Masterclass: 1940
Had it not been for the resilience of our railways and the bravery of their staff, the Second World War might have had a radically different outcome, writes Richard Foster.
Find out how the railways coped in 1940 as Alan Rowlands builds an armoured train.
It really is impossible to overstate the importance of Britain’s railways to the Allied victory in Europe during the Second World War. D-day could not have happened without the railways. But the success of June 6 1944 had taken years of careful planning.
The events of 1940, however, were not carefully planned but the railway’s Herculean efforts to react and cope with the rapidly changing events of 80 years ago has been overshadowed by what happened later in the war.
The whole nature and perception of the war changed
“in 1940. For the British public, it was no longer being fought overseas; it was now fought in their own towns, their own streets and even their own backyards. As the year dawned, the biggest concern for the ‘Big Four’ was how much money would they receive from the Government for services rendered; by the end of the year they’d have helped rescue an army, were taking a pounding from German bombers and were even playing a role in defending the country from invasion. Talks between railway management and the Ministry of Transport about what would happen if war broke out in Europe again began in 1937. The resulting Railway Executive Committee was formed in September 1938 initially as an advisory body, liaising between the ‘Big Four’s’ general managers and the MOT.
Former LNER general manager Sir Ralph Wedgwood became REC chairman in March 1939. Outwardly, life on the railways continued as normal but, behind the scenes, the REC became more involved until it finally took complete control of Britain’s railways on September 1 1939 under the Emergency (Railway Control) Order.
Wedgwood remained chairman, with GWR general manager Sir James Milne as his deputy. The remaining committee members comprised Sir William Wood (LMS GM), Gilbert Szlumper (Southern) and Frank Pick (London Transport Passenger Board), along with G. Cole Deacon (Railway Companies Association) as secretary.
The railways had been asked to do their bit in 1939. It was anticipated that as soon as war was declared, enemy bombers would fill the skies above London. Therefore, on August 31 1939, Operation Pied Piper was put into action. The Ministry of Health announced: “Evacuation of the schoolchildren and other priority classes… tomorrow, Friday September 1.” London Transport operated special trains and buses to move thousands of children from the Central London to ” embarkation points such as Barnett, Enfield or Ealing Broadway, in order to keep main termini clear. The numbers of children moved were huge. For example, GWR trains were timed to depart Ealing Broadway every nine minutes between 8.30am and 5.30pm. However, aside from minor skirmishes either side of the Maginot/siegfried line and bombing raids on ‘military’ targets, Western Europe settled down to what became known as the ‘Phoney War’.
FREIGHT AND FREEZE
Freight traffic on the ‘Big Four’ increased considerably, supplying the British Expeditionary Force. The GWR, for example, recorded a 47% increase in freight traffic over the same period in 1938. This increase in freight traffic was dealt with at the same time as dealing with an exceptionally hard winter. Freezing conditions started in December 1939 and the bad weathered continued until February 1940. Parts of Wales recorded temperatures as low as -23ºc.
Another threat for Britain was night time aerial bombardment. The easiest way to counter this threat was to extinguish all lights. The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) was established as early as 1924 to advise the public on defence during air raids. Blackout restrictions were also enforced on the railways. Marshalling yards went unlit while stations had their lights considerably reduced. Colour light signals were fitted with protective hoods or were dimmed.
Tender locomotives were fitted with canvas covers to prevent the glare from the firebox from being visible. The GWR went a stage further and plated over cab windows.
The REC also issued instructions about what to do in air raids. Passenger trains were
The biggest concern for the ‘Big Four’ was how much money would they receive from the Government for services rendered