Page 27 - Nash-Healey A Grand Alliance by John Nikas

Sent to England in 1927 to receive an education at Eton College and Cambridge University, Siamese Prince Birabongse had been infatuated with motor cars since childhood. With his older cousin Prince Chula, who formed
a racing team that operated from The White Mouse Garage that inspired the equipe’s rodent mascot, Bira began to race in 1935. The team’s trio of ERAs, named ‘Hanuman,’ ‘Remus’ and ‘Romulus,’ were well-known in motorsports circles, each painted in the national racing colors of yellow and pale blue,
hues inspired by a Scandinavian woman’s dress that Bira had seen. Prior to the Second World War, Bira notched overall victories in 18 races and received three BRDC Gold Stars, notable accomplishments for a driver with his limited experience. When a Maserati was added to the stable, Remus was sold to Tony Rolt, who competed with it until leaving for military service in 1938. (Alamy)
Second Boer War, the 14th Brigade and 57th Division in the First World War and later served as Commandant of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Rolt (formally Lt. Col. Anthony Peter Roylance Rolt MC & Bar) was educated at Eton, where he ran afoul of the administration for maintaining an automobile against regulations.34 He entered several trials in a Morgan three-wheeler while still in school and then began racing in earnest with a Triumph Gloria Vitesse, finishing 11th overall and fourth in class in his competition debut at the 24 Hours of Spa in 1936.35 Throughout the following year, he raced a Triumph Dolomite Straight Eight, winning the Coronation Trophy with it, before acquiring the ERA known as ‘Remus,’ which had become famous as one of Prince Bira’s regular competition mounts.36
Chapter 8: Into the BreaCh
(TOP) Operation Dynamo saw the successful evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk in northern France between May 26 and June 4, 1940, preserving the nucleus of forces that would take the fight to the Axis during the remainder of the war. Hailed as a “miracle of deliverance,” the operation was made possible through the valiant defense of the beachhead by British and French troops and airmen from the Royal Air Force. (Alamy)
(ABOVE) German troops from the 54th Infantry Regiment maneuver
an artillery piece into position during the fierce battles around Calais in May 1940, which saw British and French troops, including Tony Rolt’s reconnaissance platoon, fighting for time to allow the evacuation at Dunkirk to proceed to a successful conclusion. (Alamy)
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