The welcoming opening ceremony with brass band on stage, at Gottwaldov in Czech Republic, in Drevnice Valley to the lower west of the Carpathians, 6.45am  local time the first machine came from  parc ferme, 236 Riders from 18 nations started, 122 Gold Medals were awarded 62 retirements came about, the first control from Gottwaldow, Kunovice had vast crowds lining the route township buildings were draped with flags, flowers & bunting, sport proclaimed to be the link with peace between nations, small girls handed flower posies to riders, calm had reached areas hard hit by the harshness of terrible war, even another brass band at Kunovice.  The fine weather promised seemed reluctant to show, dampness plus dripping condensation was met.  British entries were all away, starting promptly whilst the Danish competitor A R Clausen took over a minute to start his 500 Matchless (sc) 247 NSU entry O Kollmar had to change a plug before getting away, Brits decided to stop using 40 S.A.E. Oil and change to 30 for the morrow.  Paved roads , rutted tracks, 9 Miles from the start Frank H Whittle stopped with a split Petrol tank as the 1952 event, another early 'out' was 250 Jawa man F Bracher, the market effect on reliability failures wd be considerable,

J V Brittain on a 496 Royal Enfield Twin, a member of the British Trophy Team clocks in, the event is underway in earnest. Eastern bloc machinery was beginning to be far more competitive as the little 2 strokes had been for many years, superior Italian machinery had been the bane of British bike makers & the Oriental Machinery Challenge had not really begun, look today at what still exists as the supreme machinery, Norton & Triumph try to resurrect the Marque, Royal Enfield Plods on.

A second control point at Seneca, another Big British Twin with S B Manns on the Matchless 500 inforest route near Hornd Suca, first aid posts abounded along the route.  Washing, fuelling & other facilities were frequent, a British retirement  was noted to be E Wearden on 124 Anelay-Excelsior, Border crossings between Moravia & Slovakia led to Lunch stop at Bratislava between the Danube River & southern Carpathians.  

G L Buck with a 350 Ariel sidecar outfit later in the first day near Salas Miska Javorina.   Sweden's R Nystrom spilled in a deep sand section & another with trouble was the famous German BMW exponent Walter Zeller, no points lost by either, media versions reported British Team passing through effortlessly!.   Jablonica, Myjava, Banov then back to base!.  Trophy teams all without Points loss other than Hungary , they lost 100 points. J.S. Oliver 125 BSA had retired, A Hernardi 125 Csepel was out, S Maspes 175 Guazzoni had retired, along with S Schram 174 Maico, R Melkner 125 IFA, K Uhlig 350 BK IFA, H Bruns 244 Tornax, A Ott 250X, A Nennig 247 NSU, M Muller 250 Jawa, J Ruzsai 247 Csepel, Whittle 600 Panther & F Bracher 247 NSU completed those 'gone  

Near Solanec the 350 Jawa twins of V Kinzl of Czechoslovakia pushing his   number 125 machine past Romanian Niculici. The second day start start sawS Klimit fail to start his 250 Jawa within the allocated 3 mins. then efficient Swedish Trophy Team man E Forsberg failed to start his 246 NV.  In the background Hugh Viney had changed rear tyre & tube plus headlamp liesurely washing his hands afterwards all within the 15 permitted minutes of an official 10am start to allow for the darkness portion to follow later. the course led southeast to the Carpathians & lower Tatras, 29 plus miles to first check at Slavicin, on to Horna Suca, the climb to Na Hancich mountain & through known Wolves & Deer haunts with rough going along most tracks.

The nighttime run came & went without disaster & even a Czech Nurse helped Johnny Giles by being 'the lady with a lamp' for him whilst he fixed a small problem on his Triumph 500 twin.   Sweden's Trophy hopes foundered when Forsberg's machine simply gave up before reaching the Puchov Control Point, G Ravinale holed his 175 Morini crankcase & retired, H Sprung's 125 IFA had it's frame part beneath the steering head.   Britain's A W Glassbrook BSA had dropped it to avoid a car & even with split Fuel tank holed chaincase & sprained foot, still getting home with 10 mins to spare.  2 more frame breakage retirements were E Longoni 175 Guazzoni & J M Ivanov 150 CZ.   Hosts treated competitors well at the lunch halt.  7pm! the 63 miles night route from Piestany to Gottwaldov began, seven riders of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania on Jawa & Csepel machinery lost marks for lighting faults. Czechoslovakia had lost ONE Point, Sweden 100, Hungary 2003, Britain plus Western Germany had still lost no points. Following day, the 3rd day started at 5.30am!

