and oversaw Musson & Grindlay and Coventry Motor & Sundries providing key materials for the armament and munitions industry in Coventry throughout the war. Some 5 years after the end of WWI, he parted ways with Musson in 1923 and established Grindlay Peerless. During the war, Grindlay was part of the Motor Patrol section of the Special Constabulary of Coventry, where he was able to utilise his extensive motoring experience. World War II Throughout WWII, Grindlay was Commandant of the Coventry Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) in charge of all associated civil fire-fighting procedures, training, and emergency response operations. He led the development of the AFS and was in charge of the service until its eventual amalgamation with the National Fire Service. Moreover, in 1941 he was elected Mayor of Coventry. Grindlay further expanded his manufacturing operations in 1936 when he formed Coventry Engineering Company. Specialising in machine parts and jigs, tool fixtures and gauges, early work involved assisting with the production of aircraft guns as part of the arms build up ahead of the war. Support for the war effort expanded to include the development of pitch propellers, barrage balloons, aircraft fuselages and control gear. Motor industry Formed in 1923, Grindlay Peerless, which operated out of Melbourne Works on Shakleton Road in Spon End, Coventry, entered into the wider motorcycle market in the early 1920s, and began making high-powered racing machines. Like the Grindlay Sidecars before them, they employed numerous technological advances and innovative engineering, which included utilising early aircraft design features. CWG 'Bill' Lacey became the first man to exceed a 100 miles in an hour on British soil in August 1928 aboard his modified 498cc Grindlay Peerless. The bike covered 103.3 miles in the hour at Brooklands racing circuit in Surrey to secure a Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) world record. In 1929, Bill Lacey broke the record again on his Grindlay Peerless, by covering 105.87 miles in the hour at Autodrome de Linasc-Montlhéry, Montlhéry, in France. When Grindlay founded Coventry Engineering Company in 1936, it became his third pioneering motorcycle engineering firm. Government Councillor and Alderman Grindlay was a prominent member of Coventry City Council. Joining the council in May 1924 when elected the representative for Greyfriars Ward, he dedicated much of his life to local government in Coventry and wider Warwickshire. Thorough his time in government he held several additional positions, including chairmanships of the Coventry