Stuart Butler – Page 2 – Radical Stroud

Sapperton 1926 and the General Strike

When my father grew old, his grasp for words became slower and his frustration greater. We sometimes took him for a car ride around his Gloucestershire haunts.
We would end at a pub, often in Frampton Mansell, and he would sit, making a half pint last forever, with a look of complete contentment on his face as he watched his grandchildren.
A serenity not granted often.
A time when the words he struggled to find were replaced by pictures, a slide show of his past.
Perhaps, it would start with an image conjured by his elder sister’s loving poem to him…

When we were young and full of fun
And all our days were carefree
Do you remember that September
We climbed the old pear tree?

Next slide, please.

He saw his mother, a substantial Victorian presence, who, it was rumoured, would play a piano hauled onto the green in Frampton Mansell. Perhaps he saw her at a party in their London flat when he lay on the floorboards and watched bewitched as puffs of dust rose with her every step.
Or maybe the firework night when his father’s rocket careered into the fuel store. ‘Best firework night ever.’

Next slide, please.

Perhaps he saw, 1921, living in a rented Nissen hut, once used by the WW1 Australian Air Force, at the edge of Minchinhampton Common. A hut so large that he learnt to ride a bike in it. A hut so haunting that he never ate chicken after a door swung closed in a dark pantry, with half-dead birds hanging from a hook.

Next slide, please.

He is sitting on a fence at Sapperton tunnels when a Star in the shape of 4056 Princess Margaret thunders out, shrouded in steam. Golden Valley bound. He carefully writes her number into his notebook and pockets the stub of pencil.

Next slide, please.

He’s eleven years old. Still watching the line, but no trains pass. It is 1926, The General Strike. Trains won’t run until a fortnight has passed. No whistles pierce the night in his Nissen hut.

1926 with Nock and Potts on the GWR

The GWR and the General Strike

May 2^nd Sir Felix Pole GWR General Manager sent the following message to all GWR stations and departments:

‘The National Union of Railwaymen have intimated that railwaymen have been asked to strike without notice tomorrow night. Each Great Western man has to decide his course of action, but I appeal to you all to hesitate before you break your contracts of service with the old company, before you inflict grave damage upon the railway industry and before you arouse ill-feeling in the railway service which will take years to remove. Railway Companies and railwaymen have demonstrated that they can settle their disputes by direct negotiations. The mining industry should be advised to do the same.

Remember that your means of living and your personal interests are involved, and that Great Western men are trusted to be loyal to their conditions of service by the same manner as they expect the company to carry out their obligations and agreements.’

History of the Great Western Railway Volume 3 1923-1947

O.S. Nock

(Taken pretty well verbatim from the book but enumerated for ease of reading)

‘At first there was a fairly general cessation of traffic; indeed despite the undertaking given by the NUR and ASLEF to run food trains, large quantities of fish were held up at Milford Haven without means of rail or road transport, resulting in 2,000 women workers being thrown out of employment, unless the fish were removed. The Great Western took the matter immediately in hand.’
‘In the London area some stopping trains were worked on the main line on the first day … one from Oxford to Paddington stopping at all stations …The Irish Mail from Fishguard … worked through to London, stopping at principal and many other stations.’
‘A steady stream of volunteers presented themselves for work on the railway and were allotted duties wherever possible.’
‘From that start, transport facilities rapidly improved, with the aid of volunteers, and a number of company’s men who remained loyal.’
‘On the railways as a whole, a good number of steam operated suburban routes on all lines had trains, while the nucleus of main-line facilities was generally built up from the Wednesday onwards with improvement day by day, including many branch line trains.’
‘Further, while volunteer labour was a very big item, increasing numbers of railwaymen came back, so that quite early in the strike it was estimated that, including those who did not go out, upwards of 100,000 railwaymen were at work. But, as with the volunteers, many of those required training before they could be utilised for operating duties. Volunteer labour was throughout very plentiful, and although there was in many cases a demand greater than the supply for enginemen and signalmen, large numbers of the offers of assistance could not be utilised.’
‘An interesting feature was that on several lines the students from engineering colleges and other institutions were recruited; their technical knowledge enabled them to adapt themselves to their new duties rapidly and readily.’
‘At the start of the strike it was decided to keep simplified operating methods and this eventually became the limiting factor in the number of trains that could be run. To extend railway services to any great extent would have involved many of the complications of standard railway working.’
‘Even so, as the volunteers became more and more familiar with the work, it was found possible to add very considerably to the number of passenger trains run, and gradually to increase to a substantial degree the number of goods trains operated.’
‘Trains run on the GWR: May 4 194 May 5 250 May 6 300 May 7 479 May 8 500 May 9 520 May 10 908 May 11 1,025 May 12 1,297 May 13 1,385 May 14 1,517.’
‘One remarkable feature of strike working on the Great Western Railway was its ability, not only to deal with the normal ocean passenger and mail business through Plymouth, but to handle additional calls and landings diverted into that port. Twenty boats called to land 3,000 passengers and seven special trains were run to London. In other cases the two trains regularly run at 9.25 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. to Paddington were used.’
‘When the strike broke out the dock lines were badly congested with goods wagons; but volunteer labour was eventually able to clear the running lines to enable the boat passengers to entrain alongside the docks waiting rooms as usual for the direct run thence to Paddington. In addition to the inwards traffic three embarkations were arranged including a special call of the P. & O. Company’s Kaiser-i-Hind for which a restaurant car special was run from Paddington.’
‘In addition to what might be termed the more “glamorous” jobs for volunteers, such as engine driving and firing, and the manning of signal boxes, men and women of every estate buckled to on every kind of humdrum job, such as goods and passenger porters, ticket collectors, van drivers and such like. The amount of sheer physical work done by volunteers in handling food, milk, eggs and urgent parcels was prodigious; while the part played by women, including several titled ladies in tending the large stables at Paddington is a reminder of the extent to which the GWR relied upon horse-drawn lorries for delivery of good in the London area. Elderly railwaymen, long since retired, turned out to help, and a former station-master of Paddington acted as a volunteer guard on the Minehead branch,’
‘On 11^th May, the following circular was issued by Sir Felix Pole: “A stage has now been reached in the strike when it can be said with confidence that railway services are improving each day, and I should like to offer my very hearty congratulations and thanks to all the officers, loyal staff and volunteers who have risen so splendidly to the occasion and who are responsible for this satisfactory state of affairs.” At the same time another was issued by Sir Felix Pole: “The word ‘victimisation’ has often been used in connection with strikes. In the experience of the Great Western Railway it has usually been imported at the end of a strike, the trade unions invariably asking that there should be no victimisation. The present strike not only differs from previous strikes in that it is not associated with any dispute or labour question affecting the company, but because of the fact that victimisations started with the strike, the victim in this case being the Great Western Railway Company. It is indeed true to say that the country as a whole is being victimised by a strike which is the blackest day in the history of Labour in this Country. That thousands of men with no grievance against their employers should have been ‘instructed’ to leave work, and that so many of them should have done so, passes all comprehension. It can only be explained on the ground that there was a deep conspiracy against the State. Thank God such a conspiracy cannot succeed and can only result in the discrediting of its promoters and the disillusionment of those who have been used as pawns in the game.”
‘The same evening the Prime Minister broadcast to the nation. I well remember listening to that broadcast through the headphones attached to a primitive “crystal set”. Broadcasting was then in its infancy, and many people like myself were probably hearing Stanley Baldwin’s deep resonant voice for the first time. Earlier in the day Mr. Justice Astbury had declared the strike illegal, and the next morning a deputation from the Trade Union Council waited upon the Prime Minister to tell him of their decision to call off the strike, unconditionally. There was, nevertheless, a certain hesitancy on the part of the railwaymen to return to work at once, and on Thursday and Friday … there were long meetings between Union leaders and the railway managers. Eventually a settlement was signed in the afternoon of 14^th May …

