Photos from the archive of Ross Slaughter on his father, Les Slaughter, a well known Australian racer on Velocettes....

Les Slaughter was a well know name just prewar with racing Velocettes in Australia up to his untimely death in the 1956 Ampol Trial in an MG TF.....

Les, left with Bill Mayes on the promenade of Bondi Beach in Sydney with his MGTF just prior to the start of the 1956 Ampol Trial.
Sadly the car rolled on a bridge and they ended upside down in a creek, with little water, but with no help they both drowned...a terrible ending for men intimately involved with the motor trade in Sydney.Les was a foreman at P & R Williams the NSW Velocette distributors then later involved with BMC cars...
His son, Ross, has kindly helped with copies of his father's photo archive and they are of great interest and I'll run several posts to cover them....
As well as road racing Velocette's, Les scrambled and hill climbed BSAs and was involved prewar with Penrith Speedway west of Sydney.
So lets have a look at some of Les's pics from just prewar up into late 1940's..

 Looks like Les on an OHC Norton and on the Old Vale Circuit at Bathurst which was last used in 1937...

1939, Les on a BSA at the Mt.Nebo Hill Climb near Wollongong, south of Sydney.

Three pics of Les on a 2000 mile economy run in 1940.....

 Les on his 500 Goldie at Bathurst entering conrod straight.... Senior race 1940.

The 1946 NSW Victory TT at Bathurst, Easter 1946....Les on a Mk.7 KTT Velocette.

 

 Bathurst 1947, Les,#8  Mk.7 KTT chases #94 W.Hedley, Norton....

Probably late 1940's, but unsure where...Les to the right, Alan Burt with a MAC scrambler of sorts and beside him, Jack Humphries...

 The ladies, pit crew...urge on #24 Les Slaughter and #8 D.Nichlos at the Poplars circuit, 05.03.1949.

Les on the dirt, unsure when or where....

Geoff Duke was in Australia in early 1956, during the European racing off season.....

Racing in Australia, with the emphasis on Velocette…more photos from bygone times...

About a year back I did the blog with some Australian racing Velocette photos...time for some more.
I try to keep records of the pics I've used during this blog, but occasionally I duplicate one...sorry for that, but then they are generally worth a second look....
Acknowledgment to a variety of sources for these photographs...Graham Roberts, Keith Militch, unknown folk, Morton Motorcycle Media Group.
Left click on images to enlarge...
Stanley Woods during his Australian tour late 1936 to early 1937, with two works Dog Kennel SOHC Velos...a 350 and a 500. The 350 is still in OZ, the 500 ended up back in the UK.















Stanley with wife Mildred and the "loaner" car coutesy of Lord Nuffield, likely in South Australia 1936.















Diminutive Sid Willis, Aussie 250 ace in the late 1940s,early 1950s, always had the use of ex factory racing engines, which he used to good effect. Pictured on the start line at the Little River circuit in Victoria.
















Sid Willis's 250 DOHC racer, pictured outside his house in 1952, likely before he left for Europe where he finished 5th in IOM 25o TT , after getting a swinging arm from from Doug Beasley to replace the rigid frame as pictured which caused Sid some problems on the cobblestone circuits of Europe.





















Bathurst early 1937, Stanley Woods is pictured with some Australian racers and members of the Bathurst Council, surveying where the soon to be built Mt.Panorama road race circuit would be.

















Bathurst Easter 1940, the finish of the Junior Australian TT....after 100 miles of close racing, Dave Jenkins, Mk.7 KTT Velo, just defeats Jimmy Madsen 350cc Excelsior Manxman.
















Tasmania in the 1980s, the late David Ride finds the ex Sid Willis post war 250cc DOHC Velo engine. Sid had this finally as a 74mm bore and 58mm stroke. In poor condition... it was restored and fitted into a metisse frame.














































Don Bain, 350 KTT Velo, after winning the 1932 Australian Junior GP on the Old Vale Circuit ( pre Mt.Panorama) at Bathurst.

















Eastern Creek circuit, Sydney, October 2005, Malcolm Sullivan speaks with the late Allen Burt, wheelchair, with Malcolm's nice 250 MOV racer in front.























December 1936, outside Lou Borgelt's Velo shop in Adelaide...the two Stanley Woods factory Velocette racers.



















1954, Mt.Druitt circuit, west of Sydney, during the first 24 hour production race held. Ron Kessing, overalls with his MSS Velo, L to R...Don Wilson, Allen Burt, Bobby Brown.


















Les Diener with his 250 MOV racer, likely in the late 1940s.

Racing in Australia. with the emphasis on Velocette…more photos from my archive….

