'He lived the life of 10 men' - Second World War hero and legendary Sheffield bike builder remembered in a new book
JF Wilson’s steel-framed machines are revered by those who want a bike that fits like a Savile Row suit. Jim Wilson survived six years as an engineer in the Second World War, cheating death several times - including in the Sheffield Blitz - before returning to civilian life and creating a legendary custom cycle business.
Now, the Sheffield war hero turned master bike builder who led “the life of 10 men” is being remembered in a new book created by his son Nigel.
James Fred Wilson’s career as a world class racer was curtailed by health issues stemming from the war. But he managed 29th place in a stage of the Tour of Britain in 1951, a year after major surgery, when he was told he only had 12 months to live, Nigel says.
The feat so impressed his peers in the Sheffield Phoenix Cycle Club that they created the Courage Cup in his honour, an award that bears the slogan ‘He Hath Courage’, now the title of Nigel’s book about his father’s extraordinary life.
Jim also sponsored riders including Ron Coe who rode the Tour de France and other prestigious races, and built a community of avid cyclists around the business, which is still based in a terrace on City Road, Sheffield.
Nigel, aged 59, says his dad also worked as a roofer, was a talented organist, spoke fluent German and played and managed bands including The Four Blades, whose lead singer was Bobby Knutt. Jim sadly died of cancer in 1994 aged 74.
He was iron willed, hard working and lived to help people, Nigel says. “My dad was a loving father and a gentle man but he would die on a bike to get a good result. If he hadn’t been damaged in the army he would have been world class. He lived the life of 10 men. To me and a lot of people he was a hero and still is.”
Jim was born in Southey Green in 1919. He left school at 14 and spent four years in a steelworks before then joining the Royal Engineers. In 1939 he was blowing up bridges to slow the German advance on Dunkirk. By the time he arrived on the beach everyone had gone.
He walked more than 400 miles across northern France to St Nazaire on the west coast - moving mostly at night - where he was evacuated by the Canadians on a boat to Spain. It took Jim six months to get back to Sheffield, by which time his mother had been told he was presumed dead and she had attended a funeral for missing men.
Jim arrived just in time for the Sheffield Blitz, Nigel says, when bombs destroyed houses just doors away from their home. He then spent five years in France and Germany before returning to Sheffield at the end of the war, shell shocked and so sick he needed part of his bowel removed.
In 1948, JF Wilson Cycles was born. Steel racing frame and bike building would take place in the back room, where Jim also had an organ. His wife Olive, aged 91, also ran a hairdressers in an upstairs room.
“If you own a J.F.Wilson you have more than a special bicycle,” reflects Nigel. “You have the story of an exceptional man.”