1952 Dale Martin promotional flyer

Sorry Ruslan ,it was on the Assirati v Baldwin thread.

But you didn't answer.

Hi Ruslan, Unfortunately my last message seems to have disappeared from the site. Perhaps it was on another thread. I said that I could not remember Bert being named on this site as Mount-Evans heavyweight champion as you claimed.

Please could you tell me where on this site it appeared?

Thank you so very much for sharing this. Priceless material!

Ok, fair enough for me, ASSIRATI DALE MARTIN'S BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP?

We are talking the early 50s.

That's precisely what I said, Hack. A Dale Martin boy for a couple of years only for his title to be a victim of Dale Martin's entry into Joint Promotions. Thanks for rewording it.

Where you can ADD something will be by sharing with us how he fared when back in Yorkshire. Was he embraced by Norman Morrell - or had his Brixton links tarnished him?

Anglo Italian "bags" another one.

Reality is that he did do an awful lot of work for Dale Martin, but he worked for others too.

He came from a farming family and my understanding is that farming commitments kept him rooted to the north.

However.

He must have had the opportunities to travel because he wasn't just down to Dale Martin land he worked in Mexico, don't know for how long, in 1948. There are no UK results for him from April to December 1948.

This flexibility was probably because he and brother George worked on their parents farm, which they took over when dad died in 1951. So it may well be that one of the two brothers could get away for long periods if necessary.

The middleweight title certainly looks like a gift from Dale Martin - maybe a gift with strings attached. Prior to the title win in May, 1951 he had worked quite a bit for Dale Martin, but certainly not exclusively and could be seen regularly in the north. Following the title win he seems to spend his time mostly working for Dale Martin until mid 1953. After that appearances became more balanced, back to working in the north but still popping down to Dale Martin land. He does seem to be something of a favourite of theirs. Maybe there was a deal that he got the title but had to work for them.

Hi Bernard

"...we have to deduce that Harry Fields was an out and out Dale Martin wrestler..."

This is big-time publicity from Dale Martin. With loads of wrestlers to choose from, why would they select one that was infrequently on Dale Martin bills? That's my deduction. I realise he was from Yorkshire. But apart from being on the flyer, Jack Dale also gave him his belt. It would be amazing if Jack gave him his belt only for Harry to wrestle extensively outside the promotion.

Maybe Jack specifically wanted a non-Southerner to make it look truly national.

Not sure how long Harry lasted as a DM golden boy, as I say, I haven't followed him. But at least in 1952 he seems to have been one. And I agree with you, he must have been based in the Brixton area at that time.

Actually, now I have a further idea to explain it. So in 1952 Harry was the golden boy and new champion. But in 1953, newbie JP member Dale Martin had to acknowledge the existing JP champions and, just maybe, Hard-done-by Harry had to return to Dewsbury beltless. The first Joint Promotions martyr!

and from time Borneo

"...we have to deduce that Harry Fields was an out and out Dale Martin wrestler..."

Based on what?

Hi Anglo. You said "We have to deduce that Harry Fields was a DM wrestler"

.

I saw him at Newcastle in the 1950's wrestling as The Farmer's boy under Morrell.

He must have done well as a DM wrestler to hold a Lord Mount-Evans title for a short while.

I guess that he must have moved south if you are right.

Mrs Kwango clearly got around with one son from West Africa and another from The West Indies.

Looks like the mysterious Major was logistics manager, as we would say today. Somebody had to be, so makes sense.

I love what appears to be a definitive list of venues. Shrewsbury is very far flung and surprises me. So, by exclusion, we can see major venues that bit and became Dale Martin strongholds: Brighton, Hastings, Portsmouth, Folkestone, Bognor, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Dunstable, Hemel Hempstead and many more.

However, I'm not sure how London venues fit into the list. I see Watford and Croydon, not at all central, and of course Beckenham-by-Brixton. Looks like they had not had any great success in the capital so they must really have motored to bag Kingston, RAH, Seymour Hall, Wembley, Streatham and the rest.

I must confess I usually gloss over Harry Fields and have not examined his career much. But it looks like we now see the exact template for 25 years later when another blond youngster claimed McManus's long-standing belt, Mal Sanders. Given this push, we have to deduce that Harry Fields was an out and out Dale Martin wrestler. Conspicuous by their absence from inclusion are the Speed Wizard and Marino.

Thanks Ost.

I enjoyed reading that. Even though I know little about the beginnings of DM.

Isn't it nice to have a topic in the correct time periods for this site, rather than arguing about geographical areas in 1820 ?

Great stuff, thanks Ost.

There is some truth, mixed in with the hype, as we have come to expect in these cases.

Harry Fields did indeed travel overseas, to Mexico and France, at least.

In France he was billed as "World Welterweight Champion", losing that crown to local lad, Gilbert LeDuc (of course), back in 1950.

Thanks Ost. Such confidence of a young company to produce such lavish publicity material. It was aimed at organisations that they wanted to sell complete shows, a business model they continued but I don't think was used to any great extent by Morrell, Beresford or Relwyskown Green.

Note Chief Organiser was Major T.H. Staines who we discussed at length some time back.

https://heritagedocs.wixsite.com/talkwrestling/forum/memories-of-the-old-days/the-mysterious-major