TARGET 090916

Tornado Smith and the Walls of Death



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Tornado Smith, born George William Smith, was the son of the landlord of the White Hart public house in Boxford. He is part of local legend and has been acknowledged by the British motorcycle industry as the first Englishman to perform the spectacular and highly dangerous form of entertainment, the Wall of Death, in this country.

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Tornado seemed an unlikely hero in his brown riding boots, grey trousers, white shirt and tie, plus a black beret complete with a skull and crossbones badge and tortoise shell glasses. Yet he rode his Indian Scout 7-9hp Vee-Twin around the wall and was the pioneer of the "Loop of Death"

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Tornado is also remembered for his two special partners on the Wall of Death. One, a pretty brunette motorcyclist who rode her own Indian Scout with equal dexterity and appeared under the name of "Marjorie Dare", she was in fact Mrs "Tornado" Smtih. The other was a twelve stone lioness called Briton, first introduced in the show as an added attraction, riding on the handlebars and later, when she was fully grown, riding in the sidecar. When Briton died, she was buried under the forecourt of Tornado's home, The White Horse pub, and a wooden plaque erected to mark her grave.

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Tornado's first public appearance was on 11th September 1930 where he performed with the Silodromes Company in Sweden and then accompanied then on their tour of Europe. Upon his return to England in early 1931 he made a name for himself in Kursaal, Southend. This is where he consistently performed throughout the 1930's and he always returned here to entertain the crowds throughout his career. As his popularity grew and so did the competition, Tornado would introduce added features to his show. He was the first to ride a car around the wall, this was an Austin 7 in the mid 1930's and successfully drew in even more crowds. On a lighter note, he would ride the wall with a coffin as a side car, complete with a skeleton passenger. To advertise the forthcoming events, he would be seen travelling the streets on his penny farthing bicycle handing out flyers.

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During the winter of 1931, when Kursaal closed for the season, Tornado took a 6 week engagement at the Wall of Death in Olympia. Here he met a 19 year old girl called Doris Craven, working on the cosmetics stall in the Fun Fair. He offered her a ride on the wall of death, which she agreed to. Although she passed out, upon coming round she wanted to have another go. By Easter, after an intensive training course, Doris Craven had changed her name to Dynamite Doris and made her debut on the wall of death at Barry Island in Glamorganshire. Dynamite Doris later changed her name to Marjorie Dare and married Tornado Smith on Christmas day 1934.

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During winter breaks, Tornado, Marjorie and Briton would return to Tornado's home town of Boxford. Here they would put on shows for the residents and it was not uncommon to see Tornado taking Briton for a walk on a lead through the streets.

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In 1965, Tornado Smith left the Kursaal, Southend and left wall riding completely. In 1966 he left England for sunnier climes and ended up in South Africa, where he died in Hospital in 1971.

Tornado Smith and his colourful lifestyle are still remembered and celebrated in his hometown of Boxford.

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Many thanks to Ray McClure for suggesting programming this target.