TERMS OF SETTLEMENT AS BETWEEN THE RAILWAY COMPANIES ON THE ONE HAND AND THE NATIONAL UNION OF RAILWAYMEN, ASSOCIATED SOCIETY OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND FIREMEN, AND THE RAILWAY CLERICS’ ASSOCIATION ON THE OTHER.

Those employees of the Railway Companies who have gone out on strike to be taken back to work as soon as the traffic offers and work can be found for them. The principle to be followed in reinstating to be seniority in each grade at each station, depot or office.
The Trades Unions admit that in calling a strike they committed a wrongful act against the Companies, and agree that the Companies do not by reinstatement surrender their legal right to claim damages arising out of the strike from strikers and others responsible.
The Unions undertake:-

not again to instruct their members to strike without previous negotiations with the Companies.
to give no support of any kind to their members who take any unauthorised action.
not to encourage Supervisory employees in the Special Class to take part in any strike.

The Companies intimated that arising out of the strike it may be necessary to remove certain persons to other positions, but no such person’s salary or wages will be reduced. Each Company will notify the Unions within one week the names of men whom they propose to transfer and will afford each man an opportunity of having an advocate to present his case to the General Manager.
The settlement shall not extend to persons who have been guilty of violence or intimidation

On behalf of the General Managers’ Conference:- FELIX J.C. POLE. H.G. BURGESS H.A. WALKER. R.L. WEDGWOOD R.H. SELBIE On behalf of the Railway Trade Unions:- J.H. Thomas C.T. CRAMP (National Union of Railwaymen) J. BROMLEY (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) A.G. WALKEN (Railway Clerks’ Association)

DATED THIS FOURTEENTH DAY OF MAY, NINETENN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX.

So ended the strike as far as the railways were concerned, and for industry in general. The public heaved a sigh of relief, and affairs quickly reverted to normal except, of course, that a settlement of the coal dispute was as far off as ever.’

‘Train services, as first restored, were far from normal. On the Great Western many crack expresses were temporarily withdrawn, and long-distance trains made many intermediate stops to avoid running feeder services and using additional coal. Supplies of foreign fuel were obtained, however, and as spring was followed by summer and the holiday season approached the full express service was restored …’
‘The coal strike continued throughout the summer, with little sign of conciliation on either side. Railways and particularly the Great Western were inconvenienced by the poor quality of the continental coal it was possible to import …’
‘…the prolongation of the coal strike into the autumn and early winter was, economically as well as socially, a national disaster. The country’s greatest source of indigenous wealth, the very foundation of her industrial supremacy in former years, virtually committed suicide. And South Wales, whose livelihood depended almost entirely upon the one great industry, was utterly ruined. The huge overseas markets to serve which the railways and dock facilities of the Bristol Channel ports had been built up were lost for ever …’

Open Letter to Sir Felix Pole from the Paddington Railwaymen June 1926

Sir,

The chief feature of your career as General Manager has been that which has appealed to the staff of the Great Western Railway for co-operation; urging that such was in the best interests of the men, the public, the Company.

The men for a number of years have believed you, and have been prepared to accept your advice. They have watched your movements, and for a period believed that at last they had an open and fair-minded official to deal with. Even up to the end of April they held this opinion, but even you, must recognise that, while not receiving the education to which they are entitled, they are not void of every atom of intelligence, as may be desired by the shareholding class whom you represent in the railway industry. We like you, recognise the class struggle which is being waged in Society, and again we recognise that if we are to resist the attacks of your class, we also, like you, must be organised as a class: i.e. under a single central leadership.

Having decided on this as a mass body of workers we placed our leadership in the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, and they, acting upon instructions of our Executive Committees decided that the time had arrived when the miners must be protected from the onslaught of your profit-grabbing class. It was here that you gave us a real demonstration of your co-operative spirit. You asked us to ignore our mining comrades; to let them fight a lobe battle, while we, in our turn, should stand by and see them starved into accepting the conditions your class wished to force upon them. Your circulars and pleadings, your vomitations and cries left us cold; we thought first of the “Old Company,” then you, and then our mining comrades, and finally decided our first duty was to our class and not to our enemies.

Therefore, on the morning of May the 4^th, you were left in your true position to line up with the Federation of British Industries against the workers.

