was almost thrown off the back of the bike. By the time he regained his balance and got going, he was a distant last. Within two laps he'd caught the field, and then set about passing as many of the riders in front of him as he could - in fact, he passed them all and went on to win the race. Those watching had seen an amazing piece of riding. At Kilburn on May 9, 1947, Jack Young took the first step on the road to Wembley glory. The following Friday night's programme was the final one for the season. A record crowd for the track (10,000) was in attendance to witness the staging of three South Australian Championships. The State titles for speedcars, sidecars and dirt track motorcycles were decided. Jack Young was in the field for the dirt track title at what was just his second meeting in that class. He finished a close second behind Les Fredericks. Les Moore, Ronnie's father, finished in third place. Jack also finished runner-up to Fredericks that evening in the feature scratch event for dirt track motorcycles. Some other interesting names appeared on the programme at that final meeting of the season. The Road Bike A Grade Scratch Race was won by Bob Leverenz from Jack Williams and Walter Young. Frank Young won the Road Bike Handicap. One of the competitors at Kilburn on the night of Jack Young's racing debut on January 18, 1947 was Buck Whitby. This meeting was Whitby's last at the track prior to his departure for England. The English First Division club Harringay hadn't operated in 1946, but racing resumed at the track in 1947. It was to Harringay that Whitby was contracted in 1947. The following are Jack Young's own words: - "One year before Edinburgh made contact with me I nearly joined Harringay. I had a letter from Buck Whitby asking me to join the newly-formed team ....." To be continued.
Acknowledgements. A number of people have assisted me in tracking down some of the information I required for the Jack Young Story. A special thanks to Jeff Fisher whom I have pestered on a regular basis. Brian Collins, Bryan Tungate, Keith Farman, Barry Forsyth, Graeme Frost and Rod Webb have also given freely of their time. Thanks to you all.
Thanks to Ross Garrigan. Brisbane.