Robert Edwin Harrison (born 26 April 1906 in Mellor

Mellor

Mellor is a surname of English origin.-Name History:Flemish surnames are characterized by a large number of spelling variations. One reason for this is that medieval English lacked definite spelling rules. The spellings of surnames were also influenced by the official court languages, which were...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 - died 1964) was a former international speedway

Motorcycle speedway

Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...

 rider who featured in the first Speedway World Championship

Speedway World Championship

The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each...

 in final in 1936

1936 Individual Speedway World Championship

The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. It was the first of a record 26 times that London's Wembley Stadium would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.*1936 Podium# Lionel Van Praag # ...

.

Career summary

Harrison started his career with the Belle Vue Aces

Belle Vue Aces

The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway team from Manchester in the north west of England.-Brief history:Racing first took place in 1928 at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane before moving the following year to a specially built stadium nearby on Hyde Road. The club raced there...

 in 1929 and stayed with them until the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in 1939. In 1930 he made his England

Great Britain national speedway team

The Great Britain national speedway team are one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by Poole Pirates manager Neil Middleditch and the captain is Chris Harris of the Belle Vue Aces....

 debut in the first ever Test series against Australia

Australia national speedway team

Australia are one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by former rider, three time Australian Champion and 1994 World #3 Craig Boyce and captained by three time Speedway World Champion Jason Crump...

. Harrsion was in the Aces team that won the National League

Speedway National League

The National League was the top division of Speedway in the United Kingdom from 1932 until 1965 when it became known as the British League. Prior to 1932 there were only small regional leagues competing within the sport in the UK. The National League was re-incarnated in 1975 as the second division...

 championship four times in succession from 1933 to 1936. They also won the National Trophy four times between 1933 and 1937.

After the war Harrison was allocated to the West Ham Hammers

West Ham Hammers

The West Ham Hammers were a speedway team, first promoted by Jimmy Baxter in 1929.. They operated from the West Ham Stadium until the outbreak of World War II under several different promotions, most successfully under the control of Johnnie Hoskins....

 by the Speedway Control Board. He scored well for the Hammers but a serious injury in 1947 affected him badly. A poor season in 1948 left Harrison contemplating retirement. After one meeting for West Ham in the 1949 season he transferred back to the Belle Vue Aces

Belle Vue Aces

The Belle Vue Aces are a British speedway team from Manchester in the north west of England.-Brief history:Racing first took place in 1928 at the Belle Vue greyhound stadium in Kirkmanshulme Lane before moving the following year to a specially built stadium nearby on Hyde Road. The club raced there...

 where he helped them win the National Trophy. Harrison retired from racing at the end of the season.

World Final Appearances

• 1936
  1936 Individual Speedway World Championship
  The 1936 Individual Speedway World Championship was the first ever Speedway World Championship and was won by Lionel Van Praag of Australia. It was the first of a record 26 times that London's Wembley Stadium would host the World Final with the last being in 1981.*1936 Podium# Lionel Van Praag # ...
  
   -  United Kingdom London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  , Wembley Stadium - 12th - 5pts + 10 semi-final points