Ken Crowe

The son of an insurance company clerk, Ken Crowe was educated at Shrewsbury School where he was a good runner. He competed in the quarter-mile at the 1937 Public School’s Championships. After briefly joining the Manchester Athletic Club, he returned to his native Norfolk and won the 440 yards at the Norfolk County Championships in 1938. Crowe retained it the following year when he also won the 100 yards title. He was runner-up in that year’s Northern Counties 440 when he was beaten by inches by Fred Thornley of Sefton Harriers.

Crowe served as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery Western Command, and in 1946 was the Army 220- and 440 yards champion. He was also chosen to represent the AAAs that year in a match against the best athletes from the counties of Hampshire, Sussex, Wiltshire, and Dorset. The War years really affected Crowe’s athletics career and, while he was selected for the 4x400 relay squad at the 1948 London Olympics, he never got a run at the Games. A printer by trade, Crowe and his wife and young daughter emigrated to Australia in 1951.