Horace Albert Burke (24 July 1912 – 29 January 1975), better known under the alias Paddy Mills, was a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider whose career spanned

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Born Horace Burke in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in 1913, he adopted the name Paddy Mills and began his career at

in 1937, riding for the Hounds in the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. In 1938 he joined

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, spending a season there before joining the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

.Morgan, Tom (1949) ''Who's Who in Speedway'', Sport-in-Print, p. 53 He served in the RAF for six years, and was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

. After the war he joined the

Norwich Stars Norwich Stars were a motorcycle speedway team based in Norwich, England, which operated from 1930 until their closure in 1964.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History Origins and 1930s Speedway came to Norwich ...

, for whom he was the third highest points scorer in 1946, with 348 points in total. He went on to be the team's leading points scorer in both 1947 and 1948 and the club captain. He was picked to represent England in second test match in 1949, but suffered a fractured skull a few days before. In 1952 Mills became president of the newly formed Leicester Amateur Speedway Club, which had a training track at

Syston Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census. Overview There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...

.Bamford, R & Jarvis J. (2001) ''Homes of British Speedway'', , p. 150 In the late 1960s, Mills ran training sessions for the

Long Eaton Archers Long Eaton motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Paddy 1912 births 1975 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Leicester Sheffield Tigers riders Norwich Stars riders Stoke Potters riders 20th-century English sportsmen