I’m continuing with some racing photos that are either in Australia or feature Australian and New Zealand riders overseas in the period before 1970.
A small hardy band left Australia, by ship as air travel was out of the question cost wise then, usually around late April to arrive into the UK, at Southampton or Tilbury docks in time to look for a cheap van, meet up with other Aussies who had stayed over the UK winter and worked, they sharing travel and accommodation costs.
Often, having worked in up to three jobs over the Australian summer saving hard, they went to AJS, Norton and earlier Velocette to purchase a new production racer…Manx, 7R,G45, G50, KTT.
The IOM TT was high on their list and three riders were selected to represent Australia and given a small support by the ACCA, the ACU of GB equivalent, such as a free entry into the TT races etc.
Riders such as Stuart Williams, Dave Brewster, Cec Weatherby prewar… Eric McPherson, the Hinton family- father Harry (Senior), sons Harry (Junior), Eric and later younger son Robert , Keith Bryan, Sid Willis, Alan Burt, Bob Brown then later on Jack Ahearn, Dennis Fry, Kel Carruthers and so on made the trip, often over several years.
The ultimate aim…to get a factory riding contract for Norton, AJS etc was only achieved by a few…
Keith Campbell and Keith Bryan-Moto Guzzi.
Harry Hinton- Norton
Tom Phillis and Bob Brown –Honda
To name some, a by no means complete list….
So for those interested in the racing history of Velocette and as I've expanded it a little to cover other riders and machine brands, a perhaps new source of material for your own use or for publication in the future… please acknowledge the source should you capture an image and feel free to do so.

The first photo show Alan Burt on his Junior TT 348cc 7R AJS in the 1958 IOM TT. Alan first went to the IOM with Western Suburbs MCC club mate Bob Brown ( killed in 1960 on a works Honda) in 1955. Regretably Alan crashed on the first lap of practice at Ballacraine and his injuries meant he spent 8 months in the IOM in the care of a family recuperating ( with whom he corresponded with until just recently). The 7R hit a brick fence, breaking Alan's leg badly. The crashed 7R is seen outside the AJS factory race shop in Plumstead, London, awaiting repairs....no hurry as Alan didn't ride again until 1957.

The third photo is diminutive Sid Willis, the ideal 250cc rider ( 4'10", 8.5 stone wringing wet....) at the start of the Leightweight TT, Little River circuit, Victoria in mid 1950s. Sid is on his Beasley/Smith framed ex works DOHC Velo engined special.

The fourth photo is either Bobby Brown or George Campbell on a Mk.8 KTT.. I think it's George.

The final photo is me..on my road 1958 MSS Velo, ridden to Oran Park race circuit, south of Sydney in 1964, stripped of some gear and a racing we went.

Came nowhere I guess....

Left click on images to enlarge, where possible.

Racing in Australia, with the emphasis on Velocette…photos from bygone times...

More pics from Australian racing…. Enjoy!

Australia was a big market for Veloce Ltd up perhaps until the late 1950s and so racing machines from the factory frequently were sent to Sydney and Melbourne for the use of ace locals to promote the image of Velocette….very successfully I might add.For those interested in the racing history of Velocette, a perhaps new source of material for your own use or for publication in the future… please acknowledge the source should you capture an image and feel free to do so.

The first photo is taken in 1948 outside the premises of Bain and Kessing, both prominant Velo racers of the day. The machine on the left is a 1936 DOHC engine used in IOM TT that year, the machine to the right is known in Australian racing circles as "The Monster" and was a 1934 ex works 500 SOHC dog kennel machine.

The second pic is Gordon Harper on his ex works 350 KTT, unsure if it was a SOHC dog kennel engine or another of the 350 DOHC 1936 engines. Early 1950s.

Gordon had both types at one time or another.

The third photo is Alan Burt in an observed trial, known here as "sporting trials" on a MAC.Again in early 1950s at Moorebank on southern outskirts of Sydney.

The final pic is Frank Mussett & NZer Len Perry collecting their new Mk.8 KTTs at Veloce Ltd., prior to the 1939 IOM TT. Perry fell off in practice and severed a finger on his clutch hand and retired. Mussett finished 10th. Both bikes went back to Australia and NZ.
Left click on images to enlarge....

Racing in Australia. with the emphasis on Velocette…more photos from past times

I’m still “on a roll” as they say, so more pics from Australian racing…. Enjoy!
Australia was a big market for Veloce Ltd up perhaps until the late 1950s and so racing machines from the factory frequently were sent to Sydney and Melbourne for the use of ace locals to promote the image of Velocette….very successfully I might add.
For those interested in the racing history of Velocette, a perhaps new source of material for your own use or for publication in the future… please acknowledge the source should you capture an image and feel free to do so.

Left click on images to enlarge, where possible.