There is one thing we want to know. If, as you have said so often, you believed in co-operation, with decent conditions for all, why did you not join hands with that section which was attempting to carry this into effect? Why did you not point out to the mineowners that they had no right to make huge profits; live lives of gorgeous luxury; to sneer at all wage earners, and at the same time attempt to force those who had produced that profit still further down the mire of misery and poverty? Why did you not attack the mineowners? Because they belonged to the same greedy dividend-owning class as you, and we realise here that your pleas for co-operation have been so much hypocritical trash. This you have proved since the termination of the General Strike. The agreement arrived at smells of you throughout. So you have “got your own back” – we shall see. The June issue of the Great Western Railway magazine shows the shadow of “Poleism” right through. We advise all railwaymen not to buy tour anti-working class propaganda doping magazine.

Your victimising attitude since the strike shows how you intend to penalise our men. Again we say, “We shall see.” We have seen you at last in your true colours. We see you arraigned as one of the biggest advocates of Capitalism that we have ever witnessed. We see you as an advocate of further suffering for our class. But we in turn stand solid, yes, as solidly as on May 4^th, and we say to you now that we know where we are, we shall continue to fight you and your class. Not only the mines, but the railways as well must be wrested from private enterprise.

Even though the General Strike has finished, our thoughts still go out to the miners. We shall support them or any other workers whenever we think fit. But there is one thing we cannot do, and that is in reference to your recent circular letter telling us that unless we speak to the “scabs” we are liable to dismissal. No man who sells his soul and his self respect to his enemies and betrays his comrades is entitled to the companionship of a class-conscious worker and we ignore your circular. It may be advisable from your point of view to post notices and agreements, but we men have yet to see the purpose, except as an insult to us, of posting them deliberately on view to the general public.

We invite you to examine the temperament of every individual who was loyal (sic) to the company, and we challenge you to pick out a real man amongst them. For, given a big enough bribe, they would sell even you to-morrow, just as you, at the bidding of a bigger salary would leave the “dear old Company” to fare for itself. Again, while your wages exceed the combined weekly wage of over fifty of our men you say the wages of the men must be reduced, and yours must be increased. We want to know on whose suggestion, and on what qualifications yours has been increased. One last word, dear Sir Felix, before we leave you to carry on the fight – a General Manager can leave the railway company for three months, and take a trip to the other side of the world, and no substitute need be found for him, but if through ill-health, death or even strikes, one of the cogs in the wheels of the railway industry, the bottom dog, leaves his post, a substitute must be found for him immediately. This then gives us the value of a General Manager, and his usefulness to the Company from which he draws such an enormous salary.

And now, au revoir, we shall meet again on the battlefield in the near future, and we shall remember your tactics in the past.

THE PADDINGTON RAILWAYMEN

The GWR and the General Strike The Oakwood Press C.R.Potts

Tuesday May 4

Paddington began to receive reports about attendance on the early shift at signal boxes: 10 signal boxes open in the Plymouth area; 10 signalmen reported for duty in the Worcester area; low attendance at Newport, Swansea, London, Exeter, Birmingham and Gloucester. There was a determination to get milk trains running: Gloucester managed one but not with local staff – the driver came from Bullo Pill and the guard was a Newport man. 50 UCL undergraduates sent to Royal Oak signalling school for 1 and a half hours of signalling instruction with similar amounts of instruction to come daily.

Wednesday May 5

Gloucester reported mid-afternoon that the Cirencester and Tetbury branch lines would be able to offer a service on the next day.

Friday May 7

A driver obtained for the 3.30 p.m. London to Malvern train informed the locomotive superintendent that the level crossings at Ascott, Blockley and Campden were “very uncertain”; he had been told that one of the station masters had refused to open the crossing. The Worcester superintendent was ordered to take according action.

Four trains running from Swindon to Gloucester (with two extended to Cardiff) with one train from Cardiff to Swindon via Gloucester, one from Cardiff to Gloucester, and three from Gloucester to Swindon.

Saturday May 8

Five important lines with no service listed, including Cheltenham-Bristol.

Sunday May 9

News came in from the Forest of Dean: the station master at Lydbrook Junction who had been out on strike, reported that he wished to return to his duties but he was not given permission to do so … However, three yard foremen at Gloucester and a Kemble signalman were allowed to return to work but with this GWR proviso: they would have to work where ordered and do any work so bidden.

Monday May 10

Six branch lines listed with freight services newly operating, including Fairford.

Four important lines with no service listed, still including Cheltenham-Bristol.

Tuesday May 11

An announcement from the Road Transport department that a GWR Gloucester-Cheltenham bus service should commence on Wednesday May 12. An extra train running from Cheltenham to Ludgershall on the Midland & South Western Junction Railway at 3p.m and returning at 5.40p.m.

Wednesday May 12

Gloucester staff support a resolution that men would return to work en bloc only.

Large consignments of flour carried from Avonmouth, Cardiff and Gloucester.

Thursday May 13

No staff reported for duty at Gloucester was the lunchtime message to Paddington. It was thought that no Paddington-South Wales trains (and South Wales to Paddington) could run at night as the LMS could not staff signal boxes at Standish Junction, Haresfield, Naas Crossing and Tramway Crossing.

The Permanent Way

Potts: ‘The track grades were almost all out (93.7%), but there were exceptions, particularly in the Gloucester and Shrewsbury divisions. At Cheltenham no less than 90 out of 117 permanent way men remained loyal, it was thought because of the personal influence of the local inspector.’

Police Department

2,202 special constables were enrolled, ‘the largest contingents being: Paddington-Southall (598), Cardiff (257), Birmingham (162), Newport (75) and Bristol (68) … Gloucester only enrolled 15 men.

Reinstatement of Junior Men in Preference to Senior Men

Gloucester is listed in the many examples reported after the strike.

16 station masters were listed who would be transferred to other positions (but without loss of pay). The list includes Churchdown.

