Students Re-enact Railway Disaster - Report by Brian White

On 17th March 2006 Soham Village College brought a group of students to the Railway to make a film of the wartime explosion that took place during the small hours of Friday June 2nd 1944.

The residents of the sleepy Cambridgeshire village of Soham passed the night blissfully unaware of danger that was in their midst. Many miles away from the dreadful affairs of war in Europe and the Far East, During the night a 390 yards long train comprising 51 wagons and a guard's brake hauled by a slowly moving steam locomotive. Of the 51 wagons, 44 were loaded with 250lb and 500lb unfused bombs amounting to approximately 400 tons. There were another 6 with detonators, primers, fuses, wire release gear and bomb tail fins.

As this train gently moved past the Soham signals, all showing off, Benjamin Gimbert, the driver looked out of his cab window and noticed flames rising from the first wagon, some 18 inches high. The flames were spreading rapidly. Ben realized that now was not the time to panic and gently brought the train to a stand, fearing any violent movement would prove catastrophic. He then urged his fireman James Nightall, to get down and uncouple this wagon from the rest. Taking a coal hammer with him in case the couplings were hot, Jim sped to his task and returned to the engine in under a minute. The pair sped off forward through Soham station with the intention of getting into open countryside. After traveling 140 yards they stopped to enquire whether the line ahead was clear and the proximity of the Mail from signalman Frank Bridges. Frank (known as Sailor) was aware of what was going on and had made arrangements for the rest of the train to be moved and confirmed that the Mail was not yet in Section. Ben Gimbert crossed to the fireman's side of the cab to talk to Sailor who had a full fire-bucket in his hand to try to douse the flames, which by now were spreading rapidly and burning fiercely. The three courageous men had all put their lives at risk and were unable to do any more before a huge explosion erupted. 44 bombs weighing 500 lbs. had gone up killing Jim Nightall outright and lifting Ben Gimbert off the locomotive for a distance of 200 yards. 'Sailor' Bridges was smashed to the floor by the blast and mortally wounded.

The raw courage of these railwaymen is still remembered today for had they not acted as they did, Soham and its residents could have become victims of a devastating explosion. In all probability the area would have been utterly destroyed and many residents would have been injured, or worse, lost their lives. Of these three brave men only Ben Gimbert survived and received the George Cross, the highest civilian award for valour. His colleague Jim Nightall was also posthumously awarded with a George Cross and all have now passed into local and railway and folklore.

Soham is very proud of its local history which spans many, many years and although the driver and fireman were not local men, they were all taken to the hearts of the local populace.

The students at Soham College thought that by re-enacting the traumatic events of 62 years ago they would demonstrate that later generations had not forgotten heroes who in many instances, may well have saved the lives of some of their forbears.

On a very cold Friday 17th March the youngsters visited the Railway with only their enthusiasm and sense of purpose to keep them warm. They were provided with steam locomotive No. 73050 "City of Peterborough" and a set of box vans plus a guards brake. An assortment of caps was provided for some of them to wear.

They clearly knew the story well and it was mainly left to their cameraman Oliver to put into practice what they had quite obviously discussed and rehearsed beforehand. They were introduced to the footplate crew and the guard under whose guidance they carried out their filming.

At the end of the day a lot of very happy youngsters together with their teachers and cameraman left the Railway, cheerfully waving as they went on their way. All that now remains is for the editor to do what is necessary and hopefully they will be able to produce a re-creation of those dramatic and sad events from an era, the likes of which it is hoped that they will never have to live through.

All the staff involved at NVR hope that their endeavours have a successful outcome and look forward to seeing a copy of the end product. Well done Soham Village College !