VPH GERMANY & SWITZERLAND TOUR 1956




Team photo (front row (l to r) - Ken Prevost, Barry Flowers, John Sullivan; back row (l - r) - Vic Potter, Les Williams, Ken Rouse, Brian Gillingham, Con Milton, Bill Pepper, Bert Cottington)

Dear Wayne,
Many thanks for the November issue of VPH News which is as good as ever. As one of the "old timers" (a Junior Captain and Committee Member in approximately 1957), I can well remember going on the Club tour to Germany in 1956 and apart from those other members referred to in the mag, I can recall Brian Gillingham and members of other clubs who joined the VPH party following an advert in Athletics Weekly to cover events which the VPH tourists could not. These included the Northern Ireland pole vault champion Ulic O’Connor who delighted in swearing at Germans thinking that as he had a pleasant smile at the time they would assume he was being complimentary. This proved to be an unwise assumption! He took his poles to Bonn but on arrival got talking to the welcoming party only to see the train depart before he had got the poles off! He did get them back—but two weeks after we returned and they came by ship from the Baltic! A number of Belgrave athletes were with us and by a strange coincidence I spoke to one, Gordon Biscoe, at a Surrey League Cross-Country race at Wimbledon last Saturday (21 Nov 98). I was one of only two in the party to speak any German so was in fairly great demand to choose restaurant menus or buy second-hand cameras. Having competed in Bonn where the hosts had brought together a number of touring teams from different countries to call it an "International" fixture, we journeyed to Lorrach on the Swiss border near Basle and competed there too. Some photographs of the trip are somewhere in my possession and I believe Gordon Everson might have some too. If I ever find them, I will send them on.
Kind Regards, Con L. Milton


Hi Wayne,
A Happy New Year and hope that you had a good time over Christmas. I bet you’ve already had some inputs regarding the VPH vs Germany trip in 1956 and the return visit in 1957. I found some photos of the trips and will send some copies. If you see Ken Rouse or Gordon Everson, ask them about Ulich O'Connor, our Irish pole-vaulter, the one who lost his pole! We had a combined team for the visit to Bonn with a number of Belgrave athletes as well as Ulich joining our team. We had a great reception and were feted as though we were Olympians. I understand that one member of the team disgraced himself at the official reception in the Town Hall but I can't quite remember who it was.
Best regards, Vic Potter


Dear Wayne,
Having read your "From Days Gone By" article in the last edition of VPH News, I did some reminiscing and I enclose a copy of a photo which appeared in the East London Advertiser. Here are just a few memories which spring to mind. Hopefully, they’ll trigger off more in the minds of others who recall the events:

1956 VPH Continental Tour - 20 August 1956 to 10 September 1956 This tour was the brainchild of Les Williams who was the Social Secretary at the time. I can say quite honestly that I can’t remember anything negative about the trip. Everyone seemed to enjoy it which is a tribute to the amount of detailed work Les undertook.

  • The team: A motley collection of athletes attired in an even more motley collection of tracksuits. 14 VPH athletes strengthened by, among others: Alan Marsh, a shot putting farmer from Cambridgeshire; Paddy O’Connor, an Irish journalist pole vaulter; Alan Sexton, a 440 yards runner from Belgrave Harriers, and Brian James from Bournemouth who later ran cross-country for Wales.
  • The route : London Victoria Station - Dover - Ostend - Cologne - Bonn - Lörrach - (with side trips to Switzerland) - Basel - Calais - London.
  • Transportation: By steam train - hissing and puffing in English, French, and German; also ferry boats, coaches, and trams.

    Memorable moments:
  • The chalk marks made on the cases by customs officials indicating they had done their job.
  • The sight of Paddy O’Connor, our guest Irish pole vaulter, sprinting down the platform at Bonn, having seen the "Bummeler" (slow train) leave the station with his pole still aboard while the brass band welcomed our team’s arrival with some stirring German oompah music. The pole did its own tour of Europe and found its way back to O’Connor some weeks after our tour was over.
  • The official dinner in Bonn where our pole vaulting friend recalled to the hosts how he once managed to knock off the bar with the tip of his foreskin. The young German fräulein interpreter was confronted with a new word here and, upon looking up the word foreskin in the dictionary, refused to have anything more to do with O’Connor for the rest of the evening.
  • The stellar performance of Alan Sexton over 400 metres churning out 48 sec +, which earned him mention in the German press.
  • The amusement caused to the Germans by Ken Rouse’s surname. Rouse has the same pronunciation as the German word "raus", meaning in English "out!" (get out!).
  • Being Brits, ordering "Spiegel Eier und Speck (eggs and bacon) in the hotel through our newly discovered interpreter, Ted Flowers.
  • A trip down the Rhine by pleasure steamer.
  • Buying Borgner anoraks in a sports shop in Lörrach.
  • And, at the end of the tour, the thought of arriving back home in time to see the England vs Russia match at White City. The event never took place because a Russian woman discus thrower was caught shoplifting a hat at C&A’s in Oxford Street, and due to her arrest, the Russians pulled out of the meet.
    For me, the return visit by KTV Südstern, Bonn 8th to 15th August, 1957 is best remembered by:
  • The elegantly dressed Germans (suits and ties).
  • The primitive accommodation of the Salvation Army Congress Hall Holiday Centre off Lower Clapton Road. The best we could provide to the Germans in those days.
  • The privilege of accompanying the Germans along with Les Williams, Jock Waterson, and at least one of the Flowers brothers to the Houses of Parliament for a conducted tour arranged by Lord Trefgarne. In particular, I remember how Churchill’s seat was pointed out to the Germans. The day trip was ended with afternoon tea at a well-known hotel adjacent to the Parliament buildings - it might have been Brown’s Hotel.

    Some 42 years after the tour took place, let me say "Thank you, Les" for all you did to organise it.
    Ken Prevost

    Dear Ken,
    Many thanks for a great account of the VPH European Tour. I never imagined I would get such a wonderful response to a mention of silver plates in the committee room. By the way, the Russian discus thrower was Nina Ponomaryeva, Olympic Champion in 1952 and 1960, European Champion in 1954, and world record holder. Quoting from a sports magazine, "Nina is best remembered, in Britain at least, for an incident far removed from the athletics arena. In the summer of 1956, the Russian athletics team was in London for a match against Great Britain. But before the match, Nina was arrested and remanded on bail on a charge of stealing three hats from a store in Oxford Street. She failed to appear in court, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. The Russians refused to take part in the match, which was cancelled at a cost of £12,000. After remaining in the Soviet Embassy for over six weeks, Nina finally appeared in court where she was found guilty and given an absolute discharge."
    Regards, Wayne


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