past_era

The Jack Young Story
Chapter 5
November 1949 - May 1950
Jack Young’s arrival back in Adelaide was a joyous occasion. It had been some nine months since he’d seen his family; there was a lot of catching up to do. As for racing a speedway motorcycle – well that would have to fit in around more important matters. There were few things Jack enjoyed more in life than getting aboard his little fishing boat and heading off to enjoy the peace and quiet out on the water. Naturally he always hoped to bring home a feed of fish as well. A boat has to have a name; Jack had wanted to call his “Joan”, after his wife. Joan wouldn’t have a bar of this; she refused to have her name displayed on such an unreliable vessel. One of Jack’s main concerns in the past had been whether the boat’s somewhat unreliable engine would get him home. Having returned to Australia with some money to spend, Jack purchased a new engine for the boat. That wasn’t all; the boat got a new name as well - “The Monarch”. No prizes for guessing where that name came from. Painted on the boat's prow was the figure of a speedway rider. Jack’s first appearance on the racetrack following his return to Australia was at the second Kilburn meeting of the season on November 18. It was straight down to business for Jack; that evening he won the Gold Helmet event, the Stars’ Match Race, and also the Special Match Race. He was simply flying; he lowered the three-lap clutch start Kilburn track record by 0.40 seconds, and, in his next race, he reduced the four-lap record by a whopping four seconds. Frank Young and Merv Harding also performed well. The following week Jack was unbeaten in his scratch races. At each of the following two Kilburn meetings, he again won the Gold Helmet. The Australian Three lap Championship was staged in Victoria at the Maribyrnong track on Saturday December 10. Reports in the Melbourne press earlier that week indicated a star-studded field would contest the event. However, on race night, some who had been previously mentioned as being starters were absent from the line-up. There was no Bill Rogers, Vic Duggan, Graham Warren, Arthur Payne or Bat Byrnes. However, some well-performed riders did contest the event. The field included popular English visitors Jack Parker and Bill Kitchen, together with some of Australia’s top racers including Aub Lawson, Bill Longley, Jack Biggs, Ken Le Breton, Bob Leverenz, Bill Maddern and Jack Young. The stars on the night were Bill Kitchen and the diminutive and lion-hearted Aussie, Bill Longley. That pair fought out a run-off to decide the title after both had finished their five rides on 14 points. Kitchen won the Championship. As for Jack Young, he finished mid-field on 7 points. He was offered a return engagement by the promotion to take on local star Andy Menzies in a match race the following month. Wednesday December 21st 1949 is an important date in Australian speedway history. That date marked the opening of one of the best-known tracks to ever stage speedway in Australia. I quote from the meeting report: - “The Rowley Park speedway, built in a Brompton pug-hole, proved at its opening last night to be a highly spectacular track….. It has been modelled on the latest English speedways, which enables the drivers and riders to take the bends at full speed.” Jack Young, Bob Leverenz and Merv Harding were the stars in the solo section in front of 5,000 spectators on opening night. There was plenty of speedway in Adelaide for the remainder of that season with Rowley Park racing on a Wednesday and Kilburn on Friday. Jack did make an odd appearance at Rowley Park, but concentrated on Kilburn where he had somewhat of a mortgage on the Gold Helmet events. Aub Lawson had developed quite a respect for the riding ability of Jack Young. He’d seen Jack race in England during the 1949 season, and also in Australia since their return home. Many eagerly awaited the clash between the pair when Lawson visited Adelaide to race at Kilburn on December 30. Jack wasn’t going to let the visiting rider out-stage him in the Gold Helmet contest that evening. Lawson had to be content with second place behind the star of Kilburn. Jack later wrote of what was a proud moment for a doting member of his family at the first Kilburn meeting of the following season: - “ .. at the opening night of Kilburn speedway I was announced as highest points scorer for last season (1949-1950), and, in my absence, my dad was called to the starting gate to receive the trophy for me.” The reason for Jack not being present at Kilburn to accept the Gold Helmet Trophy on that occasion was because he was in the U.K.

The photograph was taken during Jack's 1949 debut season in the U.K. Both Jack and his female fan appear to be enjoying the occasion.	The photo is of Australia's Bill Longley. This little fellow first raced sidecars on the grass. The story of his rapid rise to stardom once he switched to speedway solo motorcycles is a fascinating one.