‘In 1927 a summary statement was drawn up with action taken with men accused of violence or intimidation who had not been allowed to resume until their appeals had been heard by the General Manager (or assistant) …’

The list includes Fireman Gloucester Intim. and violence towards labourer Resumed 28.6.26 Driver Gloucester Impeding distribution of food Resumed 15.8.26

STATEMENT SHEWING NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS ENROLLED

AT CENTRES OTHER THAN PADDINGTON

Eleven Divisions are listed:

BRISTOL, EXETER, PLYMOUTH, GLOUCESTER, NEWPORT, CARDIFF,

SWANSEA, WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM, CHESTER, OSWESTRY

The average number of volunteers enrolled per Division was about 1,000. Gloucester came in at eighth on the list with 425 enrolled. 112 were utilised: only 25 were Company’s Servants; 71 came From Outside Service and 16 were Retired Company’s Servants. Gloucester came in ninth on number not utilised with 313, of which 241 came From Outside Service; only 39 were Company’s Servants and 33 were Retired Company’s Servants.

STATEMENT SHEWING THE PERCENTAGE OF STAFF ON STRIKE DAILY

Clerical and Technical Staff Supervisory Staff: May 5 27.2% May 6 26.7% May 7 26.4% May 8 26.4% May 9 26.4% May 10 26.0% May 11 25.7% May 12 25.4% May 13 24.7% May 14 24.6%

Supervisory Staff, including Station Masters and Agents: May 5 21.0% May 6 20.5% May 7 20.4% May 8 20.6% May 9 20.6% May 10 20.4% May 11 20.5% May 12 20.4% May 13 19.9% May 14 19.6%

Engine Drivers: May 5 98.7% May 6 98.6% May 7 98.6% May 8 98.5% May 9 98.5% May 10 98.4% May 11 98.4% May 12 98.3% May 13 97.5% May 14 97.6%

Firemen: May 5 99.5% May 6 99.6% May 7 99.5% May 8 99.5% May 9 99.5% May 10 99.3% May 11 99.1% May 12 99.1% May 13 98.5% May 14 98.5%

Guards: May 5 96.6% May 6 98.5% May 7 96.4% May 8 96.2% May 9 96.2% May 10 96.3% May 11 95.9% May 12 95.6% May 13 94.5% May 14 94.2%

Signalmen: May 5 92.1% May 6 92.3% May 7 90.7% May 8 90.3% May 9 90.4% May 10 89.5% May 11 88.8% May 12 87.9% May 13 84.3% May 14 83.2%

Shunters: May 5 97.6% May 6 95.5% May 7 97.0% May 8 97.1% May 9 97.3% May 10 97.4% May 11 97.3% May 12 97.0% May 13 96.3% May 14 95.9%

GWR Voices for Performance

The Voice of C.R. Clinker (clerk at Bristol)

It would be wrong to give the impression that the General Strike was anything but a very serious calamity. Yet to a young man in his twenties, with only three years’ service, it provided an interlude in daily routine and a sense of excitement.

Monday morning’s work in the office was much as usual. But after lunch all suddenly became tense. The staff was handed a telegram from the General Manager urging each ‘Great Western man’ to hesitate before breaking his contract of service with ‘the old company’. At four we were summoned to the Board Room – the only occasion I remember seeing all the staff assembled together. We were asked to indicate on a list whether we intended to remain at work, and, if we did so, what we would undertake. It was an awesome decision. Having recently passed my Signalling exam. with 85% marks I signed up for ‘any work’ with no clear idea of what it might involve. We were told to go home and report for duty at 6a.m.

Being unable to sleep, I got up early, put a few necessaries in a small bag and walked the two and a half miles to the station, arriving there about 4.30 a.m. The scene at Temple Meads was quite extraordinary. Every platform was blocked by trains without engines. The enginemen had just detached their engines on arrival and gone to shed. In No.4 (the up main platform) stood the Penzance-Paddington Postal from which the Post Office had removed their bags. Several of the station inspectors were about, few of the Supervisory staff having joined the Strike. The refreshment rooms opened at 6a.m. as usual and promised a welcome meeting place.

At the office, it appeared that only four of the men had elected to strike, but only three of the loyal men were prepared to take on anything.

News came in that two of the station masters had struck. One, on the main line had foolishly instructed his signalman to leave the level crossing gates across the line, contrary to standing instructions. The other, on a very rural double line branch in Wiltshire, had done the same at two crossings under his supervision. I was sent to the latter [Codford] in the office car and dumped seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Having obtained the keys of the station from the station master and locked up, I walked up the road to the village to find some lodgings for a night or two. I was kindly received at the little hotel, to whom I explained that my meal times might be irregular, and so on.

Back at the station I telephoned up and down the line to see if any train was about, but there was no news. A farmer arrived with a dozen milk churns. I had no idea of how to charge or invoice milk. We did not deal with such traffic at the station where I had trained. I accepted it, wrote out a waybill marked ‘charges to follow’ and left the load for the first train that might appear.

Towards midday the station master’s wife spoke to me over the hedge separating the garden from the platform. She said her husband had gone out and would I like some lunch on a tray? I accepted and this surreptitious arrangement was continued several times a day while I remained there. An odd arrangement to be fed by a station master’s wife!

Just as I was sitting down to my first lunch, a train arrived unheralded. Block working was suspended and it had come up the line ignoring signals. It was manned by a retired driver and his very juvenile son as fireman; the guard was a regular man. I unlocked the gates, passed the train through and rode with it for about half a mile to the second crossing. Here I encountered the crossing keeper’s wife, a foul-mouthed unpleasant woman, who shouted abuse at me whilst I handled the gates. The train went on its way and I returned on foot to my lunch.

After four days in this delightfully rural spot, a telephone message told me that one of our relief station masters was on the way to take over, and that I was to go to a small junction signal box on the main line.

This promised to be more interesting and would not have been over arduous had not the station master been thoroughly objectionable and unhelpful. To be pitched into a strange signal box, albeit of only eighteen levers, and expected to commence work at once without time to examine the diagram or grasp the locking, was difficult enough. It was much more difficult trying to get my bearings amid an almost ceaseless string of invective. I devoutly wished the station master had gone on strike.

Fortunately after two days and a night in which time I passed some 40 trains, I was able to move on, this time to a large junction box in Bristol where I joined an office colleague older than myself. The disadvantage of its position was proximity to a public road overbridge from which vantage point men, and some women, had been throwing stones and other missiles on to the lines and at the box windows. Half the glass had gone when I arrived and nearly all was shattered before we were withdrawn on termination of the strike three days later. The electric batteries were exhausted and we were without block instruments or telephones. All we could do was to work such mechanical levers as were not electrically locked.

