Thursday, May 9, 2013

Possibly the last motorcycle race during WW2....

The 1939-1945 world war, WW2, was well underway for Australia when the Blue Mountains TT was held in the small town of Blackheath to the west of Sydney on Anniversary Day 27th January 1941.....
I've no idea why it was run then, guess the population needed entertainment or a diversion from the hard reality of life and world war.....
The circuit was built specially by the Blackheath Municipal council, no doubt at considerable cost to their ratepayers and was only ever used the once...never again after hostilities had ceased....
Jim Scaysbrook in his bi-monthly publication, Old Bike Australasia magazine, will do a more in depth look at the circuit in a forthcoming edition....
But lets have a look at the report in the motorcycle publication of the time, the February 1941 copy of "The Australian Motor Cyclist".....
As well I've some other original photographs taken during the meeting....
Ron Kessing on his 1938 Mk.7 KTT Velocette followed by  Eric McPherson on his 1939 Mk.8 KTT Velocette during the Senior race....
Eric McPherson easily wins the Junior race on his 1939 Mk.8 KTT.
Then last weekend following a Velocette/Vincent rally at a nearby town, we found the circuit and it is intact today with a fair amount still dirt/gravel...
So we duplicated the first corner pictured on the cover of AMC Feb.1941 and I've stitched the two photographs together for comparison.....

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