Godspeed to Vincent factory draughtsman, Hans ‘Johnny’ Edwards.
Hans was one of the first to own, and race, a Vincent in Canada back in 1947. Unable to bond with his father, he loaded his B Rapide onto a ship and worked his passage to the UK, arriving at the Stevenage factory via Southampton with a bike they had built just a few years before - looking for work.
So began a lifelong love affair with Vincent HRD
Hans’ family left Austria for Canada in the 1930s. As he recalled, ‘My dad was an Austrian prisoner-of-war in England in World War I and I was born in Vienna. He saw World War II coming and I recall the day he decided not to go through another war again. We left shortly before Hitler marched into Austria to Canada.’
Some of the UK in the immediate post-war period may have been nervous of hints of continental lineage, hence the adoption of ‘Johnny’ - but Philip Vincent wasn’t.
Customer liaison supremo Paul Richardson was another drafted in from overseas: Anglo-Dutch, multi-lingual Richardson escaped to the UK in the first months of the war from Holland, and this charming, pipe-smoking gentleman became the factory’s greatest public-facing ambassador, handling dealer and owner relations with a deft touch throughout the 1950s and remaining a regular attendee at VOC events until the late 70s.
At Stevenage, Hans’ intelligence and focus soon became evident and he was promoted from assembly to the drawing office, where he worked alongside Irving, Mitchell and Vincent on refining the bikes over the coming years, and on the super-tuned Picador project.
It is a credit to Vincent that his factory could include ex-pats such as Hans and Paul, alongside shop-floor workers, many of whom rarely ventured far from Stevenage or its local villages.
Robert Watson conducted a wonderful in-depth interview with Hans at his home in Vancouver for our film.
It was always a pleasure to correspond with Hans via email and phone and then, eventually, meet face-to-face for a wonderful lunch at Sheeky's in London along with his beloved wife Val.
To our reckoning, his passing leaves very few left who worked at the factory: Christine Howard and Alma Papworth in and around Stevenage; Ernie Allen on the south coast; and John Griffiths in Las Vegas. RIP Hans – our condolences to the family.
Hans was one of the first to own, and race, a Vincent in Canada back in 1947. Unable to bond with his father, he loaded his B Rapide onto a ship and worked his passage to the UK, arriving at the Stevenage factory via Southampton with a bike they had built just a few years before - looking for work.
So began a lifelong love affair with Vincent HRD
Hans’ family left Austria for Canada in the 1930s. As he recalled, ‘My dad was an Austrian prisoner-of-war in England in World War I and I was born in Vienna. He saw World War II coming and I recall the day he decided not to go through another war again. We left shortly before Hitler marched into Austria to Canada.’
Some of the UK in the immediate post-war period may have been nervous of hints of continental lineage, hence the adoption of ‘Johnny’ - but Philip Vincent wasn’t.
Customer liaison supremo Paul Richardson was another drafted in from overseas: Anglo-Dutch, multi-lingual Richardson escaped to the UK in the first months of the war from Holland, and this charming, pipe-smoking gentleman became the factory’s greatest public-facing ambassador, handling dealer and owner relations with a deft touch throughout the 1950s and remaining a regular attendee at VOC events until the late 70s.
At Stevenage, Hans’ intelligence and focus soon became evident and he was promoted from assembly to the drawing office, where he worked alongside Irving, Mitchell and Vincent on refining the bikes over the coming years, and on the super-tuned Picador project.
It is a credit to Vincent that his factory could include ex-pats such as Hans and Paul, alongside shop-floor workers, many of whom rarely ventured far from Stevenage or its local villages.
Robert Watson conducted a wonderful in-depth interview with Hans at his home in Vancouver for our film.
It was always a pleasure to correspond with Hans via email and phone and then, eventually, meet face-to-face for a wonderful lunch at Sheeky's in London along with his beloved wife Val.
To our reckoning, his passing leaves very few left who worked at the factory: Christine Howard and Alma Papworth in and around Stevenage; Ernie Allen on the south coast; and John Griffiths in Las Vegas. RIP Hans – our condolences to the family.
