The Burton Agnes Disaster

By Richard M Jones

In the early hours of an autumn day in 1947, a truck laden with German prisoners-of-war and their English guards approached a level crossing in a sleepy Yorkshire village. At the same moment, an express train was thundering towards the crossing. For some inexplicable reason, with the train just yards away, the soldier behind the wheel of the truck did not stop. Instead he pressed the accelerator pedal... The scene was set for a terrible tragedy - one which was largely forgotten, until author Richard M Jones began to investigate the story 60 years later.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mereo Books
• Release date: Apr 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781861511980

Richard M Jones

Richard M. Jones is an author of 18 other books on history and shipwrecks, having been fascinated by lost ships since an early age. As well as placing nine memorials to different forgotten disasters he still has time to study for future projects as well as serve at sea with the Royal Navy.

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RICHARD M JONES

THE BURTON AGNES DISASTER

The forgotten wartime rail tragedy which killed twelve innocent men

Copyright ©2014 by Richard M Jones

Smashwords Edition

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Mereo Books, an imprint of Memoirs Publishing

Richard M Jones has asserted his right under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover, other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The address for Memoirs Publishing Group Limited can be found at www.memoirspublishing.com

The Memoirs Publishing Group Ltd Reg. No. 7834348

Mereo Books

1A The Wool Market Dyer Street Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 2PR

An imprint of Memoirs Publishing

www.mereobooks.com

ISBN: 978-1-86151-198-0

By the same author

The Great Gale of 1871

Lockington: Crash at the Crossing

Contents

Chapter 1 Aftermath of war

Chapter 2 A tragedy in the making

Chapter 3 Impact

Chapter 4 Picking up the pieces

Chapter 5 Burial and remembrance

Chapter 1

Aftermath of war

The Second World War was an event that affected almost every human being alive. From those being called up to serve their duty to those being left at home to keep the country running, everybody had some reason to mourn a loss and had several major events occur that would alter their lives forever.

From the Battle of Britain to the sinking of the Bismarck, families all over were getting telegrams to say that their loved ones had been lost in action or taken prisoner in a far away and hostile land. From the outbreak of hostilities in 1939 until the war ended in 1945 Britain had been beaten black and blue, yet still came back up fighting, which led to the incredible push back of the Nazi war machine and the eventual defeat of Hitler by Allied forces.

The years after were spent counting the cost in lives, materials, buildings, ships, military equipment and normal everyday neighbourhoods. Every day of war was another day of loss, even if you were the winning side. When a ship sank it would take much-needed supplies, war materials, people and fuel. The effects of just one incident can be catastrophic - major missions put back several months, a lack of crucial materials to replace those which have already been lost and the skills of the people now no longer available. This required more effort to regain what had been lost, train new crews, replace vital transportation and even recall crucial paperwork to make sure vital information was not lost.

This was not just a daily struggle, but an hourly one. The shock of the toll of these losses devastated every county

Reviews for The Burton Agnes Disaster

[Paul Dixon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very readable and an interesting and moving account of the Tragedy. My grandparents Frederick James Dixon and Lilian Dixon, the stationmaster and wife never talked about this even after we found out about it. My grandmother was written up as a heroine in one of the papers but refused to dwell on it. I have the article.
Stephen Paul Dixon