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GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line
GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton
Bordesley Station: gwrbg2291
Air Raid 26th 27th August 1940 The award of
George Medal to Engine Cleaner, Peter Frederick Smout and Examiner, Frederick
Francis (Sexton) Blake, and the award of the British Empire Medal to Yard
Masters Clerk, James Ernest Clarke; all being employees of the Great Western
Railway.
From the London Gazette 24th January 1941
At 11pm a bomb fell in the road near a timber yard next to
Bordesley Railway Yard. Cleaner Smout, aged 17 years on hearing bombs falling
left his cabin and immediately commenced dealing with incendiaries, using his
hands and feet to cover them with ballast. He then volunteered to take a
locomotive along the blazing goods shed, although bombs were still falling, and
draw the wagons to safety. N his first journey he was accompanied on the
footplate by the Depot Master's Clerk, James E Clarke but on three other trips
he went alone although by this time the offside of the footplate was too hot
for him to touch. Throughout the night his coolness and courage set a fine
example to the other members of the railway company's staff and, but for his
action, it would not have been possible to save any of the wagons lying near
the burning goods shed.
Examiner Blake observed a wagon on fire and, with assistance
propelled the burning vehicle to a place of safety by hand. After doing this,
Blake went to the shelter and prevailed upon more of the staff to help him. He
organised a squad of men and removed other burning trucks, He also acted as
Shunter to Smout, and operated the point levers, which had become so hot, by
using his cap. Blake afterwards put out a number of incendiary bombs using his
hands and feet to cover with ballast until he found an old shovel. He then
found a stirrup pump with which he extinguished the lesser fires on several
trucks. Throughout the night Blake showed little regard for his own safety, By
his example he led other members of the staff to help save the
Company'Companyss property.
JE Clarke generally supervised, did all possible to get
volunteers from the shelters, assisted in removing wagons and extinguishing
incendiary bombs, and moved about in all parts of the depot with total
disregard for danger.
Extract from Heroes of Road and Rail (Chapter VIII) by
George C Curnock published 1941
Peter Smout - I booked on for duty at 8:57pm. At 11
o'clock a bomb fell in the road the other side of the timber yard, smashed a
gas main, and lit up the whole yard. It was a bit frightening at first, but I
forgot it when I saw the flames from the gas main had set the timber yard
alight, and sparks were blowing right into our big empties station.
This was a huge wooden shed, nearly 200 yards long and about 30 wide, with
platforms from which we loaded up empty crates and packing cases, often filled
with straw. Wagons ready to be loaded stood inside the shed. Others were on the
roads alongside. August had been very hot and dry and everything was like
tinder. In no time the shed caught fire.
Frederick (Sexton) Blake As we went over the
lines Clarke said There are wagons in that shed. We'll have to get them
away from the fire if we can. We want a shunt engine, I said,
If we can put a road or two between them and the shed it might be
enough. Looking for an engine we went up the sidings to the bridge, and
there found one that had been left standing Clarke looked at it and saw it was
under steam. Can you drive? he asked me. I was about to say I'd
have a try, when I saw young Smout coming across under the bridge. Hi,
son! I called out, seeing his loco cap. Can you drive an
engine. I know how said the lad what do you want me to
do? We've got to go and fetch those wagons away from the fire
Clarke replied. He thought Smout looked out young to take on such a risky job,
son added: If you show me how to do it, I'll drive the engine.
I may as well do it myself, said young Smout"
Peter Smout (again) It was the first time I had
driven an engine. I knew how, of course. My main thought was can I get it
to do the job? When I got on the footplate I had to look at the gauge.
The steam was down to a minimum. When an engine is left standing you've got to
put it right down for fear of it blowing-off. That meant I had to get the steam
up. There wasn't time to wait for it to get well up, and that was the trouble
all the time. Just as the steam was up to a point where I was ready to start a
big bomb fell on the houses behind the timber yard. I suppose it was aimed at
our fire. After that I got her going. Blake was acting as shunter. Without him
we couldn't have done the job. He had to uncouple wagons we wanted to pull away
from the burning shed and couple them up to my engine. Our first shunt struck
fast after moving a yard or so, Blake, not being a shunter in the ordinary way,
hadn't realised that all the brakes would be set. When he found that out, he
went all down the line releasing them. As well as coupling and uncoupling, he
had to work the points. The shed was by this time a white-hot mass of fire,
Flames were blowing out over the roads where we were working. Some of the
couplings were too hot to hold, so were the levers on the points nearest the
fire. To make things worse, the engine hadn't enough steam up to pull a heavy
load, and we had to take a few wagons at a time, which meant more journeys. All
the time we were doing this Mr Clarke was helping and directing. In all it took
us a couple of hours.
Fred Blake (again) There were flames shooting
up to 200 feet, making everything in the yard stand out as clear as
daylight With Smout pushing that engine up and down with myself and
Clarke dodging about in the open, and everything on the move, I couldn't help
but think those chaps up there in the air above us must be saying: Look
at those shaky so-and-so's down there, running about, the bloody fools!
My worst job was the points. Every trip Smout made, I had to shift them twice,
taking the wagons off one line and putting them on another. If I'd been taller
it would have been easier. I could have put more weight and leverage into it.
The points swelled up with the heat and the handles got hotter and hotter. What
I did was to pull my coat over my head as far as I could, take my cap in both
hands, sling it over the lever, and pull for all I was worth. Smout was having
a bad time with the heat too. His footplate got so hot you couldn't touch it on
the offside. When we had been working two hours and had shifted three trains,
Clarke said: We've done all we can. You take charge I went back to
the bridge to have a smoke and had a quiet time until three in the morning,
when Jerry let loose a lot more incendiaries. We got this lot out, and the
All Clear went at 4:30am. What did you do? I asked
young Smout. The firemen had got their engine up to the shed by
then he said. I watched them until it was my usual time to go
home Did you tell your father about your engine driving? the
lad smiled in his quiet way. I didn't say anything. I was just as
surprised, ad Dad was when the notice came about my medal Blake was
almost indignant about the recognition given to him for his share in the job.
To tell you the honest truth he said to me. As I see it, I
had no right to a medal, when I went up that Russian river, standing up to the
middle in cold water and seeing those mines come floating down the shallows,
with just one rod sticking up and tumbling about in the water well that
was different. 300 went out on that job, and only 33 came back. We earned our
silver badges all right. The King knew mine when I went up for the George, and
spoke to me about it. What with the mines, and the Dover Patrol off the Belgian
coast, this blitz seems pretty tame to me, and that's a fact!'
Further details:
- Peter Smout lived in Acocks Green. The locomotive he
drove was pannier tank No 7758 see 'gwrt537'.
- Frederick Blake had been a first class stoker in the
Royal Navy for 21 years and during the First World War had severed on
minesweepers. In 1920 he received a Mine Sweeper Medal for his post war work
clearing mines in Russian rivers.
- James E Clarke was a yardmaster Clerk at Bordesley
Junction and a member of the Home Guard. He lived in Arden Road, Acocks
Green.
The above is extract is from Heroes of the Birmingham
Air Raids
Robert Ferris
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