The National Railway Museum in York, England announced it has launched its online, searchable database of fallen railway workers from the First World War.
More than 20,000 English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish railwaymen lost their lives during WWI, and this unique database sheds light on how the war affected the railways and their employees who served in the military. One railway in England lost more than 1,300 men. Another lost 1,200.
Using information from the museum’s own collection and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the museum has created a database containing the names of these fallen men, as well as details about their civilian and military lives.
The museum says, “The First World War was truly a railway war. For the first time in history, the railways allowed war to be fought on an industrialised scale, transporting vast numbers of men, and the ammunition which would kill so many of them.”
The entries for the railwaymen include details, such as the date and location of birth, date the man joined the railway, railway job and department, when he enlisted and was killed, military number, rank, unit and awards, parents’ names and address, and source of information.
Photos
Each entry also indicates whether or not a photo appears in the source material. It appears that photos of more than 4,500 railwaymen are available in the railway company magazines that the museum used to complete the entries.
Unfortunately, the photos are not available in this database. Contacting the museum to find out how to receive a digital scan of a photo may be worthwhile, although nothing on the museum’s website suggests doing so.
Use filters
Try using one of several filters, such as railway company, military unit, and magazine reference, to narrow your search and perhaps discover who the fallen railwayman’s colleagues were.
Using the filter to search by railway company, you can learn how many employees lost their lives. Incredibly, almost 1,400 men from the Great Eastern Railway lost their lives during WWI.
Search by mother’s name
The search feature is quite dynamic. A simple search of Martha produced the entries of fallen railwaymen whose mother’s name was Martha. Or, at least, it produced the entries where the mother’s name is included in the entry.
Begin your search
You can begin your online search in the Fallen railwaymen database in the Railways and the First World War section on the museum’s website.
The National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in the world.
Oh, this looks interest! Interesting and helpful post. Thank you for sharing it. I have included it in my current NoteWorthy Reads post: http://jahcmft.blogspot.com/2016/01/noteworthy-reads-25.html.