After six days and nights without sleep I was in a daze without any sort of feeling left in me except an overwhelming desire to go to bed. I took a taxi to my lodging, refused any food and could hardly keep awake whilst I undressed and flopped into bed. But I was too tired for immediate sleep and it was several hours before I got off. I awoke two days later.

It was a great relief to be told that I might take two weeks special leave. This I spent at home in the Midlands and returned to normal life at the office fully refreshed.

Restoration of the havoc caused by the Strike was a protracted business. On the goods side movement had been virtually suspended except for foodstuffs, petrol and other necessaries. Traders had used road transport and continued to do so in some cases. Much valuable traffic was permanently lost to the railways and a good deal that resumed did so only slowly.

In the traffic department, passenger trains were very gradually restored, coach and engine workings were extracted from the muddle which hand-to-mouth working had driven them. Signalling equipment was overhauled and set to rights. It was officially stated that full normal working was not restored until the summer of 1927.

I do not know how the membership of trade unions among GW staff compared with those of other companies at this time. At a number of places in the Division there were certainly strong trade union branches, notably at Swindon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Bristol. At smaller places the interest seemed lukewarm.

The Railway Clerks’ Association did not appear to attract many members of the divisional office staff. I doubt if more than 15 per cent belonged to it. So far as I could see, the interest in union activities was negligible – virtually non-existent. My membership was never canvassed during the whole of my service with the Company.

‘Mr. T.J. Morris writes of his father’s experience:

In October 1925 my father was promoted from station master, Cirencester, to a similar position at Bilson Jn. At Cirencester, the revenues were derived chiefly from passenger traffic, but Bilson was in the heart of the Forest of Dean and the main income came from the conveyance of coal. Indeed, at Bilson, little, if any, provision was made for passengers. Those such as there were used the nearby terminal station of Cinderford.

Bilson Jn virtually consisted of a huge marshalling yard into which flowed the output of the coal mines at the nearby collieries of Foxes Bridge, Crump Meadow and Lightmoor. In earlier days other collieries has existed along the adjacent Churchway branch which also used Bilson Jn as the outlet to the main line. My father had only just about settled down to his new duties when all railway movement was disrupted by the General Strike.

At Bilson there was little, if any, movement as the great collieries were also shut down. These were very dark and hungry days for the whole community. The schools in the area became veritable soup kitchens, and for a few weeks the situation remained very grave.

During the school holidays I saw a group of men approaching the railway bridge at Bilson. I quickly recognised that they were all colliers from the strike-ridden pits and I immediately became aware that they were very cross about something. Here I should explain that whilst many railwaymen, especially those in the operating grades were on strike, my father carried on working. His office was in the middle of the marshalling yard close to the bridge on which I was sitting. He was not unsympathetic to the cause of the miners, but I was one of ten children and it never occurred to him but that he must continue working to sustain his very large family.

I watched anxiously as the picket strode down the railway lines and approached my father’s office. On arrival they were met by my father’s clerk – a Mr Stan Freeman – and although I could not hear what was being said it soon became apparent that a fierce argument was in progress. It was at this point that the office door opened and out came my father who, for reasons of his own, had decided to don his station master’s hat. He then advanced towards the group and, in what seemed no time at all, they all began to disperse. Thus an ugly situation was averted and for the first and only time at Bilson Jn I saw my father wearing his official uniform hat.

He himself told me very little about what had transpired, but the miners had clearly demanded that both my father and his clerk should cease working and this they had declined to do.

Mr Morris’s wife, Mrs K.G. Morris, also has her own strike memories:

My memories of the General Strike are extremely vivid. My father was a ticket collector on the GWR at St James station, Cheltenham. My mother had just been told she had a heart condition caused by rheumatism and it would last ten years, when she would recover. My sister was just three years old and I was seven.

I knew something was worrying my parents in addition to my mother’s illness, but knew not what.

I so well remember my father coming home from work one day. He came up to the bedroom where we were sitting with my mother; he was very upset and said to my mother, ‘They called me “scum” when I went into work today and my cousin was in the picket line trying to stop me going in. I cannot possibly strike with you so ill, we need the money. But it really is an awful business!’ It was the first time I saw my father cry!

I really did not understand the Strike. I could not understand how people could be so unkind to my father when I knew how worried he was about my mother’s health. However, they did not change him. The text at his funeral service was, “He went about doing good.” Would that there were more like him.

Mr J. Harber of Swindon recalls:

My father was a fitter in the Loco Works and also a part time fireman of the Works Brigade. The AEU allowed him to attend fires and emergencies.

I was ten years old in 1926 and lived in the railway estate. Most of the Strike activities took place around the estate. The Strike meetings were held in the park and the picketing took place in the main entrance.

As the estate and park were private property, any strike activity was trespassing. W. Robins and W. Noble who were Secretary RCA and District Secretary AEU, were arrested for trespassing during a picket.

The Revd K. Crisford, who was a curate at St Mark’s, preached a sermon against the railway companies and the Government and supported the strikers. After the service he walked to the park in his cassock and surplice with supporting parishioners to address a Strike meeting.

This was not supported by all the church members, some who were managers, foremen and ‘hopefuls’ shifted their allegiance to Christ Church. [After the Strike the Revd Mr Crisford was forced to leave Swindon.]

On a more personal note our school swimming lessons were stopped due to the water being supplied from the Loco Works, and the boilermen being on strike.’

UCL TYPE VOICE

‘Well, when UCL said to us that our final papers would be regarded benignly if we volunteered during the Strike, honestly, what could one do? Duty and self-interest married nicely together and so needless to say, one had to heed the call. And the call of a signal box on the Great Western Railway was irresistible: a nice stove if needed, occasional auroral benisons; bells and levers, and tea by the gallon; flaming sunsets and the romance of steam; in short: “What larks, Pip!”

I thought it would all be tally ho and tickety boo and straightforward but goodness me, no. I had to follow instructions and study a manual. So that we would quickly get to know the ropes, as it were. They said it was a simplified manual but Crikey I hope my finals won’t be as diffy. Here’s a taste of it and I can honestly say, it put me right off. Too much responsibility, I thought. Listen, and you’ll see what I mean. Here’s CHAPTER TWO: SIGNALS AND THEIR USES.

