Tom Swallow

Feb 13 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

HE WAS incarcerated by the Nazis and later had to have most of his lower bowel removed due to food shortages during his imprisonment, yet the motorcycle fan, owner, racer and dealer never gave up in his determination to help others.

Tom Swallow, who has died, aged 89, donated funds raised through his dealerships to the British Red Cross Society throughout his working life and promoted the assistance to veterans and former prisoners of war.

The founder of the remarkable Flywheel magazine, which was produced by members of the Muhlberg Motor Club during the prisoners incarceration in a German PoW camp, Tom – also a chairman of the Ileostomy Association – was praised for his inspiration and courage in helping others.

Upon the magazine’s hard-back publication in 1987, Tom found himself with an unexpected level of attention from the media, and appeared on Blue Peter showing his Rudge Ulster cycle in the same year.

After semi-retiring from the motorcycle competitive scene he retrained as a cordon bleu chef and set up his own motel and restaurant in the Forest of Dean. He encouraged patients who, like him, had to adjust their lives to living with a bag, to visit the restaurant. Many did travel down to see the veteran working away, often for 12 or more hours at a time.

Swalllow, along with his son, Tom Jnr, regularly travelled abroad on cycling competitions during the late 1950s and 60s, but on an expedition to Moscow, in 1967, Tom Snr found himself travelling alone.

His son was sitting his university exams and Tom Snr, taking part in the International Rally, was travelling to Moscow to mark the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the celebrations allowing a slight relaxation in international travel to the Soviet Union. Swallow prepared himself by listening to Russian tapes during his journey.

Unfortunately, as he headed for the Russian capital, he realised he’d left his visa behind in Berlin and was subsequently turned away at the Russian border.

He remained an inspiration for many people, a shining light in post-war Britain where all too often the outlook of so many was of misery and self-pity.

Tom Swallow, motorcycle dealer; born March 28, 1918, died December 17, 2007