THE BAR-NONE MOTOR
CYCLE CLUB
RAF EL FIRDAN 1946-48
As Remembered By Tom Fearon
I first learned of the existence of the Bar-None Motor Cycle Club some months after being posted to 10 MTRU, RAF El Firdan, in mid 1946. A notice was placed on the board in the dining room requesting motor bike enthusiasts to put their names down if they were interested in starting a branch of the Bar-None at El Firdan. The previous branch had folded up when the members were demobbed or posted back to Blighty when their overseas tour of duty expired.
As my fascination and enthusiasm for motor bikes had started when I was in junior school, I immediately put my name down. I had my first motor bike a few months before volunteering for the RAF so I had a small amount of riding experience.
The person behind the revival was Warrant Officer (Lampy) Lucas and he gathered about seven or eight would be members together. He also found the key to the hut that housed the bikes used by the former members. If I remember correctly there were a dozen or so machines in that hut, most of them complete, and a good stack of spare parts.
We each laid claim to a machine and I finished up with an early Matchless with girder forks. I was quite happy with this machine as it required very little work to get is serviceable. The petrol tank was drained and refilled with fresh petrol, the carburettor washed out and the plug and lead was replaced from the aforementioned spares.
The controls were treated to an oiling with a light grade oil, tyres pumped up and fitted with new valves and, as a result of this work which took about three hours or so, the engine fired up after four or five kicks.
Others in the group carried out roughly the same work as myself with some result but one or two were not so lucky. Some had faulty clutches to contend with, some broken valve springs etc but such was the enthusiasm that those who had got their bikes going reasonably easily then turned their attention to helping the not-so-lucky with their bikes.
As summer working hours meant work ceased at half past one it gave us a considerable amount of time to spend with the bikes. We probably spent four or five afternoons a week on them.
I remember we set out a small scramble course over the sand dunes at the back of one of the hangers and timed runs were made over this. Soft sand meant we pushed the bikes when we got stuck and it was not judged to be a success.
It was decided a sprint on the disused runway at the far end of the airfield would be a better proposition and a good number of these events were held. Timing these runs was somewhat rudimentary as one of us set the competitors off with a wave of a broom handle with a handkerchief tied to it and at the same moment the timekeeper on the finishing line set the stop watch in motion. The length of the run was about a quarter of a mile if my memory serves me correctly.
I had the satisfaction of making the fastest run of the day at one of these events. My preparation for these sprints was to remove the petrol tank and mount an empty fire extinguisher (suitably modified) to act as a tank. It weighed considerably less and carried enough petrol for the run.
Between the unsuccessful scrambles and the sprints Lampy (as we called him, but never to his face) made contact with the El Ballah Branch whose team, The El Ballah Aces, were enjoying some success at sand speedway. As a result of this contact we started attending club meeting at El Ballah.
I remember these meetings were held in the NAAFI at El Ballah every couple of weeks. We used to travel over in the back of a 15 cwt truck. We were on occasions accompanied by Squadron Leader Barratt or Flight Lieutenant Gill. These two officers, neither of whom were stationed at El Firdan, were strong supporters of the Bar-None. It must be said that not a single officer stationed at El Firdan ever attended a Bar-None meeting or event. We envied the encouragement and support the Army teams of El Ballah and Tel El Kebir received from their commissioned officers. I can remember Bert Steady, Colin Morgan, Johnny Egan and Ron Thomson being regular attendees at these meetings.
After seeing many race meetings at El Ballah and Tel El Kebir we at El Firdan tried to make a track but the soft sand thwarted our efforts. Eventually the rugby pitch became redundant because a team could not be raised. A lot of work had gone into making the rugby pitch. Lorry loads of mud were laid several feet deep and allowed to dry. The surface was excellent and eventually permission was granted to turn it into a track.
Switching over to track racing necessitated some modifications to our bikes. Larger barrels and pistons were fitted to convert a 350cc bike into a 430cc (?). Extinguisher type sprint tanks became universal and forks on girder fork models were reversed to improve handling on corners. New links were required when doing this and a friend of the Bar-None in the machine shop helped out in this matter.
Initially we raced on an individual basis among ourselves, the most consistent riders being Geof Bland, Don Salter, Eric Anderton, Ron Ottoway and myself, Tom Fearon.
The first meeting was held on 10th August 1947, and were run each week until December 1947. One of these was against the El Ballah Aces but I was on duty that day and so am unable to report the proceedings although I am sure that one of the El Ballah Team could enlighten us.
In December 1947 further events of any sort were forbidden by our Commanding Officer as a less experienced rider fell and broke his leg in one of the races. From then on the activities of the El Firdan branch were limited to attending the meetings in the El Ballah NAAFI and I recall one trip to Fayid to see a race meeting they put on.
I was demobbed in May 1948, my enthusiasm for motor bikes having been intensified by my experience in the Bar-None. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, my enthusiasm for motor bikes began when I was in junior school. At the same time I also nursed an ambition to race motor bikes.
In 1949 the Wirral Hundred Motor Club began holding road race meetings at Rhydymyn in North Wales and I entered on my tuned up road bike. I rode in all three meetings held that year and had a win and a couple of seconds and thirds.
In 1950 I decided
to buy a BSA Gold Star in road racing trim and visited a dealer in Wallasey
to order one. I had only been talking to the manager for a couple of minutes
when I noticed a Bar-None badge on the wall. When I asked him about it he
told me he had been a member. His name was Len Cramp; he was a Sergeant in
the RAF and he was a member in Egypt from early 1945 to Christmas 1946. He
was stationed at 106 MU and rode in the Mena Hill Climb, some sand racing
and a trial at Tel El Kebir. One of the names he remembered was Signalman
Towler. From then on we became good friends and we still see each other often.