'WAKEY WAKA-A-A-Y!' Delivered at full pelt in a cockney accent by bandleader Billy Cotton, for more than two decades this was the opening cry that announced the most popular show on British radio, and later on television. Cotton led an eventful life: an underage boy soldier in World War One, RFC pilot, bus conductor, boxer, talented footballer, motorbike racer, powerboat racer and, for more than 40 years, a hugely successful bandleader. He was also a top-flight amateur racing driver.
Bill - variously 'Billie' or 'Billy' but never 'William' was born in 1899 in Smith Square, Westminster, when it was a rat-infested self-contained village with a yard for horse-drawn buses outside his parents' house. He was the youngest of ten children: four boys and six girls. His father was bandmaster to the Chelsea Water Board; young Bill showed no interest in music, although he could sing and was a solo treble in the choir at St Margaret's Church, next to Westminster Abbey.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2023-Ausgabe von Octane.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2023-Ausgabe von Octane.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Nathalie McGloin
The only female tetraplegic racing driver in the world and co-founder of Spinal Track, charity supporting disabled drivers
Atomium
An iron molecule, 100m tall and scaled-up 165billion times, was the future in ’58
The Valjoux 7750
Rendered obsolete in the late 1970s, Edmond Capt's wonder movement is not only back, but selling 200,000 units a year
Lucy O'Reilly Schell
The first American woman to compete in a Grand Prix was also a distinguished rally driver and team owner
OCTANE CARS
OWNING+ DRIVING + MAINTAINING
OUR MAN IN JAPAN
James Elliott joins an exclusive Japanese classic tour in an exquisite Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1600
LONG-TERM LEGENDS
These two SS100 Jaguars have been in the hands of well-known and dedicated enthusiasts for five decades and more. Chris Mann divulges their entertaining histories
Micky Pople
Octane meets the 95-year-old and talks about his life with the stars as one of Bristol's Filton Fliers'
LEADING FROM THE MIDDLE
The René Bonnet Djet was the world's first mid-engined production road car. Glen Waddington enjoys a momentous French Lotus rival
BACK AGAIN FOR MORE
This Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider appeared in the very first issue of Octane. More than 20 years on, Robert Coucher acquaints himself and finally gets behind the wheel