The seven-Test tour of Australia in 1949-50 was a disastrous one for the Englishmen. Having lost all of the first five matches, the Englishmen then won the Sixth Test at Maribyrnong. The Seventh Test was staged at Kilburn in South Australia on Friday evening February 17. The Australian selectors decided to include only two riders in their team who came from States other than South Australia. They were Aub Lawson and Bill Longley. The other six named in the team were all South Australians – Jack and Frank Young, Merv Harding, Bob Leverenz, Lindsay Mitchell (Clem Mitchell’s brother), and Jack Williams. The only South Australian included in this side who had previously appeared during the Test series that season was Merv Harding. In front of a record Kilburn crowd of around 20,000, Australia thrashed the tourists to the tune of 70 to 38. The night belonged to Jack Young. The Jack Young – Merv Harding pairing scored 26 of a possible 30 points from their six heats. Jack finished with 17 points from his six rides; the only point he dropped was to his partner Harding in heat seven. In that race, with Harding in the lead, Jack demonstrated the team-riding skills he had developed in Britain by concentrating on keeping Englishman Jack Parker in third place. In winning heat five that evening, Jack Young equalled his track record time of 58 seconds. He thrilled the Kilburn crowd with his riding display in the twelfth heat. This is how it was reported: - “Young and Harding beat Jack Parker into the first bend but, riding hard, Parker overtook the pair, and split them on the next bend. The England captain clung to his lead until Young, riding fast into the last bend, came underneath Parker and Harding and won by inches.” A comment Jack Young made concerning the Kilburn track: - “ ..it’s bigger than any in Britain, and by a long way! It is 484 yards long, is beautifully shaped, and if you ask anyone who has ever ridden there they’ll tell you that it has one of the finest racing surfaces in the world.” Jack’s performance in the Seventh Test was a fitting end to his successful Kilburn season. The emotional scenes of the previous year were repeated when Jack took leave of his family and friends later that month and sailed for England aboard the Strathnaver. Australian International rider Bill Longley, also a passenger on that voyage, wrote the following just after the vessel sailed from Adelaide on February 24th: - “… let’s have a check up on those on board. Apart from Kath (my wife) and myself we have Dent Oliver, Cyril Roger, Howdy Byford, Freddy Williams, Bill Kitchen and family, Jack Young and Alec Hunter. They are with us now.” During the Strathnaver’s voyage from Adelaide to Fremantle, England International Cyril Roger wrote the following: - “With us on board we have Jack Young, Keith Gurtner and his wife, Jack Gates, Alec Hunter, Les Hewitt, Bill Longley and his wife ….” When the Strathnaver arrived in England on March 25th, Jack Young was not on board. I found the following in an article written by Australian speedway journalist Allan Gerard. It appeared in a March 1950 speedway magazine. “Edinburgh’s popular rider Jack Young, who recently boarded the Strathnaver at Adelaide en route for England, left it at Fremantle and returned home to collect his wife and child. At the moment he is hoping to resume his England trip on the Himalaya.” The Edinburgh Evening News dated Tuesday March 28, 1950 carried the following under the heading “Jack Young out at Meadowbank”: - “Jack arrived in Edinburgh yesterday and was amongst the regular riders who were out on the track at Clockmill Lane late in the afternoon when a second speedway trial was held. Young, who flew over from Australia, said it only took him 50 hours. He looked fit and well and had only one complaint, that his sun tan was beginning to peel!” Having aborted his planned sea trip to England, Jack spent a further three weeks in Adelaide with his family. When he finally boarded his plane to fly to Britain, it once again saddened him to leave his wife and daughter behind. Even though the Edinburgh management had expressed an interest in racing in Division One in 1950, the club remained in the Second Division. In August of 1949, Edinburgh Chairman, Mr. Bob Rae, had commented on Edinburgh’s plans to race in the top Division in 1950 - “I feel that our team, with an addition or two, will be quite strong enough and that our local support will justify it.” There were a number of drawbacks to Edinburgh racing in the top Division, one being the probable loss of their Saturday race night. Although Jack Young was looking forward to the prospect of racing in the top Division in 1950, it appeared he would spend another season in the Second Division. Pre-war rider Frank Varey replaced Bobby Baxter as Edinburgh team manager for 1950. Varey had been the first rider to try out the newly laid Meadowbank track prior to the commencement of racing at the new venue in 1948. Johnnie Hoskins severed his Edinburgh connections, selling his interest in the track’s operation to Frank Varey and Bob Rae. The Edinburgh fans gathered at the Meadowbank track on Saturday April 1 to see the opening trial match – The All Golds v The All Blues. Jack Young started the season in emphatic fashion winning all his four races for the Gold team. He just hoped that in 1950 he could avoid the illness and injury which interfered with his 1949 season. Edinburgh took part in a new competition, the North Shield, which was staged during the first two months of the 1950 season. The eight competing teams raced each other once both home and away. Edinburgh won its first four matches in this competition with Jack dropping just one point to the opposition from his sixteen rides. The Division One side the Wembley Lions visited Meadowbank to race in a challenge match against the Edinburgh team on Monday April 17th. Fred and Eric Williams, Bill Kitchen and George Wilks were among the Wembley riders on hand to entertain the 19,000 fans present at the track on that occasion. The final score, in favour of the London visitors, was 46-38. One report on the meeting contained the following: - “The racing, however, was close and keen and only the faster Wembley bikes did the trick ………. Young was outsmarted in the opening heat, but in his other three races he left the Lions well behind.” Another First Division side, Belle Vue, visited Edinburgh on May 1st. Although the Edinburgh riders performed admirably to win 44-40, the occasion was marred by an accident involving the very popular Monarchs’ captain Clem Mitchell. He suffered severe facial injuries and concussion having crashed heavily while trying to avoid a rider who had fallen in front of him during a race. From the meeting report: - “The result of the match was in doubt up to the last heat, where tenacious Jack Young and Don Cuppleditch snatched a 3-3 decision to maintain a four point lead.” Jack finished his four rides for the match having recorded three race victories and a second placing. Two of his wins were over the previous year’s World Final second and third placegetters Jack Parker and Louis Lawson. Not only did Jack register a 12-point maximum in Edinburgh’s North Shield home encounter against White City on April 29, but he also broke his own track record. His new time was 66.60 seconds, 0.40 under the old record time. Jack’s performance in Edinburgh’s loss in the North Shield match at Newcastle on May 8 was nothing short of sensational. He recorded yet another 12-point maximum and, for good measure, took 0.20 seconds off the Newcastle track record.

