Age: 25
Sex: male
Date: 14 Jun 1940
Place: Chamberlayne Road, Willesden
Charles John Fisher was found dead in Chamberlayne Road in Willesden.
He was a motorcyclist and it was thought that he was knocked off by a van that had been speeding and which didn't stop.
He was a lathe setter and had lived at home with his mother in Burnt Oak, Edgeware.
It was heard that he had been riding a motorbicycle for seven years and that he used to ride to and from work on it each day.
A doctor said that he was called to Chamberlayne Road at about 12.30am on 15 June and found Charles Fisher lying dead in the gutter.
An ARP warden who lived in Leighton Gardens in Kensal Rise said that he had just come off duty when he saw the crash. He said that he had been walking along Chamberlayne Road near Phillimore Gardens, when he saw a car pass him followed by a van which he said then pulled out to pass the car. He said that the van was going at a terrific speed and that he then heard a crash. However, he said that the van didn't stop and that it just drove off.
He said that when he went to the scene, he saw Charles Fisher lying in the middle of the road near his motor-bicycle. He said that he had not seen the bicycle on the road before.
The driver of the car, who lived in Forty Lane in Wembley Park, said that he was overtaken by the van and that he then heard a crashed and when asked whether the van showed any signs of stopping, he said, 'No, quite the reverse, he accelerated, I tried to catch him up and make him stop, but did not succeed'. He added that as the van passed him, it pulled right over the white line and that he didn't see the motor-cyclist at all.
The coroner said that although it seemed most likely that the lorry collided with Charles Fisher on his motor-cycle, there was insufficient evidence to come to a definite conclusion about the cause of his death and an open verdict was returned.
see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
see Marylebone Mercury - Saturday 22 June 1940
see Kensington Post - Saturday 22 June 1940