TO mark 100 years since the end of the First World War, and to remember the railway workers who contributed to the war effort in the armed forces or at home, GTR will host a commemorative event tomorrow Friday, November 9 in the ticket hall at Brighton train station at 2.30pm.
A large poppy will be placed on a Tommy silhouette, purchased by GTR from the There but not there non-profit organisation that raises money for military veterans’ charities.
Attendees will include representatives of Brighton’s British Legion chapter, the local rail user group and Brighton Council, and Angie Doll, GTR’s Passenger Services Director for Southern and Gatwick Express.
November marks 100 years since the end of the First World War, a conflict that cost the lives of more than one million people serving with the British Empire forces, and nearly 13 million military personnel in total.
GTR will remember the railway workers from Great Britain and Ireland who served under arms during the First World War – 18,957 of whom made the ultimate sacrifice and never returned.
They will also be paying tribute to the enormous contribution of the hundreds and thousands of men and women who worked tirelessly to keep Britain’s rail network moving, delivering vital munitions and supplies to the Western Front.
London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) operated out of Brighton station and on the Southern network in the early 1900s when:
♦ 5,635 LB&SCR railway workers left to join the war (almost 35 per cent of those in the company’s service in 1914). 530 railwaymen fell, and 900 were wounded, made prisoner or reported missing.
♦ LB&SCR was responsible for carrying the bulk of stores and munitions delivered to the British troops on the continent, principally through its ports of Newhaven and, to a lesser degree, Littlehampton.
♦ LB&SCR was responsible for ambulance trains as well as transporting nearly 30,000 troops and nearly 7 million tons of goods, including 2.7 million tons of explosives.