Merv Harding and Ken Le Breton. This pair of Australians also starred on the racetracks in the U.K. in 1950.	Australian speedway legend Aub Lawson. He is photographed wearing a West Ham race jacket. Aub was one of the Australian Test Team selectors in the U.K. in 1950.
Jack Young was a fierce competitor when on the track. He had a point to prove in Edinburgh’s return North Shield match against Scottish rivals Ashfield on May 16. Three days previously Ashfield had inflicted a 44 to 38 defeat over Edinburgh at Meadowbank. If that wasn’t bad enough, Ashfield star Ken Le Breton and his riding partner had won the opening heat of the match relegating Jack to third place. Jack was determined to make amends on May 16. Edinburgh thrashed Ashfield to the tune of 51-33. As for Jack’s performance on that occasion (he scored a 12 point maximum in the teams’ match), the following is from a meeting report: - “Young was on top form and twice accounted for Ken Le Breton, and had a third win over the ‘White Ghost’ in the final of the trophy event.” It was certainly a superb performance from Jack considering Le Breton was very hard to beat on his home track, let alone being beaten by the same rider on three occasions at the one meeting. Edinburgh finished third in the North Shield competition. The performance of Jack Young over Edinburgh’s 14 matches was extraordinary; he scored 156 race points and 4 bonus points from a possible 168 points. He dropped just 8 points to the opposition riders in 56 rides. 3 of those 8 points were the result of a machine failure at White City. Jack registered seven twelve-point maximum scores, three of 11+1, two of 11, one of 9+1, and one of 8. As well as these 14 scores, Jack’s other returns for the months of April and May were: - a 12 point maximum in the trial match on April 1, 10 points and 11 points against First Division visitors Wembley and Belle Vue, 15 points in the Pairs’ Cup at Ashfield, and a total of 33 points from his 12 rides for Edinburgh in their two National Trophy encounters against Southampton. The on-track clashes between Ashfield’s Ken Le Breton and Edinburgh’s Jack Young were always eagerly anticipated in Scotland. Commencing during the month of May, the pair fought out the Northern Division Match Race Championship. Le Breton rode brilliantly to defeat Jack 2-0 in the first round at Ashfield. Jack fought back to win the next leg 2-0 at Edinburgh. The deciding leg was staged at the White City track in Glasgow on June 7. On that occasion Jack won the first race. However, the tenacious Le Breton became the Northern Division Match Race Champion when he fought back to win the remaining two races. It was during May that the Edinburgh supporters feared they might lose their Australian favourite to the First Division. The following appeared in the speedway press: - “Latest rider to figure in the ‘big money’ transfer class is Edinburgh’s Australian ace, Jack Young, who has intimated to his Scottish management that he is desirous of obtaining a berth with a First Division club. “Wimbledon, sorely in need of a top class rider, immediately took steps to secure Jack’s signature and, it is understood, made an all-out offer for his services. A sum in the region of 2,000 pounds has been mentioned. Negotiations went so far that Young was more or less as good as on the train, with London as the first stop! “Young, holder of the Scottish match race title, is one of the most promising Aussies to come to these shores. …… He takes his racing very seriously, has a strict training routine and reckons to cut down smoking by fifty per cent. “His Edinburgh club, who hope to gain Division One status next season, do not want to lose him and Frank Varey, the manager, hopes to persuade Young to remain with the Monarchs at least until the end of the present season. “Probably the most popular rider in Scotland, Young’s departure would be regretted by thousands of Edinburgh fans.” Better news concerning the proposed transfer greeted the Monarchs fans in the Saturday May 13th edition of the Edinburgh Evening News: - “The Edinburgh Monarchs officials announced last night that they had persuaded Jack Young to stay at Meadowbank until the end of the season. With the Monarchs determined to win promotion to the First Division, Young has decided to withdraw his request for a transfer.” The month of June heralded the commencement of Edinburgh’s Second Division League matches, the commencement of the Ashes Test series, and also the start of the qualifying rounds for the 1950 World Championship.
Thanks to all those who have offered assistance during my research into Jack Young's speedway career. I have five people I want to make special mention of - Jeff Fisher and Rod Webb here in Australia, Brian Collins from England, and, from Scotland, Dave Ireland and Alestair Gibson.
Thanks to Ross Garrigan. Brisbane.