Here’s an item from Sixth Sense – the newspaper of the British Forces in Germany – about the special Steaming to Victory train on June 6. I’m giving a talk on the day in Gloucester Cathedral:
A special steam train commemorating the crucial role played by the British home and military railways supporting Operation Overlord and the subsequent liberation of Europe, will run from Birmingham Moor Street to Gloucester and back on Friday, June 6.
Some 408 British military railway men and 395 civilian railway staff were killed in the Second World War, along with 505 passengers and 15 railway policemen.
It is thought to be the first time ever that military, civilian, London Transport and passenger victims, whose wartime journey was terminated violently and unexpectedly, have been commemorated together.
The Steaming to Victory event is organised by the same team that recreated the Berliner British Military Train tribute in 2012. It will feature a talk by Michael Williams in the historic Gloucester Guildhall about his new book, Steaming to Victory.
Remembrance prayers led by the Railway Chaplain of Gloucester, Rev David Hardy, and the former Rabbi of Berlin, Dr Walter Rothschild will conclude with a 1940s cabaret tribute by Kitten von Mew, Britain’s leading Second World War pin up entertainer.
As an alternative option for those who prefer, passengers may attend a private viewing of the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, marking the role played in D-Day and beyond by 2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, whose war trophies in the museum include the swastika flag from Gestapo Headquarters at Mönchengladbach, later the long-term Cold War home of 79 Railway Squadron. A copy of the Royal Engineers (Tn) Roll of Honour will be conveyed in the train.
Train organiser Neil Howard said: “The superhuman logistic contribution of the railways was absolutely critical to the war effort, to D-Day and the 11 month long liberation fight to defeat Nazi Germany, and simply cannot be over-stated.
“D-Day remains to this day one of the biggest and most intense logistics operations ever conducted by mankind. A huge number died, and we will remember them, but this is a train of celebration and we hope, like the Berliner, it will be marked by a lot of mini-reunions and a lot of laughter too”.
Steaming to Victory is the second of a trilogy of trains commemorating the Second World War, the first being the 2012 Berliner. The final part of the story – VE-Day and the liberation of Europe, will run to Berlin in May 2015.
The Royal Engineers will be represented by Col Steve Cheetham, MoD Chief Railway Engineer, the staff of the Big Four by Helen Ashby, head of Collections and Knowledge, National Railway Museum, and London Transport by Leon Daniels, Director of Surface Transport, Transport for London.
The passengers will be represented by Rev David Hardy, and Rabbi Dr Walter Rothschild, all led by Lord Faulkner of Worcester, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for War Heritage.
Neil added: “Royal British Legion and especially their unsung local branch-based support for welfare cases have done much to support and encourage us with the military train projects. Volunteers from RBL Gloucester will be coming round with the hat on board Steaming To Victory. Our passengers have a proud tradition of generous support – and this time will be no different.”
Fares are £65 standard class, £155 premier dining, inclusive of events at Gloucester. A limited number of private 1st Class and Pullman compartments are also available for small groups. Bookings are now being taken and can be made via Vintage Trains at Tyseley, telephone 0044 121 708 4960 or online atwww.vintagetrains.co.uk
Dress code for the occasion is smart casual or 1940s civilian dress or premier class passengers, jacket and tie, current or 1940s period for gentlemen with no uniforms or decorations to be worn.
To conclude the day’s events there is a delicious bit of Great Western-style Art Deco panache as Moor Street station concourse becomes a 1940s style nightclub cocktail bar.
Organiser Neil Howard said: “The Second World War was not all rationing and mud and bullets – every major city had a secret and often a decadent cocktail bar, usually the heart of the black market, and where spies and generals glamorously rubbed shoulders – global war in sequins and sultry songs from the singer, and we have one of those.
“Even the Luftwaffe could not keep the British cognoscenti from their Gin Fizzes and dodgy deals.”
The Centenary Cocktail Lounge will be open when the Steaming To Victory train returns to Moor Street, and closes at midnight. No stone has been left unturned to accurately recreate the drinks of the period.
