Soham rail disaster

1944 CE.

Shown on the map at 52.335°, 0.328°.

The Soham rail disaster occurred on 2 June 1944, during the Second World War, when a fire developed on the leading wagon of a heavy ammunition train. The wagon contained a quantity of high explosive bombs. The train crew had detached the wagon from the rest of the train and were drawing it away when the cargo exploded. The fireman of the train and the signalman at Soham signalbox were killed and several other people injured. The driver, Ben Gimbert, and fireman, James Nightall, were both awarded the George Cross for preventing further damage which would have occurred if the rest of the train had exploded.

Text from the Wikipedia article Soham rail disaster, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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