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Historical Research
Historical Research
– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
The Edith Cavell locomotive
The Edith Cavell locomotive
A friend of mine, Wayne Robinson suggested to me that the Prince of Wales class 2275 ‘Edith Cavell’ might make an interesting aside for my research.
Photographic postcard of London & North Western Railway Company locomotive 2275 named "Edith Cavell" and dressed in patriotic splendour with a sign that reads "Lest We Forget".
Photo from In Memoriam - Edith Cavell part three
http://100nzww1postcards.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/in-memoriam-edith-cavell-part-three.html
Research Disclaimer : Please note that This Research was done many years ago now :
so the information contained may now be out of date , photos gone missing or web links broken
My apologises : But It has become an impossible task to try and keep it up to date - Jenny
WW1
WW1
During WW1 Railway companies also attempted to do their patriotic duty in the naming of newly built locomotives.
A series of ten ‘Prince of Wales’ class locomotives built by the L&NWR (London and North West Railway) in late 1915 all carried names of celebrated war figures, among them General Joffre, the Chief of the French General Staff, Sir John French, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, and as a Memorial for the British nurse Edith Cavell, who was was executed by a German firing squad in Brussels on the 12 October 1915 for helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium.
Edith Louisa Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell was born in Swardeston on December 4th, 1865, the daughter of the vicar. She worked as a governess at Colney and Keswick Halls before taking up nursing at the age of 30. She worked in the slums of London before moving to Belgium where she created a nursing school and became Matron of the Berkendale Medical Institute in Brussels. She is attributed with founding the Belgian nursing profession.
In 1914 World War I broke out. The Berkendale Clinic was turned into a Red Cross Hospital. Edith Cavell was still in Brussels when it was occupied by the German army. She was offered an opportunity to return to England but declined, continuing to nurse wounded soldiers, German as well as Allied soldiers.
She worked secretly to get French, Belgian and British soldiers out of occupied territory. The Germans discovered her activities and arrested her and the chain of people involved. She was tried, found guilty and shot by the German army on October 12th, 1915.
She was buried in Brussels until the end of the war when it was decided to bring her body back to England. Nurse Edith Cavell' s body was exhumed in Brussels and brought home to England via Dover on 15 May 1919.
A memorial service held in Westminster Abbey before Cavell's coffin was taken in a large procession to Liverpool Street Station. On Platform 9 a special funeral train was ready to take her coffin back home to Norwich.
After the train arrived at Thorpe Station the nurse's coffin was taken in a procession to Norwich Cathedral for her funeral. After the service she was re-buried in the precincts of Norwich Cathedral at Life's Green.
The Cavell Van
The Cavell Van
A luggage wagon had been specially adapted to bring the matron 's remains back to England and, two months later, was used again for the return of the remains of Captain Charles Fryatt who had also been executed by the Germans.
The same wagon was also used for the bringing home of the Unknown Warrior in November 1920.
The Cavell Van at Bodiam Station
Photo by Travel by Kat
http://travelwithkat.com/2015/08/26/steam-train-to-bodiam-castle/
The Cavell Van is Restored by Mike Paterson
Image by Lewis J. Brockway
https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/the-cavell-van-is-restored/
Details of locomotive 2275 named "Edith Cavell"
Details of locomotive 2275 named "Edith Cavell"
Locomotive No.2275 ‘Edith Cavell
LNWR 4-6-0 No. 2275 'Nurse Edith Cavell' at Preston Railway Station c.1920
Photo from the Preston Digital Archive
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/6238628107
Locomotive No.2275 ‘Edith Cavell
Locomotive No.2275 ‘Edith Cavell
Renumbered under ownership of the London Midland Scotland Railway as 5647, withdrawn January 1935
info from - Wikipedia - Named LNWR "Prince of Wales" Class locomotives
Info from - BR Database
Complete BR Locomotive Database 1948-1997
British Railway Steam Locomotive
British Railway Steam Locomotive
Note: To Obtain Consistency in the Steam System, Shed Codes used are those Registered at Nationalisation on 1st January 1948
Class Information
Class Information
Introduced 1911. Bowen-Cooke LNWR "Prince of Wales" design. 4P.
Weight:
Loco 66 tons 5 cwt Driving Wheel: 6' 3"
Boil Press: 180lb/sq in Su
Cylinders: Two Valve Gear: Joy (piston valves)
20?" x 26" (inside) TE: 22,290 lb
Info from RailUK
‘Edith Cavell’ decorated in 1916
‘Edith Cavell’ decorated in 1916
(LNWR Gazette, December 1916)
The first anniversary of Nurse Cavell’s death – which shocked the nation – was commemorated in 1916 when the locomotive bearing her name was at the Rugby Engine Shops for maintenance. Staff decorated it with flowers, flags, and a sign bearing the words “Lest we forget”. The loco was parked in a siding close to the road and a collection taken from passers-by which raised funds for the Rugby Prisoners of War Fund.
Photo from Named locomotives in the First World War
By Robert Demaine |© National Railway Museum 14 January 2016
http://blog.nrm.org.uk/named-locomotives-in-the-first-world-war/
Real photographic postcard of London & North Western Railway Company locomotive 2275 named "Edith Cavell" and dressed in patriotic splendour with a sign that reads "Lest We Forget".
London and North Western Railway Society - LNWR Society Photographs
http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/Photographs/PhotoDetails.php?Cltn=LNWRS&Pnum=9633
1st Published : 5th Feb 2016 11 Feb 2016 Page Updated: 13 Sept 2020 © Looking for the Evidence : Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )
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