War Workers Gallery

Motor landing craft built by the GWR at Swindon Works, 1942

In August 1941 the GWR began building the first of a large number of motor landing craft in the Carriage and Wagon shops at Swindon. No. 13, Wagon Frame Shop was where this work took place. Motor landing craft were made in readiness for the invasion of Europe. Their primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships onto occupied shores. This image of Motor Landing Craft (MLC) No. 153 shows the flat bottom construction that enabled the craft to run up onto a beach, and the lowerable ramp from which the troops could swiftly disembark. These GWR-built landing crafts, and many variations built by other manufacturing companies, were used during the Second World War for amphibious assaults on enemy occupied Europe, starting with the invasion of Sicily in June 1943 through to the D Day invasion of Normandy in June 1944

© STEAM Museum of the GWR

Australian Navy on locomotive No.6021 King Richard II, 1945

A group of visitors from the Australian Navy pose for this photograph on top of locomotive No.6021 King Richard II. The officers and sailors from H.M.A.S Australia were on a visit to Swindon Works on July 13th 1945 whilst their ship was docked at Plymouth awaiting repairs. Their ship was heavily involved in the war effort throughout South East Asia until she was forced to withdraw for repairs in early 1945. She arrived at Plymouth on July 2nd 1945 for a major refit and remained there until December of that year. In this formal photograph the locomotive is decorated with both the British and Australian flags and standing in the centre of the group in the trilby hat is the GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer F. W. Hawksworth

© STEAM Museum of the GWR

Evacuees waiting outside the departure platform at Paddington in 1939

One of the very first war time roles that the GWR was engaged in was the evacuation of children from cities to the relative safety of the countryside. Even before war was declared, plans were drawn up for evacuation so the GWR and the other major railway companies were prepared and on standby to put these plans into action. On August 31st 1939, the day before Germany invaded Poland, the order to begin the evacuation was given. The very next day the mass movement of children began and continued until September 4th. The GWR was responsible for the majority of the children moved from North and East London and while most of the evacuation trains departed from Ealing Broadway, this image shows groups of children being off-loaded from a double decker bus outside the Departure Platform at Paddington Station during the four days of evacuation in September 1939

© STEAM Museum of the GWR