Britain's Railways in Wartime

During World War 2, Britain's railways were in the frontline and were heavily targeted by the Luftwaffe's violent aerial offensive. Many railway workers lost their lives, and locomotives, rolling stock and much of the infrastructure was destroyed. However, the railways were an essential part of Britain's war effort, not only maintaining the flow of people and goods at home and evacuating people from the cities, but also playing a vital role in the movement of the armed forces and their equipment around the country. The massive build up to D-Day would not have been possible without the logistical support of the railways.At this challenging and turbulent time, many photographers recorded the impact of the war on the railways for posterity. As with many aspects of daily life during the war, the railways were effectively brought under government control and many photographs were taken for propaganda purposes. Despite this, there were also many poignant images taken showing the struggle for survival by ordinary people in their day-to-day lives.In this masterful study, Kevin Robertson has brought together the very best of a fascinating collection of images from the world famous Getty Collection, many of which have never been seen before. Showing not only locomotives, rolling stock and infrastructure, the photographs also graphically capture the plight of the people involved at the time who kept the railways running against all the odds. This will be essential and inspiring reading for all railway historians and enthusiasts, as well as anyone who is interested in the social context of this significant period.

In the long and absorbing history of Britain’s railways and the men and women who have worked on them, the most challenging years were those of the two world wars. Neither of these wars could have been won without the railways. Transportation of everything that was grown, made or mined, as well as soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians was largely the task of the railways. Yet the contribution of railways, and railway men and women in wartime has often been overlooked. This book pays tribute to the way the railways and their staff responded to the demand that they do more with fewer resources. They were called upon to cope with the extraordinary change in the character and volume of passenger and goods traffic, to endure dangerously long hours, and to overcome fear. Small wayside stations could be transformed into a frenzy of activity by the location of a camp or supply depot on its doorstep. Disruption through bomb damage could turn the shift of locomotive crew or guard into an indefinite wait for relief. The railway companies built many and various memorials to honour their fallen workers – these monuments, created and designed by high-calibre sculptors and architects, are included within the book’s gazetteer. The book inevitably includes many statistics as well as dates, but it is impossible to comprehend the magnitude of the railway’s contribution to the wars without them. The focus is on the railways of Britain, but sketches of the overseas theatres give some idea of the work of railway construction and operating companies, which were largely made up of railwaymen.