The Handley Saga
Walter Handley Raced a Variety of Machines in a Chequered Career
Birmingham’s Walter Handley was regarded as one of the most talented riders of the post world war one decade, and while still a teenager he gained works rides with the OK Supreme factory. However he was also a most temperamental character which saw him transfer to different firms on a regular basis. His most successful period was with Coventry-based Rex Acme when he scored Isle of Man TT wins in three separate categories during the 1920s. Handley also rode for various British and Continental firms; these included the Swiss Motosacoche factory, and Belgian’s FN. At home he secured rides with AJS, Rudge Whitworth, Velocette and finally a season in 1934 with Norton. He achieved a memorable Senior win at the 1930 TT with Rudge, but his Norton experience was not particularly rewarding.
A Season with Norton
Norton’s problems at the end of 1933 were about riders rather than machinery. Tim Hunt had suffered injuries at the Swedish Grand Prix that ended his career completely. Stanley Woods was disenchanted with team orders that dictated who was to win, and as a result he signed with the Swedish Husqvarna team. To bolster the Norton team, Handley was signed up as a member for 1934. Their first appearance was an Irish event, the Leinster 200; but although Handley was to make his debut there he failed to appear. Next outing was the North West 200, and this time Handley started in the 500cc race, holding second place until clutch problems resulted in his retirement. The team then moved to the Isle of Man.
It was an auspicious series for Guthrie who scored a Junior/Senior double; and a disaster for Handley who crashed at Governor’s Bridge on the sixth lap of the Junior. He severely damaged his nose; which was enough to put him out of Friday’s Senior. He recovered sufficiently to start in the Belgian Grand Prix and in other European classics. His final Norton appearance was at the Senior Ulster Grand Prix where he finished third behind Walter Rusk on a works Velocette and veteran Charlie Dodson, making a rare Norton outing. It proved to Handley’s final Grand Prix finish.
The Final Events
For the 1935 season he returned to Velocette, and was looking forward to better fortunes with the Hall Green concern; alas it was not to be. Following a TT practice session he was leaning down to adjust his rear brake whilst on the move, when his fingers became trapped in the chain and were badly mangled; enough to side line him from another TT.
Handley’s motorcycle career appeared to be waning. For the next two seasons he directed his energies to motor racing and flying, but in 1937 he was coaxed out of retirement to put a modified ‘Empire Star’ BSA through its paces at Brooklands. It was a surprising move for BSA who had shunned any race appearances since their 1922 TT debacle. Walter dominated his event, and in the process he earned a Gold Star for lapping Brooklands at 100 mph. And thus was born the evocative ‘Gold Star’, a machine that achieved total dominance in post war clubman racing. Walter’s racing comeback proved to be fleeting; for in a later race at the same meeting he crashed heavily and suffered painful injuries. For the great Walter Handley it was his final race appearance.
War Service
At the outbreak of war Handley was commissioned in the Air Transport Auxiliary. The ATA was an organization of male and female pilots who performed vital duties in ferrying new and repaired aircraft from factory and maintenance units to operational squadrons.
In 1941 Flight Captain Handley was at the controls of a Bell P39 Airacobra; an unorthodox single-seat fighter with its engine mounted behind the pilot. It was reported that on take-off, Handley climbed too steeply, stalled; and with insufficient height to recover, the aircraft crashed and burned. The great Walter Handley died as spectacularly as he lived.
Visitors to the Isle of Man can view a commemorative seat on Bray Hill erected to his memory. The celebrated motorcycling journalist and TT winner Graham Walker dedicated it shortly after the war and its brass plaque ends simply with the words: None passed this way more bravely.
Walter Handley
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1934 Senior TT
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