Paddy Mills (speedway rider)

Paddy Mills
Born 1913
Leicester, England
Nationality  United Kingdom
Current club information
Career status Retired
Career history
1937 Leicester Hounds
1938-1939 Sheffield
1946-1952 Norwich Stars
1953 Stoke Potters
Team honours
1950, 1951 National League Division Two Champion
1951 National Trophy (Div 2)
1951 Southern Shield

Horace Burke (born 1913), better known under the alias Paddy Mills, was a motorcycle speedway rider whose career spanned World War II.

Born Horace Burke in Leicester in 1913,[1] he adopted the name Paddy Mills and began his career at Leicester in 1937, riding for the Hounds in the Provincial League. In 1938 he joined Sheffield, spending a season there before joining the Royal Air Force.[2] He served in the RAF for six years, and was awarded the British Empire Medal.[2] After the war he joined the Norwich Stars, for whom he was the third highest points scorer in 1946, with 348 points in total.[2] He went on to be the team's leading points scorer in both 1947 and 1948.[2] He was picked to represent England in second test match in 1949, but suffered a fractured skull a few days before.[2]

In 1952 Mills became president of the newly formed Leicester Amateur Speedway Club, which had a training track at Syston.[3]

In the late 1960s, Mills ran training sessions for the Long Eaton Archers.

References

  1. ↑ Dalling, Philip (2007) Nottingham and Long Eaton Speedway, Stadia, ISBN 978-0-7524-4163-4, p. 155
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Morgan, Tom (1949) Who's Who in Speedway, Sport-in-Print, p. 53
  3. ↑ Bamford, R & Jarvis J. (2001) Homes of British Speedway, ISBN 0-7524-2210-3, p. 150


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