A RAIL INTEREST GROUP is appealing for information on three rail workers who volunteered for the Railway Operating Division during the Great War, writes Neil Gordon.
The Lickey Rail Group wants to hear from anyone connected to Alfred Stanton, George Peplow or Harry Wanklin if they have information on the men’s railway employment, military service or family life in support of its research.
The trio were from a group of 130 workers at Bromsgrove Carriage and Wagon Works ‘called up’ to serve during the First World War, with 19 of the men, including Alfred, George and Harry, volunteering for the Railway Operating Division.
Alfred Stanton was born in 1885 in Sidemoor and worked as a wagon repairer. He married Martha Hughes in 1906 and lived in Middleton Road in 1939. He died in 1967.
Harry Wanklin was born in Sidemoor in 1891 and worked as a spring maker. He lived in Melbourne Road in 1911 and married Rose Fowler in 1914. He was living in Old Station Road in 1939 and died in 1951.
Wagon repairer George Peplow was born in 1893 in Bromsgrove and lived in Bewell Head in 1911. George married Elizabeth Burton in 1919 and was living in Barnfield Road in 1939. He died in 1980.
A Lickey Rail Group spokesperson said: “We would be delighted to receive contact from anyone, family or otherwise, with information on Alfred, George or Harry so we can gain a greater insight into, and understanding of, their lives.”
The Railway Operating Division was formed in 1915 as a division of the Royal Engineers. It largely comprised railway employees who operated both standard and narrow gauge railways in the many theatres of the war.
Anyone with information can email: [email protected] or visit the group’s website – lickeyrailgroup.org – for more information.
