GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill Station: gwrbsh2653

During the first few months of World War 2, while Hitler and Stalin were pre-occupied in carving up Poland, the so called ‘phoney war’ occurred in the West. In December 1939, evacuated children planned to return home for the Christmas holidays and the military authorities had also given leave to an unprecedented number of service personnel. As a result a huge number of extra trains were required to supplement the normal services both before and after the Christmas period. The Great Western Railway’s extra services were detailed in notices similar to this one which was issued to Station Masters in the Birmingham & Worcester Divisions. As well as detailing the additional services and relief parts of trains, it gave details of the School Specials laid on for returning evacuees. On page 39 of this notice is the timetable of a Schools Special from Lydney to Handsworth conveying over 400 pupils from the Yardley Grammar School and Handsworth Grammar School. Notice how this Schools Special travels along the Honeybourne Line through Stratford-on-Avon to Bearley and is then routed via Hatton and the Birmingham Main Line to avoid the more congested section of the North Warwickshire Line.

Robert Ferris

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