Warwickshire scooter club’s trip will commemorate First World War

Chris Olds and 24 other members of the Warwickshire Scooter Alliance will head off, on their classic 1960s and 70s Vespas and Lambrettas, from Warwickshire to the Somme, where they will stay in Amiens and join another 400 scooter riders from France, Belgium, Germany and the UK for a First World War battlefield tour.

The tour, led by official battlefield tour guide Glynn Oakley, will include visits to several memorials in the Somme and a wreath-giving presentation at Thiepval - where, along with other fallen soldiers from Warwickshire, Mr Olds’ great-uncle George Olds is commemorated.

Mr Olds said: “George Olds, originally from Gaydon, is my paternal grandfather’s older brother. He is commemorated at Thiepval as one of the missing 72,000. He also featured on a plaque in Gaydon.

“This trip will be particularly poignant for me. I have George’s First World War medals at home. Our trip will be a fitting tribute to him and his colleagues of the Great War.”

George Olds is listed in the Roll of Honour as George Frederick Olds, Private 1133 of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He is recorded has having been killed in action at the age of 21 on August 30 1916 in the Somme. He was the son of Arthur and Emma Olds of Gaydon and census records show that the family lived behind the village church.

Chris Olds and fellow scooter riders have been looking forward to this trip for some time, having already completed a practice run last year.