Tragedy at the Empire

Empire Speedway, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.

Brief shots of a man sitting in a racing car and putting his crash helmet on. M/S of cars moving off towards the racetrack. Several shots of the race. Car number one, driven by Wally James, starts to go out of control and crashes into a fence that people are standing behind.

We see the crash in L/S as bodies are thrown about like rag dolls with the force of the impact – very horrible. People rush about in panic and try to assist the injured ones. Brief shots of the front of the damaged front of the car. Note: commentary in paperwork says that three people were killed and ten others hurt. Event occurred on 13th June 1938. FILM ID:971.32

Video has no soundtrack.