First World War Gallery

Wartime recruiting posters at Paddington Station, 1915

Recruiting posters were a popular way of encouraging men to enlist. Millions of posters were produced and displayed up and down the country during the war. The messages were often vivid and graphic, but also very sophisticated; they appealed to the young man and his sense of adventure and duty. The posters in this image are displayed on the cab ramp of Paddington Station in 1915. The central poster was designed by Lucy Kemp-Welch, a British artist, and refers to the bombardment of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool by German battleships on 16th December 1914. Both posters were published by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee

© STEAM Museum of the GWR

Female stewardess, 1917

A Dining Car Waitress in her crisp white apron stands in the doorway of dining car No. 9546 on Platform 2, Paddington Station in 1917. Rail travel during the war was not just restricted to essential journeys. Travel for pleasure continued according to Mr Guy Calthrop, General Manager of the London and North Western Railway, who was asked to represent all of the railway companies before the Man Power Distribution Board. In his report of October 1916 Mr Calthrop stated that there is an enormous amount of "joy-riding" on railways at the present time'; and facilities such as on-board dining for long journeys were as integral to the service the GWR offered its customers as before the war began

© STEAM Museum of the GWR