Tag Archives: Operation Overlord

Fisherton Sarum, History

75 years on – Marking VE Day – Putting the Southern Railways war effort into perspective

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Today marks 75 years since Victory in Europe Day or VE Day.
VE Day is the day on which Allied forces formally announced the surrender of Germany, which brought the Second World War to a close in Europe. The military surrender was first signed on May 7, but a slightly modified document with the final terms was signed on May 8 in Berlin. Celebrations immediately erupted throughout Britain and more than one million people celebrated in the streets. In London, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth appeared on the balcony alongside Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Too late for printing in many diaries / calendars, in more normal times today was announced as being a Bank Holiday by moving the traditional May Day Bank Holiday Monday to today, although many at the moment must be wondering what is the difference?
Many celebrations and events were planned to mark the 75th Anniversary today, but the current Covid-19 lockdown (stay safe, stay at home and thank the NHS) has changed those plans.
Her Majesty the Queen will address the nation at 9pm, the exact time the Queen’s father, King George VI, made a radio announcement declaring the end of the war on the continent in May 1945, and I hope you will join the 2 minutes silence at 11 am this morning as we remember the sacrifices made by all.

The cover of the May 1945 Southern Railway Magazine. Note that it includes an image of 21C11 General Steam Navigation. (click the menu link above to find out more about the Restoration Society and it’s aim to restore 35011 back to this original condition)

By its obvious geographical nature the Southern Railway paid a vital part in the entire war effort. The dedication and efforts of the railway workers that worked tirelessly, in all too often difficult and life threatening conditions themselves, indeed many did also fall, should be remembered along with the military personnel.

In this post I provide details in numbers* of the efforts made under wartime conditions to put things into to perspective. Many will be familiar with some of the major events in which the railway played such a large part such as Operation Dynamo, the mass moving of personnel from Dunkirk 80 years ago at the end of this month, and of course Operation Overlord, the planning, logistics for the moment of men and machines to support D-Day in June 1944. For the Southern Railway it wasn’t just these two events but a continued effort for the duration.

Although the overall number of Southern Railway staff when compared between 1939 (67,680) and 1945 (67,570) didn’t change that much the number of women employed increased from 1,861 to 9,167. The company managed to maintain an operational workforce despite 10,956 men and 212 women being enlisted to active service during the same period.

The Southern Railway was to suffer severe damage, disproportionate to that of its three rivals. From July 1940 to March 1945, the LNER suffered 1737 incidents of enemy damage; the LMS experienced 1939 and the GWR fell victim to 1202. But in the same time the Southern Railway, covering a much smaller route mileage than the others, recorded 3637 incidents of damage through enemy action. This amounts to 170 incidents per 100 miles.

Between 1939 and VE Day the Southern Railway had moved 9,367,886 military personnel on 30,890 special troop trains, an additional 6,269,160 on duty service staff were carried on ordinary trains. 1,797 Ambulance trains carried 408,051 wounded. An additional 35,360 military freight trains were run.
At the outbreak of war the Southern Railway had 1,819 locomotives, 61 were built during the war comprising of: 1 Q Class 0-6-0, 40 Q1 class 0-6-0, 20 Merchant Navy Class 4-6-2 and 4 West Country Class 4-6-2. Whilst only 1 locomotive was destroyed by enemy action, 189 were damaged. A further 130 locomotives were built for other railway companies.
153 Carriages were destroyed by enemy action (Steam 49, Electric 93 and 11 NPCS), whilst 4,040 were damaged (Steam 1,806, Electric 1,784 and 450 NPCS).
An amazing 13,820 wagons were constructed: 7,500 for SR, 1,755 for LMS, 2,230 for LNER, 650 for GWR and 1,885 for Government WD of which 1,600 went overseas. 169 wagons were destroyed by enemy action, along with 69 Private Owner wagons, those damaged amounted to 1,355 along with 800 PO wagons.

At 11am this morning we should remember the 387 Southern Railway staff killed whilst on active service and 170 killed whilst on railway duty. A further 687 men and 59 women were injured by enemy action on duty.

I hope this post allows a pause for thought and reflection on the immense efforts and sacrifices made at the time.

