War Workers Gallery

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

US soldiers embarking a ship in a GWR South Wales Dock, 1942

The GWR docks in South Wales became busy points for the arrival and departure of US troops from mid 1942 when the first American ship to arrive at the Company's docks berthed at Swansea on the 18th August of that year. From that date, thousands of American soldiers passing through Western ports became a common sight. This image shows a troop of US soldiers embarking a ship at one of the South Wales docks in 1942, presumably on their way to fight with allied forces in Europe. Unfortunately the exact date the photograph was taken and the dock they are departing from are not known. Not only was the mobilisation of troops from the ports a huge undertaking, so too was the loading and unloading of US tanks, planes, trains and a whole range of other military equipment that the US military brought with them to support the allied war effort

© STEAM Museum of the GWR

Evacuees at Paddington Station in 1939

This moving image of evacuees making their way along platform 4 at Paddington Station was also taken during the 4 day evacuation of London and other major cities in September 1939. On September 1st, 58 evacuation trains were run by the GWR alone, carrying 44,042 children from the capital to the countryside. By the 4th September the number was reduced to 28 trains transporting 17,796 children. In total the GWR ran 163 trains from London during this 4 day period, evacuating 112,994 children. The evacuation story did not end there however, for the GWR was subsequently involved with the re-evacuation of children from the South and East Coasts to safer places, and the evacuation of more children from the London area