What links Blandford Camp, motor racing and chocolate? The
answer sadly is Joseph Gibson Fry who lost his life on the 29th July
1950 in a crash in the British Army camp. ‘Joe’
Fry was a member of the Fry chocolate family. The company, J S Fry & Sons
had merged with Cadburys in 1919.
Joe lost his life after suffering injuries while practising
for a hill climb event when he lost control and crashed at speed. A bystander
said:
‘Fry’s car approached a
bend known as Cuckoo Corner at about 90mph. He appeared to drift towards the
outside of the course, hit the right hand grass bank and somersaulted.’
He was driving his Freikaiserwagen racing car at the time of
the accident. This name had a distinctly German twist and was a tongue in cheek
combination of the surnames of Fry and Caesar. Dick Caesar was one of its
designers. The Freikaiserwagen was an extremely powerful little sprint and hill
climbing machine but was difficult to drive. It is reckoned it set the standard
for the many rear engine racing cars that followed.
After the war, Blandford Camp had become nationally known for
its motor cycle and motor car racing events. Racing at the time was
particularly dangerous with few safety measures and frequent accidents some of
which proved fatal. Joe Fry’s fatality led to the end of motor car races at
Blandford Camp as it was reported to be the racing circuit’s seventh fatality.
The last Blandford racing car meeting took place on the 7th
August 1950 because this event was considered too late to cancel. Motor cycle
racing continued at Blandford Camp however, until the 1960s.
(Illustration: Joe Fry in his Freikaiserwagen.)
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