Alvis Speed 20 (not Irene's car)
Irene Schwedler was part of the Brooklands ladies’ racing “set”, and an occasional rally driver. Her later, post-war career was in rallying, and under a new name.
She was born in Germany in 1906, and was originally named Ilse. Her given name was anglicised to Irene as an adult. Her background is now very obscure; it is unclear what her family situation was, and how she came to be living in England. According to her 1937 pilot’s license, she was a German national. At some point, she apparently owned a shop in Luton. Her license, issued by the Royal Aero Club, gives her occupation as “private secretary”. Other records have her as a “garage proprietress”.
Her introduction to motorsport is equally mysterious. The earliest mention of her seems to be as a competitor in the Women’s Sport and Automobile Association (WASA)’s Lands End Trial in 1930, driving an MG.
She began racing an Alvis Speed 20 at Brooklands at the start of the 1930s, when she was in her mid-twenties. The car was a new model in 1931. A few years later, in 1934, Irene’s Alvis was described as belonging to a C.G.H. Dunham, although this may not be the same car. A small article in the Triple-M Register Bulletin from November 2015 states that Gerald Dunham was a personal friend of Irene’s, and that she raced more than one Alvis from his own showroom. Both Dunham and Irene lived in Luton.
Her first major Brooklands appearance was a Ladies' Handicap in 1931, in which she was third, in a 1645cc Alvis. There were eight entrants in the race, and she was behind Fay Taylour in a Talbot, and Elsie Wisdom in an Invicta.
In June 1932, she took part in the BARC Inter-Club Meeting at Brooklands. She was representing the Women’s Sport and Automobile Association. Her third place in a nine-mile handicap helped the club to second in the Stanley Cup, for the best club team of the day. Her team-mates were Miss Hedges and Margaret Allan.
At the same meeting in 1933, her individual performance was better; she won the Lightning Short Handicap, her first major Brooklands victory. The WASA team was second. This time, she was driving the Speed 20 that probably belonged to Gerald Dunham. At the Whit Monday meeting, she was one of the first female drivers to enter a mixed race organised by the BARC at Brooklands, when she drove in the Cobham Senior Short Handicap.
During her racing career, she often drove alongside other female drivers in the team relays and match races which happened at Brooklands. Her best performance in a relay was third, in the 1934 Light Car Club event, driving an MG Magnette alongside Margaret Allan and Doreen Evans. Despite their superior performance, they were denied a Le Mans place in favour of Kay Petre's Singer team, who had exploited a loophole in the rules that the Ladies' Cup, and the Le Mans entry that went with it, was not awarded to anyone finishing in the top three. The Singer crew had found a copy of the MG pit notes, and successfully intercepted their pit signals, allowing them to maintain position behind their rivals, and claim the Le Mans spot. Irene, although a capable driver, never seems to have competed internationally.
In 1934, she took part in the Brighton Speed Trials, driving Gerald Dunham’s Alvis. She was second in the Ladies’ class, behind her regular rival, Kay Petre, in her Bugatti.
As well as circuit racing, she occasionally drove in rallies in the UK in the 1930s. In 1935, she entered a Rover Speed Pilot into the RAC Rally, starting at London. She used the same car and start point the following year. For the 1938 RAC, she used a Hillman Minx, and began at Leamington. This year, she is recorded as finishing in 154thplace. She drove the Hillman again in the 1939 RAC Rally, before rallying ceased for World War II.
Her last Brooklands appearance was in 1938, the year before the circuit closed. She drove a Talbot 10 in a one-make Talbot race, during the August Bank Holiday meeting, but she was not among the leaders. Her friend Gerald Dunham also entered.
After the war, she reappeared in the entry list for the 1947 JCC Eastbourne Rally, driving an Alvis, presumably one of her earlier cars.
Some time later, in December 1947, she formally changed her name from Ilse Schwedler to Charlotte Sadler, adopting her erstwhile middle name. This followed her naturalisation as a British citizen in November. She seems to have competed a little in sprints and hillclimbs in 1948, driving an Alvis Speed 20 in the Brighton Speed Trials. This was the start of the second part of her career, as the rally driver, Miss Charlotte Sadler.
After 1950, she was something of a regular on the Tulip Rally. In 1950, she drove a Hillman Minx, with Hazel Dunham and a Mrs. Plummer. It is likely that Hazel was the daughter of Gerald Dunham, Charlotte’s earlier supporter. They were 37th overall.
The Sadler/Dunham pairing tackled the Tulip again in 1951, assisted by Mrs. DM Alcock. Driving solo in the Minx, Charlotte also tackled the Scottish Rally. The following year, Charlotte and Hazel in their Rover won the Closed Car Ladies’ Cup in the RAC Rally, as well as finishing 31st in the Tulip. Another appearance in the Tulip in 1953 seems to have been their last major event together.
Away from the race track, she was quite an experienced pilot, flying from Brooklands and being awarded her license by the Royal Aero Club.
As a probable German national still, it is possible that Irene was interned during the War, as a “hostile alien”, although there are no easily available records of this. Her general activities during wartime are completely unclear, as is most of her personal life.
She apparently died in the late 1970s.
This post was created with help from the TNF Nostalgia Forum, particularly the users “Vitesse2” and “ReWind”.
(Image via Flickr, copyright user “growler2ndrow”)