September 2, 1937
A milestone in American motorcycle history took place at the Individual Speedway World Championship in London. In front of a crowd of approximiately 85,000 spectators in attendance at the original version of Wembley Stadium, 30-year-old California resident Jack Milne won that competition — widely considered to be one of the premier motorcycle racing events of the era — and in doing so became the first American motorcyclist to earn a world championship. Another American, Wilbur Lamoreaux, finished second in that edition of the Individual Speedway World Championship; Milne’s brother Cordy placed third in the competition.
In the next day’s edition of the California-based Pasadena Post, sportswriter and columnist R.C. “Rube” Samuelson provided specifics on what had transpired at Wembley Stadium. Samuelson reported, “Jack Milne finished the championship competition, narrowed to 16 riders, from a qualifying list of other a hundred for the finals, with 28 points for what corresponds to a perfect score, winning each of his five races yesterday.”
As teenagers growing up in Pasadena, the Milne brothers worked for Western Union as messenger delivery boys. Cordy used his pay from that job to buy a motorcycle, while Jack’s money initially went towards purchasing a gas station. Eventually, however, Jack likewise invested in a motorcycle and joined his brother in racing those vehicles on a full-time basis. (The accompanying photo of Cordy [left] and Jack [right] with their motorcycles was taken in 1935.)
Jack finished second to Cordy in the 1935 American Motorcyclist Association’s National Speedway Championship and went on to win that title the following year. In addition, Jack won the Australian Individual Speedway Championship in 1937. It was through winning the Speedway World Championship later in the year, however, that Jack achieved global renown and a whole new level of celebrity due to his motorcycling skills.
The Milne brothers remained in England as motorcycle racers for a couple of more years, until the outbreak of World War II compelled them to return home to Pasadena. They used their earnings to open a bicycle shop and later a motorcycle dealership. The brothers also operated a few automobile dealerships. At the time of Jack’s death in 1995, he still owned the motorcycle that he rode when winning the world championship nearly six decades earlier. He was inducted into AMA’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
Photo Credit: The Los Angeles Daily News (3 May 1935)
Additional information on the 1937 Individual Speedway World Championship is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Individual_Speedway_World_Championship
Transportation History 
Leave a comment