Imagine yourself the engine-driver of a non-stop train travelling at a mile-a-minute. For an hour or so you have rushed along and passed any number of stations where all the signals were showing “All Right,” and you anticipated nothing to check your rapid progress. If, suddenly, you came to a signal showing “Stop,” what would happen? With the weight of a heavy train behind the engine, you would be unable to obey the signal before you had gone a long way past it. Besides, the abrupt stoppage of a fast-travelling train would throw the passengers from their seats, jerk the luggage off the carriage racks upon their heads, and do no end of other mischief. Obviously, the system of signalling has had to be arranged in a way that prevents such an occurrence.

The situation is met in a simple manner. Whenever an engine-driver is required to stop his train at a signal, he is given warning a long way distant, so as to allow him ample time to reduce the speed of the train before reaching the signal.

Well, so far so good I thought. But the next section used the second-person possessive pronoun and the text I read did, I confess, lead to a certain loss of composure. Listen to these three paragraphs headed DISTANT SIGNALS and I think you’ll understand why.

The first of your signals seen by the engine-driver of a train approaching you from either direction, is a considerable way distant from your signal box. Its position gives it the name of “Distant” signal. Between this signal and the next one will be a distance of, perhaps, 1,000 yards or so.

Now, whenever an engine-driver sees a Distant signal at “Danger” he is not expected to stop at it, but to regard it as a Caution Signal, indicating that he must reduce the speed of his train and be prepared to stop at the next signal, if it should be at “Danger.”

The arm of a Distant signal has a peculiar shape, being notched at the end.

Well, I don’t mind telling you that I felt notched at the end of reading that. I don’t like seeing the word Danger at the best of times but reading it twice within one sentence rather put one off.

But I decided to persevere and so onto the final section in Chapter Two: HOME AND STARTING SIGNALS.

The second signal reached by an approaching train is generally situated in the neighbourhood of the signal box. Its position gives it the name of the “Home’ signal. It is a Stop signal, and must not be passed at “Danger.” The Home signal is usually placed a few yards short of the first siding connection or other pints on the line to which the signal applies. This enables an approaching train to be stopped where it will stand clear of any shunting or other operations to be done over the points. At junctions the Home signals are placed where, in a similar way, they “protect” the lines which other trains may require to pass over.

Farther on, ahead of the station platform and points of any sidings worked from the signal box, and generally some little distance beyond the signal box itself, is another signal. Its purpose is to govern the starting away of trains from your control into the section in advance. The name given it, therefore, is the “Starting” signal.

When the Starting signal is at Danger, the Home signal must not be lowered for an approaching train until the train is close to the Home signal.

Honestly, what did you make of all of that. My eyes just glazed over and my mind too. There were diagrams to go with this gobbledegook but, really, I felt as though I were trying to read a language that I had not previously encountered. My Finals at UCL would be easier than this, I thought. So, I thought I might give shunting a dekko instead. This is what I read:

Here are five trucks (lettered A to E) on a siding. Suppose you require to place the two marked “B” and “D” into a position to be taken by a train which, later, will arrive on the main line. This is how you proceed:-

Join the engine to truck “E,” see that “B” “C” “D” and “E’ are coupled together and that “B” is detached from “A.” Draw forward the four trucks that are connected together. When “B” has passed over the points, detach “B” and push it onto the main line. Again reverse the points, and push “C” on to the siding. In like manner shunt “D” on to the main line, and “E” on to the siding. Detach the engine from “E” and attach it to the two trucks (“B” and “D”) on the main line. Then place these trucks on the siding. They will therefore stand at the “points” or “outlet” end of the other wagons.

When the train arrives on the main line, it must come to a stand a little distance short of the signals. Its engine must be detached and sent into the siding to “pick up” “B” and “D.” It must then push these wagons against the train on the main line. Then join the connecting (“coupling”) chains and the train will be ready to proceed.

Well again, I ask you. I couldn’t follow that, could you? You have to be genius to be a shunter, in my humble opinion, and brave too. And to be frank I’m neither of those. So, I think it’ll have to be my finals at UCL after all.

From The GWR and the General Strike C.R.Potts Oakwood Press

‘

The GWR 1926

The GWR and the General Strike in Gloucestershire

May 2^nd Sir Felix Pole GWR General Manager sent the following message to all GWR stations and departments:

So, what happened on the G.W.R. in our area? How did ‘Great Western men’ react?

O.S. Nock in his History of the Great Western Railway Volume 3 1923-1947 starts us on our journey with a regional overview tempered by his company allegaince:

‘At first there was a fairly general cessation of traffic’ [though] … In the London area some stopping trains were worked on the main line on the first day … A steady stream of volunteers presented themselves for work on the railway and were allotted duties wherever possible … From that start, transport facilities rapidly improved, with the aid of volunteers, and a number of company’s men who remained loyal … On the railways as a whole, a good number of steam operated suburban routes on all lines had trains, while the nucleus of main-line facilities was generally built up from the Wednesday onwards with improvement day by day, including many branch line trains.

Further, while volunteer labour was a very big item, increasing numbers of railwaymen came back, so that quite early in the strike it was estimated that, including those who did not go out, upwards of 100,000 railwaymen were at work. But, as with the volunteers, many of those required training before they could be utilised for operating duties. Volunteer labour was throughout very plentiful, and although there was in many cases a demand greater than the supply for enginemen and signalmen, large numbers of the offers of assistance could not be utilised.

An interesting feature was that on several lines the students from engineering colleges and other institutions were recruited; their technical knowledge enabled them to adapt themselves to their new duties rapidly and readily [although] … At the start of the strike it was decided to keep simplified operating methods and this eventually became the limiting factor in the number of trains that could be run. To extend railway services to any great extent would have involved many of the complications of standard railway working.

Even so, as the volunteers became more and more familiar with the work, it was found possible to add very considerably to the number of passenger trains run, and gradually to increase to a substantial degree the number of goods trains operated.

