Oliver Godfrey

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oliver Godfrey on his Indian, with which he won the Senior TT in 1911 .

Oliver Cyril "Ollie" Godfrey (born October 15, 1887 in Stamford Hill , London , † September 23, 1916 in France ) was a British motorcycle racer and aviator during the First World War .

Career

Oliver Godfrey was the youngest child of Louis and Florence Godfrey in London. His father, who worked as an artist , painter and engraver , emigrated to Australia before 1901 , Godfrey stayed with his mother in England. Florence Godfrey later remarried, and Oliver Godfrey lived in his parents' house in Finchley until at least 1911 . At that time he was working as a locksmith .

Godfrey began motorcycling as a teenager and in 1907 took part in the first edition of the Isle of Man TT , which was then held on the St. John's Short Course . He started on a 726 cm³ Rex in the two-cylinder class, but did not reach the goal. Until the outbreak of the First World War, Godfrey was a regular starter in the TT with the exception of 1912.

In 1911 he celebrated the greatest success of his career by winning the Senior TT . The TT took place for the first time this year on the Snaefell Mountain Course , which is still used today . In the run had been expecting it to a duel for victory between last year's winner Charlie Collier on Matchless and the American Board Track -Star Jake DeRosier would be standing next to Godfrey and three other drivers for the Indian - factory team belonged. As a technical advisor of the team specially Indian-founder and chief engineer was Oscar Hedstrom arrived from America. 59 starters went into the four-lap race, 28 of whom crossed the finish line. In the third round, the leading Collier ran out of fuel; Godfrey took the lead and never gave it up until the finish. It took him 3 hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds to complete the 187.5  mi (301.8  km ), which corresponds to an average speed of 47.63  mph (76.65  km / h ). Collier crossed the finish line just over a minute behind and was later disqualified for having refueled illegally. DeRosier fell out after a fall.

On August 12, 1912, Oliver Godfrey on Indian won the solo race at the Grand Prix de France des Motocycles Club de France (MCF), which was held for the first time . The race was held over 15 laps on an approximately 30 km long route between Fontainebleau , Arbonne-la-Forêt , Achères-la-Forêt and Ury . The Automobile Club de France (ACF) and the British Auto-Cycle Union (ACU), which at the time saw themselves as the leading authority for the staging of motor sport events , viewed this race and what they saw as the bad organization with great suspicion and subsequently sanctioned it the participating pilots.

In 1914, Godfrey finished second in the senior run behind Cyril Pullin (Rudge) on his last TT appearance - again on an American Indian .

In February 1915 he crossed the Atlantic on board the RMS Lusitania and visited New York . Godfrey then traveled to Springfield , Massachusetts , where George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom founded the Indian Motocycle Company in 1901 , and visited the motorcycle maker's headquarters.

First World War

Martinsyde G. 100

In the course of 1915, Oliver Godfrey enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps . In January 1916 he passed the flight test on a Wright Model B in Hendon and received the flight license from the Royal Aero Club . In June 1916 he joined the 27th Squadron of the RFC, which was stationed in Fienvillers, west of the Somme , about 15 km behind the front . His unit used single-seat Martinsyde G.100 machines for bombing and reconnaissance purposes , which were nicknamed the Elephant because of their size and their difficult maneuverability .

During this time, the British pilots still had a relatively easy game in their missions and their chances of survival were quite high. That changed rapidly from August 1916 with the reorganization of the German air force suggested by Oswald Boelcke and the establishment of new fighter squadrons ( Dicta Boelcke ).

At the beginning of the Battle of the Somme , Godfrey's squadron attacked General Karl von Bülow's headquarters on September 15, 1916, as well as trains around Cambrai , Épehy and Ribécourt-Dreslincourt . On the morning of September 23, 1916, he was with five other comrades on a bombing mission to Cambrai when they were attacked by a group of five German aircraft from Jagdstaffel 2 . In addition to Boelcke himself, who led them, this group also included Manfred von Richthofen , who at that time had only scored one kill. Godfrey's machine and two other elephants were shot down within a very short time. Most likely, its downing can be attributed to the pilot Hans Reimann, who later died himself in the course of the battle.

Godfrey's body was never found. To this day, a memorial stone on the cimetière militaire de Point-du-Jour north of Athies reminds of him. During the four-month battle on the Somme , the Royal Flying Corps, with about 800 aircraft and 250 pilots, lost about 75% of its total strength.

The motorcycle dealer Godfreys Ltd , which he and 1912 senior TT winner Frank Applebee co-founded in 1912, existed at 208 Great Portland Street in London until the 1960s.

statistics

Isle of Man TT victories

year class machine Average speed
1911 Senior Indian 47.63  mph (76.65  km / h )

Race wins

year class machine run route
1912 Solo machines Indian French Grand Prix (MCF) Fontainebleau

References

literature

  • Chaz Bowyer: The Flying Elephants . The History of No. 27 Squadron RFC / RAF 1915 to 1969. Ed .: TBS The Book Service Ltd. 1st edition. Macdonald and Co, London 1972, ISBN 978-0-356-03816-2 (English).
  • Harry Sucher, Timothy Pickering, Liam Diamond, Harry Havelin: Franklin's Indians . Irish motorcycle racer Charles B Franklin, designer of the Indian Chief. 2nd Edition. Veloce Publishing, Dorchester 2018, ISBN 978-1-78711-223-0 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vincent Glon: L'HISTOIRE DU GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE. racingmemo.free.fr, accessed on May 7, 2020 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Godfrey, Oliver
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Godfrey, Oliver Cyril (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British motorcycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Stamford Hill , London
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1916
Place of death France