Roy George Arthur 'Dicky' Case (7 June 1910

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. - 1980) was an Australian international

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

rider who finished sixth in the 1936 Speedway World Championship, the first ever final.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Career

Case worked for the Queensland Railway Company before taking up speedway.Sandys, Leonard (1948) ''Broadside to Fame! The Drama of the Speedways'', Findon, p. 16 He first came to the UK in 1930 and joined the

Wimbledon Dons The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in London'', The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They ...

. He finished third in the 1932

Star Riders' Championship The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already m ...

, the forerunner to the

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official champions ...

and also represented Australia in several Test Matches. He travelled to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1931 with

Max Grosskreutz Max Octavius Grosskreutz (born 27 April 1906 in Proserpine, QueenslandBamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway – The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. - died 20 September 1994) was an Australian speedway rider. Speedway car ...

to promote speedway there, but the venture was short-lived due to opposition from the government. Along with Billy Lamont, Case was unbeaten by an opposing rider throughout the whole 1932 Test series against England. In 1933 he joined the

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, In 1934 he joined Lea Bridge, and when they folded mid-season, transferred to Walthamstow Wolves and stayed with them when the promotion transferred the operation to

Hackney Wick Stadium Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west sid ...

and becoming the

Hackney Wick Wolves Hackney Wick Wolves speedway opened in 1935 at Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, London, and operated until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Many years later the Hackney Hawks and Hackney Kestrels rode at Hackney Wick Stadium. History Th ...

at the start of the 1935 season.Fenn, C.(2003). ''Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. He was the Wolves captain and top points scorer in 1935 and repeated the feat in 1936, as well as riding in the inaugural

final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

. In 1937 Case was beaten to the top spot in the Hackney team by

Cordy Milne Corydon Clark Milne (April 14, 1914 – October 15, 1978) was an American international motorcycle speedway rider who finished third in the 1937 Speedway World Championship final, behind his brother Jack and second placed Wilbur Lamoreaux. Cory ...

but announced he was retiring from the sport. However, in 1938 Case joined the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

but had a poor season due to injuries and did actually retire. The Wolves dropped down a division in 1938 and after injury to the captain Frank Hodgson in the 1939 season, they announced that Case would be making a comeback to cover for the injured skipper. However, after a fall in his first ride which left him with an injury to force him to withdraw from the meeting, although he did complete his second ride, he retired from speedway for the final time.

World final appearances

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

- 6th - 17pts

Training school

Whilst at Hackney, Case took over the sixty acre estate of Rye House and set up a training school at Rye House, operating under the name of the Hackney Motor Club. The school operated until 1938 when Rye House entered the Sunday Dirt-track League.Jacobs, Norman (2007). ''70 Years of Rye House Speedway''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, most speedway racing had ended but Rye House managed to promote several. 1940 saw 'Dick Case's Speedway' run six meetings and another fourteen in 1942. After the war ended, Case continued to run a training school at Rye House. He also owned the local

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

that was next door to the track.

Players cigarette cards

Case is listed as number 5 of 50 in the 1930s Player's cigarette card collection.

References

External links

The Adventures of Dick Case, 'Dusty' Haigh, and Joe Abbott - Christmas 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, Dicky 1910 births 1980 deaths Australian speedway riders Hackney Wick Wolves riders Wimbledon Dons riders Coventry Bees riders Wembley Lions riders