‘In addition to what might be termed the more “glamorous” jobs for volunteers, such as engine driving and firing, and the manning of signal boxes, men and women of every estate buckled to on every kind of humdrum job, such as goods and passenger porters, ticket collectors, van drivers and such like. The amount of sheer physical work done by volunteers in handling food, milk, eggs and urgent parcels was prodigious; while the part played by women, including several titled ladies in tending the large stables at Paddington is a reminder of the extent to which the GWR relied upon horse-drawn lorries for delivery of good in the London area. Elderly railwaymen, long since retired, turned out to help, and a former station-master of Paddington acted as a volunteer guard on the Minehead branch.’

UCL TYPE VOICE

‘Well, when UCL said to us that our final papers would be regarded benignly if we volunteered during the Strike, honestly, what could one do? Duty and self-interest married nicely together and so needless to say, one had to heed the call. And the call of a signal box on the Great Western Railway was irresistible: a nice stove if needed, occasional auroral benisons, bells and levers and tea by the gallon, flaming sunsets and the romance of steam; in short, “What larks, Pip!”

The arm of a Distant signal has a peculiar shape, being notched at the end.

But I decided to persevere and so onto the final section in Chapter Two: HOME AND STARTING SIGNALS.

When the Starting signal is at Danger, the Home signal must not be lowered for an approaching train until the train is close to the Home signal.

Well again, I ask you. I couldn’t follow that, could you? You have to be genius to be a shunter, in my humble opinion, and brave too. And to be frank I’m neither of those. So I think it’ll have to be my finals at UCL after all.

Back to O.S. Nock:

‘On 11^th May, the following circular was issued by Sir Felix Pole: “A stage has now been reached in the strike when it can be said with confidence that railway services are improving each day, and I should like to offer my very hearty congratulations and thanks to all the officers, loyal staff and volunteers who have risen so splendidly to the occasion and who are responsible for this satisfactory state of affairs.” At the same time another was issued by Sir Felix Pole: “The word ‘victimisation’ has often been used in connection with strikes. In the experience of the Great Western Railway it has usually been imported at the end of a strike, the trade unions invariably asking that there should be no victimisation. The present strike not only differs from previous strikes in that it is not associated with any dispute or labour question affecting the company, but because of the fact that victimisations started with the strike, the victim in this case being the Great Western Railway Company. It is indeed true to say that the country as a whole is being victimised by a strike which is the blackest day in the history of Labour in this Country. That thousands of men with no grievance against their employers should have been ‘instructed’ to leave work, and that so many of them should have done so, passes all comprehension. It can only be explained on the ground that there was a deep conspiracy against the State. Thank God such a conspiracy cannot succeed and can only result in the discrediting of its promoters and the disillusionment of those who have been used as pawns in the game.”

The same evening the Prime Minister broadcast to the nation. I well remember listening to that broadcast through the headphones attached to a primitive “crystal set”. Broadcasting was then in its infancy, and many people like myself were probably hearing Stanley Baldwin’s deep resonant voice for the first time. Earlier in the day Mr. Justice Astbury had declared the strike illegal, and the next morning a deputation from the Trade Union Council waited upon the Prime Minister to tell him of their decision to call off the strike, unconditionally. There was, nevertheless, a certain hesitancy on the part of the railwaymen to return to work at once, and on Thursday and Friday … there were long meetings between Union leaders and the railway managers. Eventually a settlement was signed in the afternoon of 14^th May …

Those employees of the Railway Companies who have gone out on strike to be taken back to work as soon as the traffic offers and work can be found for them. The principle to be followed in reinstating to be seniority in each grade at each station, depot or office.
The Trades Unions admit that in calling a strike they committed a wrongful act against the Companies, and agree that the Companies do not by reinstatement surrender their legal right to claim damages arising out of the strike from strikers and others responsible.
The Unions undertake:-

not again to instruct their members to strike without previous negotiations with the Companies.
to give no support of any kind to their members who take any unauthorised action.
not to encourage Supervisory employees in the Special Class to take part in any strike.

The Companies intimated that arising out of the strike it may be necessary to remove certain persons to other positions, but no such person’s salary or wages will be reduced. Each Company will notify the Unions within one week the names of men whom they propose to transfer and will afford each man an opportunity of having an advocate to present his case to the General Manager.
The settlement shall not extend to persons who have been guilty of violence or intimidation

DATED THIS FOURTEENTH DAY OF MAY, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX.’

How did this agreement play out in the Gloucester area?

C.R. Potts shone a light with his The GWR and the General Strike where his exhaustive research revealed that Gloucester is listed in the many GWR examples reported after the strike where ‘Junior Men’ were reinstated ‘in Preference to Senior Men’; for example, sixteen station masters were listed who would be transferred to other positions (but without loss of pay). The list included the station master at Churchdown. More from Potts: ‘In 1927 a summary statement was drawn up with action taken with men accused of violence or intimidation who had not been allowed to resume until their appeals had been heard by the General Manager (or assistant) …’ The list includes a Fireman at Gloucester Intim. and violence towards labourer Resumed 28.6.26 and a Driver at Gloucester Impeding distribution of food Resumed 15.8.26.

Leaving our area for a while, the reaction to Sir Felix Pole at Paddington is quite startling:

Open Letter to Sir Felix Pole from the Paddington Railwaymen June 1926

Sir,

Therefore, on the morning of May the 4^th, you were left in your true position to line up with the Federation of British Industries against the workers.

And now, au revoir, we shall meet again on the battlefield in the near future, and we shall remember your tactics in the past.

THE PADDINGTON RAILWAYMEN

We simply do not know how far these sentiments travelled on the down line west from the GWR London terminus (a handful of sympathisers at Swindon?), but Potts provides a detailed analysis of our county in his book day by day through the strike:

Tuesday May 4

Wednesday May 5

Gloucester reported mid-afternoon that the Cirencester and Tetbury branch lines would be able to offer a service on the next day.

Friday May 7

A.R. Williams in The General Strike in Gloucestershire 1972 (Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society) reported that ‘By Friday, May 7, volunteers were restoring some sort of service on the railways, with twelve trains running from Cheltenham to Derby, Birmingham and Gloucester’ [L.M.S.], ‘There were three trains daily from Bristol to Paddington and four from Bristol to Gloucester.’