*Source: War on the line: The Southern Railway in wartime, Bernard Darwin, published 1946

General

75 years on – Turning left for France – Operation Overlord – the Southern Railway and the D-Day landings

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Today, 6th June,  marks the 75th anniversary of the Allied forces D-Day landings, Operation Overlord,  on the Normandy coast, the largest ever wartime seaborne invasion landings, that bought about the start of the end of the Second World War. We rightly commemorate bravery of the 156,000 allied troops involved and the as many as 4000 young men that fell to bring about the liberation of France and ultimately Europe some 11 months later.

It should also be remembered that D-Day was not just about one day but an incredible amount of planning and logistics both leading up to and for the many months that followed to ensure that men and machines, munitions, supplies and materials were in the right place at the right time to ensure success. Whilst much is reported about the 6000 plus ships and vessels that sailed across the channel,  it was very much the railways of the time that played a big part in these logistics supplying the many south coast posts such as Portsmouth, Southampton, Poole and Portland. The Southern Railway was of course at the forefront of these logistics.

For example to build the temporary ‘Mulberry’ harbours, Designed by Major Allan Beckett of the Royal Engineers,  that were built over six months off the Normandy coast by around 55,000 workers used  210,000 tons of steel, 1,000,000 tons of concrete. All these materials would have arrived at the coast ports for loading onto vessels by rail. This construction still stands as one of the greatest civil engineering feats of modern times.

The Southern Railway reported, later that year, at its 1944 Annual General Meeting that some £1,000,000 was spent on the additional sidings and equipment necessary to meet the needs of Operation Overlord. During 1944 over 26,000 special trains were run, with over 550,000 on duty service personnel carried.  Eighteen of the Company’s steam ships and their ‘modern’ train ferry ships also played an active part. All of this took place whilst maintaining a practically normal level of standard service trains to allow the civilian population to move from home to work as usual.

Lest we forget not just the young brave military personnel but also the dedication and efforts of the railway workers that worked tirelessly, in all too often difficult and life threatening conditions themselves, indeed many did also fall, to ensure the success of Operation Overlord.

No pictures with this post just thoughts and thanks.

 

General

Turn left for France – Operation Overlord – Southern Railway and D-Day

4 Comments

Today, 6th June,  marks the 70th anniversary of the Allied forces D-Day landings, Operation Overlord,  on the Normandy coast, the largest ever wartime seaborne invasion landings, that bought about the start of the end of the Second World War. We rightly commemorate bravery of the 156,000 allied troops involved and the as many as 4000 young men that fell to bring about the liberation of France and ultimately Europe some 11 months later.

It should also be remembered that D-Day was not just about one day but an incredible amount of planning and logistics both leading up to and for the many months that followed to ensure that men and machines, munitions, supplies and materials were in the right place at the right time to ensure success. Whilst much is reported about the 6000 plus ships and vessels that sailed across the channel,  it was very much the railways of the time that played a big part in these logistics supplying the many south coast posts such as Portsmouth, Southampton, Poole and Portland. The Southern Railway was of course at the forefront of these logistics.

For example to build the temporary ‘Mulberry’ harbours, Designed by Major Allan Beckett of the Royal Engineers,  that were built over six months off the Normandy coast by around 55,000 workers used  210,000 tons of steel, 1,000,000 tons of concrete. All these materials would have arrived at the coast ports for loading onto vessels by rail. This construction still stands as one of the greatest civil engineering feats of modern times.

The Southern Railway reported, later that year, at its 1944 Annual General Meeting that some £1,000,000 was spent on the additional sidings and equipment necessary to meet the needs of Operation Overlord. During 1944 over 26,000 special trains were run, with over 550,000 on duty service personnel carried.  Eighteen of the Company’s steam ships and their ‘modern’ train ferry ships also played an active part. All of this took place whilst maintaining a practically normal level of standard service trains to allow the civilian population to move from home to work as usual.

Lest we forget not just the young brave military personnel but also the dedication and efforts of the railway workers that worked tirelessly, in all too often difficult and life threatening conditions themselves, indeed many did also fall, to ensure the success of Operation Overlord.

No pictures with this post just thoughts and thanks.