What Did They Do In The War, Daddy? Part 1 - New Zealand

[Richard Armstrong]

If you read most histories of motor sport, you'd get the impression that it came to a sudden halt throughout the Commonwealth on September 3rd 1939. Those of you in the Antipodes are no doubt aware that this was not the case.

Discussing this with some Kiwi bloke called McKinney during the Bill Boddy Day at Brooklands a few weeks ago I realised that my knowledge of exactly what went on in the Land of the Long White Cloud was fragmentary at best. I've been engaged in a long-term project which I hope will result in a definitive book on four-wheeled motor sport between 1938 and 1945. It's 90-95% complete, but the more remote the place (no offence intended!) the harder it is to find definite information.

I have Motor Sport's reports of the two Judgeford hillclimbs on 7/2/43 and 9/1/45, but if anyone can expand on those, I'd be interested to know more: as yet there's nothing in the few wartime newspapers on Papers Past, but maybe someone might have some press cuttings from the time? David also mentioned that he thought speedway racing had continued into 1941: can anyone flesh out details on that? Any beach racing or sprints? Other hillclimbs before the end of 1945?

Incidentally, the 1943 Judgeford climb is unique: although there were other sporting events elsewhere in the world in 1943, it was the only one - apart from perhaps some outlaw American events - which featured petrol-powered vehicles. The others were all for gas-producers only!

I'm aware petrol rationing was in force between September and December 1939 and re-imposed in February 1940, so motor sport was unlikely to be a high priority - not that it stopped your more profligate neighbours across the Tasman or even in Malaya, in neither of which rationing was imposed that early (Australia late 1940, Malaya early 1941).

I also know about the proposed Centennial Grand Prix, although I've never seen a proposed date for it. Again thanks to Mr McK, I know that there were proposals to invite foreign drivers (who?): it does make me wonder if there might have been some suggestion that some of the participants in the proposed Bangkok race could have been persuaded to journey on. I've read a contemporary quote from Taruffi that he was expecting to race in South Africa in 1940: that never happened, although I've also seen Italian sources claiming that Maserati were going there (another little mystery). All this might seem far-fetched, but the Australians had definitely invited Bira (and perhaps Nuvolari) in 1939!

Anything on Thunderbolt being exhibited at the Centennial would be good too: especially a picture or two and details of how it was transported from New York - it had been in the Hall of Metals in the British Pavilion at the World's Fair for most of 1939.

Any little snippet of information might be useful: given the sparsity of reporting on the sport during the war years I've had to build up some stuff from scratch, using British, Irish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swiss, Serbian, Portuguese, Dutch and Czech papers and magazines. That's just for Europe - add in the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Uruguay and you'll get an idea of how deep I've been going! Gradually it all slots into place ...

In due course, I'll also start threads on Australia and Malaya/Singapore/Ceylon, so please try to restrict this one just to New Zealand!

[bry3500]

http://www.speedwayclub.co.nz/history.php

[David McKinney]

Apart from the events you mention, Richard, the only additions I know of - and very little about them - were beach races at Orewa (Auckland) from 1943. I think there was a Muriwai Beach meeting in 1945, but don't know whether it was wartime or immediately after

Competitors in NZ saved up their petrol rations for impending events: one guy at one of the Judgefords found he had only enough fuel to get to the venue, and complete part of his first practice run...

[Richard Armstrong]

Thanks to those nice people at Papers Past, I have recently managed to dig up some details on the Centennial race in the Auckland Star. Or rather "races".

Initial plans were that there were to be two 100 mile races each for cars and bikes, held as part of the Centennial Games in Auckland, which were to start on January 6th 1940. One race for each in an afternoon, followed by a repeat on an evening a few days later, presumably so that anyone who had been working didn't miss out. This was later scaled back to one race for each, with a projected date of Monday January 8th 1940. I have also found confirmation that the projected circuit was the one which leaps out at you when you look at a map of Glendowie: Riddell Road and Maskell Street. However, the local council did rather baulk at the cost of cost of surfacing it - £2000 - and decided not to bother ... so presumably this was still loose-surfaced, at least in part.

[Steve Holmes]

Richard, I am stunned at the lengths you've gone to in order to gather your information. Best of luck with your project, it sounds like you are plugging a gap no one has attempted. You're clearly up for the challenge. I'll look forward to your findings, and will be first in line to purchase a copy. Are you attempting to cover ALL four wheeled motor racing internationally during the years between 1938 and 1945?

[Richard Armstrong]

I am trying to find details on every event - race, rally or hillclimb - listed on the AIACR International Calendars for 1938 and 1939 - including all the cancellations, because each of those has a story behind it too, often linked to external politics. Plus the Championship Trail races in the USA 1938-41, all of which were nominally held to the International Formula. All that is about 98% complete. From then on it's a patchwork of stories from Britain, Ireland, Europe, South Africa, the USA, Australasia, SE Asia and South America. At least one country invaded by the Germans in 1940 had plans for GPs for both cars and bikes. There were also plans to run races in one of Germany's occupied territories in 1941 - Lang and Neubauer apparently even did a course inspection! If anybody knows of any details of motor sport in Japan in that period I'd be very interested - I know there was some: I've seen pictures!

There's motor racing, hillclimbs, trials and ice racing for conventional cars plus races, reliability trials and hillclimbs for gas producers and some surprising discoveries - for example, did you know that the Dakar has its roots in a plan first proposed in 1939 and which can be traced back to a French military engineer working in West Africa before the Great War?

Except in passing to note its existence and continuation, I've had to gloss over speedway midgets and dirt track racing though: it's just too vast a subject and - in general - rather parochial. Although on that subject, the reports in the Auckland Star seem to suggest that speedway and midget racing restarted in New Zealand just before Christmas 1944, which was a bit of a surprise.