The first photo shows Bob Brown kneeling and Alan Burt- they were great mates- with a load of racing bikes transported from NSW to the road races at Victoria Park, Ballarat, Victoria over Christmas in the early 1950s.
The second is Sid Willis' oversquare ( 74 x 58mm) 250cc DOHC ( factory postwar cylinder head) in a Smith frame ( the first copy of the Beasley frame Sid brought back from Europe at the end of 1952).
The third is Don Bain on his Mk.5 KTT special following a successful record attempt at Maddens Plains, south of Sydney around 1936.
The final shot is Sid Willis on his Beasley framed 250cc DOHC ( ex works prewar 350cc Velocette cylinder head) in the pits at the 1952 IOM Lwt.TT. Sid came 5th. The best privateer. (S.R.Keig IOM, photograph)

European Racing, featuring Velocette……some more pics

As mentioned in a previous blog, my archive includes racing Velocette photos from Europe...
When I lived in London in 1974 and 75, I scoured older photographic sources...S.R.Keig Ltd in IOM, Keystone Press Agency and Fox Photos in London, the daily newspapers...So following are some examples, probably not seen before, although all were in the business of selling their photos to the motorcycling press of the day.....
All photos in this blog are credited to Fox Photos, London.

The first photo shows Ted Mellors with his 1936 DOHC factory 348cc Velocette, engine number KTT482/5, frame 6TT2 at the start of the Junior TT.Despite Velocette having a new spring frame which Stanley Woods and Ernie Thomas used, Mellors rode with the previous years rigid frame and he also liked a block pattern front tyre.

The second photo shows Ted pushing off...

The third is a pensive Wal Handley aboard his factory SOHC "dog-Kennel" 348cc Velocette in the pit area for the first practice of the Ulster GP, 22nd August 1935.

The racing seats, visible and looking like the dual seat we know today, were known as the "Loch Ness Monster" seat by race chief Harold Willis and the patent for this dual seat, held by Veloce Ltd, was sold to Feridax Ltd, the motorcycle seat manufacturers...another Velocette innovation.

The final photo is of Australian Frank Mussett during the 1939 Junior IOM TT on his new Mk.8 KTT Velocette, probably engine number KTT830.He finished 10th.

Left click on the images to enlarge.

"Deep Purple"...back to the Velocette race HQ, Nursery Hotel, Onchan,IOM 1939...

What an evocative photo….. pictured in the Velocette race camp, behind the Nursery Hotel, Onchan, IOM, 10th June 1937.
I'm putting in an additonal piece...there could be some confusion over the reference to 1939 and 1937.
The photo is taken in 1937, but it exactly depicts the scene written about below, in 1939, with the exception of Harold Willis....
Stanley Woods leans on his factory 348cc SOHC Velocette speaking to Harold Willis. Ted Mellors factory 495cc SOHC bike #10 is pictured inside…note the block tread front tyre, favoured by Mellors. Tommy Mutton, works racing mechanic is immediately behind SW’s arm and Charles Udall adjusts the radio …
Let me quote from Bob Burgess and Jeff Clew’s “Always in the Picture” (publ. Goose & Sons 1971), page 139…. Reference to the 1939 IOM TT races-
“At the Nursery Hotel we found the shed that was to be our workshop just as it had been left after the 1938 TT. Behind one of the work benches there was still a card on which Willis had written instructions for the use of some insulated cables near by indicating that they were aerial and earth leads respectively for the radio that was brought over. The message concluded, “Do not remove- it is well arranged.” When I read these it was just as though he had spoken to me as so very often I have heard him use the phrase “Well arranged” in referring to anything that had been done satisfactorily.
“The radio was soon working and we also fixed up the toy telephone set from the workshop to our gate. Although just a cheap toy this was most useful and worked well; making it possible to intercept those callers whom we wished to exclude from the workshop.
“In 1939 one of the popular tunes that we heard often from our radio was ‘Deep Purple’, and even now after the passing of so many years I have only to hear it again to be taken right back in spirit to that wooden shed in Onchan. I little realised that sad, and uneasy, June just before the TT was to be the last before the war stopped all pleasurable activities and an era that to me represented a Golden Age. We did not foresee that the wonderful new 500 racer would never be used for the purpose for which it had been produced.
“Charles Udall and Tommy Mutton arrived with it one afternoon and very soon afterwards Stanley Woods was able to take it out up the course for a run over ‘open’ roads- it is very handy to slip out of the Nursery up the road to Signpost without going through populous districts. Woods said of it after this ride that is was the best steering motorcycles that he had ever ridden; high praise for an entirely new design right off Udall’s drawing-board! It was almost impossible to get near the model when it was in the pit area during evening practice.”
The comments above came from Bob Burgess, Veloce Service manager at the time.
Sadly Harold Willis died of meningitis during race week, a complication that followed a relatively minor operation and never saw Stanley Woods 350cc Junior TT win.
I play “Deep Purple” in Dixieland jazz bands and when we do so, I’m also taken back in my mind,to the photo , illustrated…even though it was two years before Bob Burgess’s evocative story above…..
Are you a muso?
The music is included….

Acknowledgement is made to Morton's Motorcycle Media, owners of the photo copyright.
Left click on the images to enlarge.