L Van der Noll 600 BMW lads V Kinzl through a dusty Stara Turo section. Day 3 first control was at Hluk 63 miles away, H Veer of Netherlands lost 14 marks changing out ignition parts on his 247 JAWA, Control at Cavoj led to rough ground tracks along to control at Nitrianske Pravno, then the route went higher to ranges of Strazooska Hornatina & Mala Fatra, 1 in 4 climbs followed with burned Clutch smells & queues to get onto sections upsetting all.   West Germany's Walter Zeller' BMW had suffered a previously unheard of completely fractured crankase & this placed Britain in a stronger position, there was much more time to come.

145 Rumanian N Buescu with 151 countryman M Sartenu pushing 250 Jawa machines at the Thursday hold up point at Solanec where queues formed throughout the day. after this, a 4th Day began, for a 212 miles route, several 150 CZ riders, along with Netherlands C J Langeveld trying to repair split fuel tanks.  K G Nyman 174 Husqvarna rigging his suspension unit with wire, Britain' non team member P F Hammond had his Triumph motor seize & later sound bad! & eyebrows were raised whe J V Brittain's Royal Enfield actually required a second kick to start it.   On to Hostynske Orchy Mountains, via a Bystrice pod Hostynem checkpoint, B L Jansema of Netherlands Vase 'A' team intermittently lost ignition on his 248 Jawa, this amounted to 20 lost Points for the day. Next control St Kopecek then to near the Polish Border then on to Rymarov via high wooded ground to Cervenohorske sedlo, here Jack Stocker extracted a 6" nail from the tyre of his 500 Royal Enfield, the Dunlop repair held, rest taken at Sumperk, then sharply downwards to Oskava.

Johnny Giles heading a queue of 14 at Solanec.  On to 5th Day, Easterly winds, fairly strong brought dustclouds Western Germany's hopes of getting the Silver Vase diminished when W Aukthum's 174 Maico failed to start & leave the line.  R W Wagger's BSA 350 Sidecar Ball joint parted & became lashed together shortly later to be excluded from travelling further.  Olga Kevelos Mrs Molly Briggs 197 DMW was unpenalised though changing plugs every few miles for her unhealthy sounding Villiers & Miss Rutlova lost no marks on her 248 Jawa. 

I know that helmet pattern may cross your mind, F Camathias of Switzerland rights his BMW 500 in Horna Suca forest mud, yes it is Florian Camathias in days before the bespectabled hero of Sidecar Racing hit the world scene & impressed ALL.  During the 5th Day Johnny Giles lof British Vase 'B' Team lost compression on one cylinder of his Triumph on rough going at Bunc, B Erikson 174 Husqvarna of Sweden's Vase 'B' had his tyre valve rip out, the replaced tube was then punctured by a nail! to cost him 12 marks & the Team the Vase, 193 rides had started, 16 had retired, to bring the retired total to to 59 177 competitors remained, 136 had lost no marks in a day's mileage of 257. 

This gives an idea of the reception Competitors met, here is Myjava Control Point (all were careful not to say Check point!) Swedish 175cc Maico rider W Aukthum heading inbound.

Georg Meier that Great BMW rider from Germany who raced before & after WW2 slithers his 600 BMW to a stop across the path of T G Gigov's Jawa. The Sixth day with machinery in unexpected states provides great days for some & tentative ones for many, rain before speed test is another 'ooh er' causant when tank splits tyres & other factors mount, J Cizek of the Czech Vase 'A' Team fell too heavily with his Jawa 248 to continue, Molly Briggs had 2 punctures on her 197 DMW & was forced to retire, Olga Kevelos crashed as well as P H Alves of the British Trophy team but both got up to carry on.  British Trophy Team lost no marks in the Morning & only faced the speed trial of 20 laps on the Racing Circuit, this they did and even crossed the line in formation, youngsters today would perhaps applaud Hugh Viney's run along the straight with his feet on the seat after getting the signal from Len Heath that the Trophy was theirs.  Ariel AMC & Royal Enfield finished the event having lost no marks at all along with Jawa & CZ.

British Trophy Winning team with manager Len Heath giving a wry smile bringing the score to 16 Wins from 28 events since 1913. P H Alves on the Triumph, S B Manns on the Matchless J V Brittain Royal Enfield Hugh Viney on the AJS, Jack Stocker Royal Enfield.  The competition with   Silver Vase entries Netherlands 'B' plus Polish 'B team taken by the Czech 'B' Team trio of Frantisek Blaha, Vojtech Kolar & Bohumil Kabat for the second year in succession on the Speed Test!.   Club Team prize won by the Czech Ustredni dum armady, all riding 150cc CZs again in the Speed Tests to see off a hard riding British Silver Vase 'A' Team.   Manufacturers Teams Prizes went to Ariel , AMC (AJS & Matchless) & Royal Enfield, the 2 Czech entries Jawa & though both won through to warn manufacturers in Britain that strong commercial competition lay ahead.

More tales & results plus anecdotes shall doubtless follow as time permits site updates & amendments, send in whatever you can re this plus other ISDT events & even others.