WITH THE WORKERS

Impressions of a stroll round the City

(By our Correspondent)

‘Amongst the black-coated workers the response among the railway clerks is very satisfactory. There was nothing doing on the goods yards of both the railways … It is a sight to see the railway metals beginning to rust owing to the absence of trains. The empty stations and the silence, where once was all noise, indicates the greatness and completeness of the workers’ protest of the crime that is being committed by the coal owners against the miners and against the supineness of a government that sits by with folded hands and allows the sands to run out. Never has Gloucester seen anything like this before …

News from Other Places

The Railwaymen’s Joint Strike Committee report the following position for areas outside Gloucester:

Stroud – More Railway Clerks have come out since yesterday.

Forest of Dean – Station Masters and Clerks out.

Sharpness and District – All solid. Only three men working in the district.

Station Masters out at Upper Lydbrook, Symonds Yat, Coleford, Parkend, Whitecroft, Bullo Pill, Blakeney, Bourton-on-Water, Kingham.

In Cheltenham, 26 out of 32 RCA men out.

On the Railways

The Railwaymen’s Joint Strike Committee reports to in the following position:

In Gloucester situation unchanged. More railway clerks have come out since yesterday. Speakers are being sent by the Railwaymen’s Joint Strike Committee to Cheltenham, Sharpness and Berkeley. From another source we hear that two Gloucester men drove Great Western engines yesterday – They certainly had a lovely drive!

Saturday May 8

Five important lines with no service listed, including Cheltenham-Bristol.

Local Railway Situation

The two retired Locomen Brothers who have been working Great Western trains have now been persuaded not to apply to the Railway further. They have now been able to see the justice of the cause. Railway position in Gloucester splendid.

On the Railways

Chepstow 52 men on Book 52 out

Monmouth 83 81

Lydney 234 233

Cinderford – all out

Newnham – all out

Stroud all out

Sunday May 9

Monday May 10

Six branch lines listed with freight services newly operating, including Fairford.

Four important lines with no service listed, still including Cheltenham-Bristol.

Train’s Narrow Escape

Within two feet of Disaster Blacklegs on Footplate

Attempt to run train by a military driver and a naval stoker nearly resulted in disaster at Cheltenham. Shortly after leaving Cheltenham, the train bound from Bristol to Birmingham nearly collided with level crossing gates closed against it, and only came to a standstill within two feet of gates. The train had not reached Birmingham by the following morning.

Gloucester Wagon Works The power section have struck.

Sharpness All members of the Transport Workers and N.U.R. standing solid by the instructions of the T.U.C. Joint meetings have been held daily. Messrs M.P. Price, Hacker, Dingley and Griffiths from Gloucester have given addresses on the situation. Concert programmes have been arranged and given each afternoon to keep everyone bright and cheery.

More Safety First

The G.W.R. are to be highly congratulated on the splendid response for blacklegs. One engine is being driven by a man who was unable to pass the required driver’s test and he is not accompanied by a greaser boy.

Another one working the second engine is a man who failed an eyesight test and he is accompanied by a taxi-driver. The one from High Street Depot is being worked by the Loco Inspector accompanied by the Carriage and Wagon Foreman. It is hoped the corpulence of these two latter gentlemen is not too big a handicap.

Tuesday May 11

Wednesday May 12

Gloucester staff support a resolution that men would return to work en bloc only.

Large consignments of flour carried from Avonmouth, Cardiff and Gloucester.

Thursday May 13

‘Lydney, Cinderford, Newnham … all out …’ while Ralph Anstis in his book Blood on Coal, describes the strike in the Forest of Dean: ‘The effects of the railway strike were soon noticeable. At Awre station milk churns were left uncollected and Symonds Yat, Upper Lydbrook, Coleford, Parkend, Whitecroft, Bullo Pill and Blakeney stations were closed with the staff out in support of miners.’

Now for some statistics from The GWR and the General Strike C.R. Potts with an emphasis upon the Gloucester Division: The Permanent Way ‘The track grades were almost all out (93.7%), but there were exceptions, particularly in the Gloucester and Shrewsbury divisions. At Cheltenham no less than 90 out of 117 permanent way men remained loyal, it was thought because of the personal influence of the local inspector.’

Police Department 2,202 special constables were enrolled: Paddington-Southall (598), Cardiff (257), Birmingham (162), Newport (75) and Bristol (68) … Gloucester enrolled just 15 men.

STATEMENT SHEWING NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS ENROLLED

AT CENTRES OTHER THAN PADDINGTON

Eleven Divisions are listed: BRISTOL, EXETER, PLYMOUTH, GLOUCESTER, NEWPORT, CARDIFF, SWANSEA, WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM, CHESTER, OSWESTRY

But to conclude, let us return to O.S. Nock:

‘So ended the strike as far as the railways were concerned, and for industry in general. The public heaved a sigh of relief, and affairs quickly reverted to normal except, of course, that a settlement of the coal dispute was as far off as ever.’

Trains run on the GWR: May 4 194 May 5 250 May 6 300 May 7 479 May 8 500 May 9 520 May 10 908 May 11 1,025 May 12 1,297 May 13 1,385 May 14 1,517.

And as regards from May 14 onwards:

‘Train services, as first restored, were far from normal. On the Great Western many crack expresses were temporarily withdrawn, and long-distance trains made many intermediate stops to avoid running feeder services and using additional coal. Supplies of foreign fuel were obtained, however, and as spring was followed by summer and the holiday season approached the full express service was restored …

The coal strike continued throughout the summer, with little sign of conciliation on either side. Railways and particularly the Great Western were inconvenienced by the poor quality of the continental coal it was possible to import … the prolongation of the coal strike into the autumn and early winter was, economically as well as socially, a national disaster. The country’s greatest source of indigenous wealth, the very foundation of her industrial supremacy in former years, virtually committed suicide. And South Wales, whose livelihood depended almost entirely upon the one great industry, was utterly ruined. The huge overseas markets to serve which the railways and dock facilities of the Bristol Channel ports had been built up were lost for ever …’

And now to return to Mr. Potts: