September 13th
Ernst Degner, the MZ engineer and rider, defected to the West after retiring from the 125cc Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad. He had arranged for his wife and family to escape a few days earlier, and they re-united in West Germany. He joined Suzuki who used his knowledge to great effect.
Alfred Nipper had been riding his 1898 Werner Motorcycle in Somerset when he was reported by police who wrote that he ".. unlawfully did ride the same furiously thereon so as then to endanger the lives and limbs of passengers on the said highway". He was fined seven shillings and sixpence.