Bill Braden was the nephew of Harry Greening, Canada's first great
raceboat driver in the 1920s. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, he lived
there for many years before moving to nearby Waterdown, Ontario,
near the start of W.W. II. He always had 'a taste for speed',
purchasing his first motorcycle, an Ariel, in England at age 19,
and going on to motorbike across war-threatened Europe in 1935. For
the rest of his life, he kept fast and fancy cars around his house
and reveled in their ownership. During World War II, he volunteered
for the Canadian Army and became a Major in the Royal Canadian
Ordnance Corps, and served in Canada, as well as in England and
Northwest Europe from 1941-1945. For a decade after the war, he
established himself as the top speedboat driver in Canada. He drove
his own 'Ariel' boats in competitions both in Canada and the United
States. His reputation was such that in 1951, when Colonel Gordon
Thompson of London, Ontario, purchased 'Miss Canada IV' and renamed
her 'Miss Supertest', he hired Bill Braden to drive the boat. This
began a five year relationship with the Thompson family, which
culminated in the 1956 Harmsworth Trophy challenge, where for the
first time, a Canadian boat captured one heat off of the American
boat, and where Bill Braden proved his courage while almost dying
behind the wheel of his hydroplane. The story had a sad ending two
summers later, when Will returned to boat racing, and was killed in
a freak accident while competing for the Duke of York Trophy on
Fairy Lake at Huntsville, Ontario. He left behind a widow and six
young children, as well as a sterling legacy that has survived five
plus decades of scrutiny.
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