MY DAD was a speedway rider after returning from war-time service with the RAF in north Africa and Iraq where he had volunteered for dangerous special operations behind enemy lines. He rode for the Hull Angels and the Fleetwood Knights and I remember going with my mum to watch him race and even win a few prizes.

A champion motorcyclist, trade union organiser and communist, Clem Beckett went from Britain’s speedway tracks to the battlefields of Spain, where he gave his life resisting Franco’s forces at Jarama. GEOFF BOTTOMS pays tribute to this remarkable anti-fascist

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