Railway Mission News • Issue 21.3

Page 10

Remembrance

What do these stones mean? The following paragraphs describe five different memorials, for individuals, a crash, the rail industry, and its people. The present headquarters of the Railway Mission (RM) are located on Rugby station and until the 1940s the RM had a mission hall just outside the station. On a September Sunday afternoon in 1915 a service was held to commemorate those connected with the Mission who had died in the war; including Sgt. Johnston, Border Regiment and Drummer Howard, Inniskilling Fusiliers, who, whilst posted to Rugby the previous spring, had devoted a great deal of their time to the work of the Mission. Framed photographs of these two heroic men were presented to serve as a

continuing reminder of their faithful service. The former RM Hall in York had the only marble wall plaque commemorating a member that I currently know. The plaque still exists in a nearby church. The memorial (pictured, page 11) commemorates Signaller George Thompson, Royal Garrison Artillery, who had regularly attended the Mission for ten years. He had enlisted at the age of 18 and made ‘the supreme sacrifice’ in November 1917 aged 20. The plaque which originally surmounted a framed portrait was paid for by members’ subscription. The Railway Industry Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum was the

10


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.