"split "watermans Real Name

[oddfossengen 1]

maybe forum readers may be able to shed some light on split watermans real 1st name for many years it has always been asumed it was squire but recentley someone showed me a speedway annual from the 1940s and there was a photo of a rider in germany riding forces speedway and the caption read wembleys new up and coming rider WALTER WATERMAN pictured riding in his army days any thoughts anyone??????

[speedyguy 20]

maybe forum readers may be able to shed some light on split watermans real 1st name for many years it has always been asumed it was squire but recentley someone showed me a speedway annual from the 1940s and there was a photo of a rider in germany riding forces speedway and the caption read wembleys new up and coming rider WALTER WATERMAN pictured riding in his army days any thoughts anyone??????

 

 

Walter Waterman (or Water Waterman - probably a joke!). I also thought Split Waterman rode Army speedway at Bari in Italy. I never heard him linked to army tracks in Germany - and also, until now, have only ever known him as Squire Waterman.

Edited July 1, 2008 by speedyguy

[star ghost 7]

The new Trevor Davies book - Warzone Speedway - has Split's interview with Trevor.

Some of the names of riders in Army Speedway are amazing - try "King" Fisher, "Sticker" Stamp or "Splash" Fountain for instance, then there was "Doughy" Baker and "Spilt" Flour.

Split's given reason for the name "Split" is another surprise to me from his army days. It had nothing to do with his laugh, which was what I was always told.

[TwoMinuteWarning 69]

The new Trevor Davies book - Warzone Speedway - has Split's interview with Trevor.

Some of the names of riders in Army Speedway are amazing - try "King" Fisher, "Sticker" Stamp or "Splash" Fountain for instance, then there was "Doughy" Baker and "Spilt" Flour.

Split's given reason for the name "Split" is another surprise to me from his army days. It had nothing to do with his laugh, which was what I was always told.

 

Having read the book, star ghost, I quite understand why you didn't want to reveal the true derivation of "Split" on this forum!

 

I have to say that Warzone Speedway - given the previous dearth of information on this branch of the sport - is probably one of the best-researched speedway books that I have seen.

 

Everything you could possibly want to know about speedway in the armed forces - and then some more! 216 A4 pages packed with information and lots of photos.

 

Well worth 20 quid, and highly recommended.

Edited July 1, 2008 by TwoMinuteWarning

[BOBBATH 466]

So what was his real name??

[norbold 7,100]

Squire Francis

 

P.S. You mean what IS his real name. He is still alive!

Edited July 1, 2008 by norbold

[Parsloes 1928 nearly 495]

Squire Francis

 

"Squire"..??! That's an unusual name. Good job he never got knighted (hmm, our 'Split's record wasn't really knighthood material!! ) as that would've got confusing..

A Knight AND a Squire... Sounds like one of those Canterbury Tales (and no, I don't mean the type Johnnie Hoskins wrote in the Kingsmead prog.!!)

[BOBBATH 466]

Yes Norbold I should have said"is"-thanx for pointing that out Squire. By the way it looks like this years Canadian Championship is at Welland on July 19th-reckon you guys should charter a jet and come over-if you do I'll buy you a beer!!

[Celticman 21]

Squire Francis Waterman (27 July 1923 – 8 October 2019) [1], better known as Split Waterman, was an English speedway rider who twice finished second in the Speedway World Championship final. Waterman took up speedway while serving in the British Army in Italy and went on to become one of the top riders of the post-war era. He made the headlines again in the late 1960s when he was convicted of gold smuggling and firearms offences 

Waterman applied to join the Royal Air Force when World War II broke out but was unable to join as his job as a toolmaker was classed as a reserved occupation. He joined the Local Defense Volunteers (the Home Guard) in 1942, before joining the Royal Fusiliers, and was posted to North Africa before being involved in the Allied invasion of Italy. Shrapnel wounds that led to him being declared unfit for front line service saw him transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and posted to a workshop in Pozzuoli, near Naples. Waterman acted as a dispatch rider, and motorcycle racing events became a regular occurrence, and Waterman was involved in building a speedway track at Vomero Stadium. He became a proficient racer on his adapted BSA M20 bike, and it was from speedway racing that Waterman gained his nickname; After falling in a race he split his racing leathers down the back, after which his colleagues referred to him as "split arse", which was later shortened to "split".

[steve roberts 9,242]

Split used to get a mention on Terry Wogan's Radio Two early morning programme I recall.

[Celticman 21]

13 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Split used to get a mention on Terry Wogan's Radio Two early morning programme I recall.

There was a lot to report on, Split led a colourful life !!

 

In 1967 he was arrested at Newhaven while attempting to board a ferry to Dieppe, after gold with a value of £10,000 was found in the chassis of his fiancée Avril Priston's car. A subsequent raid at Priston's family home in Bedfordshire found illegal firearms. Waterman was convicted in March 1968 of attempting to smuggle gold out of Britain, as well as unlawful possession of firearms including two sub-machine guns, two rifles, and three pistols, and possession of dies for forging coins, and sentenced to four years in prison. The gold was thought to have come from a bullion van robbery in Clerkenwell. Priston was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle gold and possession of two pistols and a pen gun, and was sentenced to six months in prison. Also in 1968, Waterman was implicated in the case against the Kray twins and two other men, who were charged with conspiring to murder George Karuana; Eugene Elvey, a witness in the case, claimed that Waterman provided a 'hypodermic briefcase' and poison as the means of committing the murder.  

Waterman married Avril on 15 September 1970 at Caxton Hall in London, and they later lived in Nerja, Costa del Sol, Spain. In 1977, Waterman was imprisoned in Italy after being convicted of possession of forged Spanish pesetas with a value equivalent to £500,000, as part of a plot to bring down the government of Francisco Franco.