Kenneth Arthur Middleditch (5 October 1925 – 9 January 2021) was a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider from England.

Career

Middleditch served in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

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 opposin ...

as a

rear gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or auto ...

, and became interested in speedway while stationed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway'', Sport-in-Print, p. 53 Middleditch signed for Third Division team

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in 1948 after progressing through Eastbourne's speedway training school. By 1949 he had become Hastings top points scorer but at the end of that year Hastings were forced to close down and he signed for

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

. Middleditch had a successful career at Poole, forming an effective pairing with Poole rider

Tony Lewis Anthony Robert Lewis CBE (born 6 July 1938) is a Welsh former cricketer, who captained England, became a journalist, went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage between 1986 and 1998, and became president of the Marylebone Cr ...

. He won the National League Division Three Rider's Championship, held at Penarth Road Stadium in Cardiff on 23 October 1951. He eventually became the team captain and won four league titles with the club. In 1954, he won the National League Division Two Rider's Championship, held at Hyde Road on 16 October. Middleditch left Poole for the 1957 season when the club closed for a year and signed for

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

. He returned to Poole for a further two stints before retiring in 1962.

Family

Middleditch's son,

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

, also had a successful career as a speedway rider and has been team manager of the Poole Pirates since 1998. After retiring from the sport Middleditch set up a business, Middleditch Salvage, in

Sturminster Marshall Sturminster Marshall is a village and civil parish in east Dorset in England, situated on the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Poole. The parish had a population of 1,895 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census and in ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. He died in January 2021 at the age of 95.Pirates announce the death of club legend Ken Middleditch
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleditch, Kenneth Arthur 1925 births 2021 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers People from Camberley Poole Pirates riders Swindon Robins riders Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen