One of the great joys of helping rebuild this site has been the quest for making new material and the recovering of lost treasures as this event’s story is one of a history drawing to an end when the name was changed in 1980 all the sport has continued in a modified form. Of the two most popular topics visitors appear to come to Speedtracktales for are the stories of the ISDT 1964 in East Germany undoubtedly because of its connection with Steve McQueen and the ISDT 1939 in Austria & Germany owing to its rapid termination for the British team which abandoned to evacuate Germany and Europe days before the outbreak of the Second World War. It is however often said that the abandonment was as much a reaction, or over-reaction, to the events that overtook riders following the abandonment of the ISDT 1914 which took place at the time of the declaration of the First World War.

With the anniversary of the declaration of the war looming I was determined to write a feature on the event of 1914 and any ISDT riders connected with the first world war but information on an event, that was never held, is very scarce as there were no reports. Then last week out of nowhere, as ever is the case, came an email from the grandson and great-grandson of Maurice Greenwood who was an active ISDT rider and follower from 1913 and through most of his life. The family were keen to learn about the ISDT and in return offered me access to their family collection of materials connected to the ISDT. As the first of these rolled in it includes a preview of the 1914 event and an article from a paper about the incidents related to Maurice’s passport-less dash to get back to ‘Blighty’ before the war commenced. There is considerable material available in this collection and this is just the first of a number of features that I will be making to hi-light what we are able to rediscover of the event from Maurice’s diligent collecting and retention of material and the family who clearly cherish his memory.

Photo – Maurice Greenwood 1916 working as a dispatch rider in the Somme area of Flanders (Courtesy of the Greenwood Family Collection)

•the Article below first appeared in ‘the Motor Cycle’ Aug 1914

LOCAL MOTORIST’S EXPERIENCES.

Mr.W. Maurice Greenwood (son of Mr. Titus Greenwood, Lydgate) who as stated in our last issue experienced great difficulty in returning home from France, contributes the following interesting article to “the Motor Cycle”

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