Bikers' Bookshelf

Jimmie Guthrie was a Scottish motorcycle racer who was born in 1897. He hailed from a quiet Scottish Borders District town called Hawick. He had just turned eighteen when he went to fight in the First World War and returned a genuine war hero after nearly four continuous years away from home. Known to many as “Jimmie G.”, his motorcycle racing career started slowly, but he became a major star in European motorcycle road racing during the 1930s. During his remarkable career he won 28 Grand Prix and Tourist Trophy races. He was 500cc European Champion in the years 1935 and 1936, and dual 350cc and 500cc European Champion in 1937. He set several world land speed records between 1934 and 1936.

On a hot summer’s afternoon on the 8^th August, 1937 in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany, Jimmie G.’s world came tragically to an end when an incident occurred which was subsequently shrouded in mystery for more than eighty years. Leading with minutes to spare on the last lap of the German Motorcycle Grand Prix, he crashed within two kilometres of the finish line. He died two hours later in a Chemnitz hospital. His death was a terrible shock to motorcycle racing fans around the world. The bitter irony of his death was that he was on the eve of retiring from racing and planned to settle down to family life at the end of 1937. The cause of the crash was not officially reported, and rumours circulated in Britain and Germany. It was a turbulent time – the Second World War was the focus of people’s attention, and the issue was largely forgotten.

The circumstances of Jimmie Guthrie’s fatal crash in 1937 are explained from both the British and German perspectives. For the first time, German archive material exposes many previously unknown facts about the crash – including Nazi involvement. More than simply a motorsport crash, it became a geopolitical incident which could have threatened British and German diplomatic relations at the time. The book explains why the British and German sides kept details of the crash under a veil of secrecy and why an eye witness to the crash remained silent until just before his death. What emerges is far more complicated and intriguing than any fictional story.