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Blandford's Last Races

What links Blandford Camp, motor racing and chocolate? The answer sadly is Joseph Gibson Fry who lost his life on the 29th July 1950 in a crash in the British Army camp. ‘Joe’ Fry was a member of the Fry chocolate family. The company, J S Fry & Sons had merged with Cadburys in 1919.

Joe lost his life after suffering injuries while practising for a hill climb event when he lost control and crashed at speed. A bystander said:

‘Fry’s car approached a bend known as Cuckoo Corner at about 90mph. He appeared to drift towards the outside of the course, hit the right hand grass bank and somersaulted.’

He was driving his Freikaiserwagen racing car at the time of the accident. This name had a distinctly German twist and was a tongue in cheek combination of the surnames of Fry and Caesar. Dick Caesar was one of its designers. The Freikaiserwagen was an extremely powerful little sprint and hill climbing machine but was difficult to drive. It is reckoned it set the standard for the many rear engine racing cars that followed.

After the war, Blandford Camp had become nationally known for its motor cycle and motor car racing events. Racing at the time was particularly dangerous with few safety measures and frequent accidents some of which proved fatal. Joe Fry’s fatality led to the end of motor car races at Blandford Camp as it was reported to be the racing circuit’s seventh fatality.

The last Blandford racing car meeting took place on the 7th August 1950 because this event was considered too late to cancel. Motor cycle racing continued at Blandford Camp however, until the 1960s.

(Illustration: Joe Fry in his Freikaiserwagen.)


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  1. Anonymous25 August 2025 at 06:12

    Dick Caesar was not one of the Freik's designers. I wrote the definitive book on this car and published in 2008 and reprint 2009. My father, Hugh Dunsterville, was the co-designer and co-builder with David Fry, Joe's cousin. "Freik" The Private Life of the Freikaiserwagen is available on Ebay. Thanks Rob Dunsterville

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