Horace Albert Burke (24 July 1912 – 29 January 1975), better known under the alias Paddy Mills, 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 whose career spanned

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 ...

Career

Born Horace Burke in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in 1913,Dalling, Philip (2007) ''Nottingham and Long Eaton Speedway'', Stadia, , p. 155 he adopted the name Paddy Mills and began his career at

in 1937, riding for the Hounds in the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. In 1938 he joined

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, spending a season there before joining the

Royal Air Force 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 ...

.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway'', Sport-in-Print, p. 53 He served in the RAF for six years, and was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

. After the war he joined the

Norwich Stars Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Speedway racing was staged in Norwich both before ...

, for whom he was the third highest points scorer in 1946, with 348 points in total. He went on to be the team's leading points scorer in both 1947 and 1948. He was picked to represent England in second test match in 1949, but suffered a fractured skull a few days before. In 1952 Mills became president of the newly formed Leicester Amateur Speedway Club, which had a training track at

Syston Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census. Overview There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...

.Bamford, R & Jarvis J. (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', , p. 150 In the late 1960s, Mills ran training sessions for the

Long Eaton Archers Long Eaton motorcycle speedway teams operated from 1950 until 1997 in Long Eaton, England. Teams have raced at the Long Eaton Stadium as the Long Eaton Archers, Long Eaton Rangers, Nottingham Outlaws and the Long Eaton Invaders. The Invaders ret ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Paddy 1912 births 1975 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Leicester Sheffield Tigers riders Norwich Stars riders Stoke Potters riders