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In the long and absorbing history of Britain's railways, the most challenging years were those of the two World Wars, when they were needed the most. Transportation of everything that was grown, made, or mined, as well as soldiers, sailors, airmen, and civilians largely fell to the nation's trains. Yet the indispensable role of railways in wartime has been largely overlooked. This book pays tribute to the way railway workers responded to the demand that they do more with less resources, called upon as they were to cope with an extraordinary change in the character and volume of passenger and goods traffic, to endure dangerously long hours, and to overcome the fear of moving in and through war zones. Small wayside stations could be transformed into a frenzy of activity by the arrival of a camp or supply depot on its doorstep, while disruption through bomb damage could turn the shift of the locomotive crew into an indefinite wait for relief. Featuring a gazetteer of the monuments and memorials created to honor fallen railway workers, this book pays tribute to their heroic responses to the demands of war.
A fascinating account of the British Railways system’s vital role in the defense of the country and support of the Allied forces during WWII. The outbreak of the Second World War had an enormous effect on the railway system in Britain. The ‘Big Four’ companies put aside differences and worked together for the war effort. The logistics of transporting troops during the evacuation of Dunkirk and the preparations for D-Day were unprecedented. Meanwhile, they had to cope with the new and constant threat of aerial bombing. As a result, the railway system effectively served as another branch of the military. At the end of the war, Winston Churchill likened London to a large animal, declaring that what kept the animal alive was its transport system. The metaphor could have been applied to the whole of Britain, and its most vital transport system was the railway. This book brings to light the often-forgotten stories of the brave men and women who went to work on the railways and put their lives on the line.
It is easy to believe that the only part that Britain’s railways played in the First World War was to carry the soldiers to the ships that would take them to France. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Without the help from the railways it is unlikely that the war would have been over as quickly as it was. In Britain’s Railways in the First World War Michael Foley examines how the railway system and its workers proved to be a vital part of the war effort, one contemporary writer even commenting that he thought they were as significant as the navy. The book describes how the enlistment of railway troops for the Royal Engineers to meet the increasing transport demands of the military was to bleed the civilian system dry as skilled railwaymen were sent to work at the front. In addition, the military commandeered thousands of Britain’s railway vehicles, sending them to each of the theatres of war, and turned the already stressed railway workshops away from maintaining what remained of the country’s railways and rolling stock so they could produce armaments for the forces instead. The book also reveals how the British were so far behind their enemies and allies in the use of railway support to the front lines that they had to plead for help from Canada.
From the exploits of railwaymen at the Front to the secrets of railway spies who worked behind enemy lines; the manufacture of munitions in railway workshops to the role of railways in post-war remembrance âe" this book explores some of the remarkable stories of the railway war. Individually, each illuminates a different aspect of the conflict. Taken together, they provide us with a fresh perspective on the First World War as a whole. The Great War was the quintessential railway war. Railways helped to precipitate this mechanized conflict: they defined how it was fought and kept the home front moving; they conveyed millions to the trenches and evacuated the huge numbers of wounded. The railways sustained a terrible war of attrition and, ultimately, bore witness to its end. In Railways of the Great War, Michael Portillo and Colette Hooper tell the forgotten story of the war on the tracks and explore the numerous ways in which Britainâe(tm)s locomotives, railway companies and skilled railway workforce moulded the course of the conflict. From mobilizing men and moving weapons, to transporting food for troops and later taking grieving relatives to the battlefields on which their loved ones had fallen, the railways played a central role throughout this turbulent period in our history.
This title presents a collection of photographs illustrating the human and operational cost of two world wars on the Great Western Railway taken from the archive of the Museum of the GWR at Swindon.
Now in paperback, Fire and Steam tells the dramatic story of the people and events that shaped the world's first railway network, one of the most impressive engineering achievements in history. The opening of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 marked the beginning of the railways' vital role in changing the face of Britain. Fire and Steam celebrates the vision and determination of the ambitious Victorian pioneers who developed this revolutionary transport system and the navvies who cut through the land to enable a country-wide network to emerge. The rise of the steam train allowed goods and people to circulate around Britain as never before, stimulating the growth of towns and industry, as well many of the facets of modern life, from fish and chips to professional football. From the early days of steam to electrification, via the railways' magnificent contribution in two world wars, the checkered history of British Rail, and the buoyant future of the train, Fire and Steam examines the social and economical importance of the railway and how it helped to form the Britain of today.
Originally published in 1986, this is a business history of the first twenty-five years of nationalised railways in Britain. Commissioned by the British Railways Board and based on the Board's extensive archives, it fully analyses the dynamics of nationalised industry management and the complexities of the vital relationship with government. After exploring the origins of nationalisation, the book deals with the organisation, financial performance, investment and commercial policies of the British Transport Commission (1948-2), Railway Executive (1948-53) and British Railways Board (1963-73). Calculations of profit and loss, investment, and productivity are provided on a consistent basis for 1948-73. This business history thus represents a major contribution not only to the debate about the role of the railways in a modern economy but also to that concerning the nationalised industries, which have proved to be one of the most enduring problems of the British economy since the war.