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| Midland Railway Crest Derby Midland Station |
In the First World War 2,833 employees of the Midland Railway lost their lives serving in the Armed Forces. They are commemorated on the Midland Railway Memorial in Derby.
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| Midland Railway Memorial Derby |
The Midland Railway (MR) was formed in 1844 through the merger of 3 local rail companies (North Midland Railway, Midland Counties Railway, and Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway). One year later it expanded into Leicester, Sheffield and Rotherham. In the same year the company took over the Bristol and Birmingham Railway. Expansion north into Leeds and Bradford occurred in 1851.
The Company would establish it's headquarters in Derby. The North Midland Railway had set up railway workshops in Derby. When the Midland Railway took these over they expanded them to what was to become a major railway engineering centre manufacturing locomotives and rolling stock.
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| Derby Locomotive Works 1860 |
The Midland connected to London via the Great Northern Railway (GNR). However, passengers had to alight from a Midland Railway train at Hitchin, purchase a ticket from the GNR, and continue on one of their trains to London. Work on a Midland Railway line into London started in 1863, and St Pancras Station was opened in 1868.
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| Midland Railway St Pancras Station London 1868 |
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| Midland Railway Settle to Carlisle Line |
In 1880, the opening of Manchester Central Station allowed the MR to run directly from Manchester to London. The Belfast and Northern Counties railway was purchased in 1903, and the acquisition of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway in 1912 gave the MR commuter routes in the Capital.
The Company adopted a distinctive crimson livery for it's passenger locomotives and carriages.
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| Midland Railway Crimson Livery |
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| Midland Railway Station Derby |
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| Derby Midland Station 2017 |
By 1908 the Midland Railway owned 1,654 miles of track, and partially owned another 325 miles. The Company was the fourth largest employer in the country with nearly 67,000 employees.
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| Midland Railway Routes prior to World War One |
On the outbreak of World War One the Midland Railway began it's contribution to the war effort. Within a week of mobilisation 1,838 reservists had re-joined the Army and Navy. A further 1,462 men had been embodied into the Territorial Force.
The Midland like all other railways was taken under government control through the Railway Executive Committee which acted as an intermediary between the War Office and the railway companies. The organisation of the railways for mobilisation and war time operation had been defined in the Railway Manual (War) issued in 1911.
With Kitchener's appeal for a New Army, men from MR responded to the Call to Arms. By the 18th November 1914 a total of 7,531 Midland Railway employees had joined the Armed Forces.
In addition to those serving, 500 Railway Employees were attached to the Royal Naval Sick Berth Staff or Royal Army Medical Corps assisting on Ambulance Trains.
The Midland Railway would be very supportive of those on active service. Their jobs were protected, pension contributions paid by the Company, and the MR would ensure that dependants would be looked after.
The men form the Midland Railway were soon in action, 1,025 employees earned the Mons Star. There were casualties in both the Navy and Army. The Midland Railway recorded the names of those who had joined up in 1914 and the casualties.
The railways were vital to the movement of troops and materiel. The Midland had to restrict who could enlist in order to ensure those with essential skills were retained to run the railway. In order that those engaged on vital war work were not thought to be shirking their responsibility, special badges were issued to railway personnel to designate they were on Railway Service.
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| Midland Railway WW1 Double Headed Munitions Train Attenborough 1916 Credit © National Railway Museum / Science & Society Picture |
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| Midland Railway WW1 Gun barrel bring transported - Toton Sidings Nottinghamshire December 1916 Credit © National Railway Museum / Science & Society Picture |
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| Midland Railway WW1 Tank Transportation |
With the railway men away on war duties, women were employed to fill the vacant positions, including heavy labouring jobs. Prior to WW1 only 2% of the Midland Railway workforce were female, around 1,300 women. With over 22,000 men away in the Armed Forces the women provided a vital contribution to keeping the railway operating during the war.
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| Midland Railway WW1 Women shovelling coal Derby Works May 1917 Credit © National Railway Museum / Science Society Picture |
The Midland Railway also contributed to the increasing logistics required as the scale of the war escalated. To keep the supplies running, additional railways were built in the various war theatres to move the men and stores needed to maintain the front line. The Midland Railway sent seventy 0-6-0 locomotives, 6,128 railway wagons and 25 1/2 miles of track overseas during WW1.
The Midland Railway would supply 9 Ambulance Trains.
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| Midland Railway WW1 Unloading Casualties from an Ambulance Train |
The engineering capabilities and workshops of the railways were also called upon to support the war effort. The workshops would produce guns, munitions and other equipment. The Company's Workshops output included 37 gun carriages, 91 limbers, 2,600,000 shell fuzes, 1,300,000 copper driving bands for shells and the renovation of 6,500,000 18 pounder cartridge cases.
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| Midland Railway WW1 Cartridge Case Renovation |
By the end of World War One 22,941 staff of the Midland Railway had served in the armed Forces, 30.9% of the workforce. Of those who served, 2,833 had given their lives.
In commemoration of the Midland Railway,s contribution and to remember those lost, the Company recorded their names in a commemorative book. This was issued to mark the unveiling of the Company War Memorial in December 1921.
Included in the list are employees from the Hotels Department who served in the forces of other Allied nations.
The Midland Railway War Memorial was unveiled on 15th December 1921. It commemorates the 2,833 employees of the Midland Railway who were killed in World War One. The cenotaph memorial was dedicated by the Bishop of Southwell and unveiled by Mr Charles Booth, Chairman of the Midland Railway. General Sir Herbert Lawrence, a Midland Railway director, gave the address.
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| Midland Railway War Memorial Derby Unveiling 15th December 1921 Credit © National Railway Museum / Science Society Picture |
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| Midland Railway War Memorial Derby Unveiling 15th December 1921 Credit © National Railway Museum / Science Society Picture |
The memorial is located on Midland Road, Derby, adjacent to the Midland Hotel and near Derby Midland Station.
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| Midland Hotel Derby - Midland Road to the Right |
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| Midland Railway War Memorial Midland Road Derby |
The cenotaph memorial was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens who designed the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
It is made of Portland Stone and is 10 metres (33 feet tall). |
| Midland Railway Memorial Cenotaph |
On top of the memorial is a figure of an unknown soldier, below which is the crest of the Midland Railway.
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| Midland Railway War Memorial Unknown Soldier and Midland Railway Crest |
The walls surrounding the Cenotaph bear the names of the fallen. A small step was built to allow children to step up and see the names.
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| Midland Railway War Memorial Memorial Plaque |
The inscription on the Cenotaph is inscribed:
TO THE BRAVE MEN OF THE MIDLAND RAILWAY
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR
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| Midland Railway War Memorial Cenotaph Inscription |