CELEBRATING ASQUITH XAVIER

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2020 :: RMTnews 26 Asquith Xavier, the man who broke the colour bar at Euston station with the help of his union back in 1966, will be celebrated in his home town of Chatham in Kent this month with the unveiling of a plaque on platform one of the local train station. The colour bar at Euston station was finally defeated on August 15 1966 when the West Indian guard was finally allowed to start work after initially being refused a job. Asquith Xavier was 46 and had come to Britain from Dominica, the largest of the Windward Isles in the eastern Caribbean as part of the Windrush generation. He had started work for British Railways in 1956 as a porter, working his way up to rail guard at Marylebone station. However, following the closure of the Marylebone main line as part of the Beeching rail cuts, guards were no longer required and were being transferred to stations like Euston. However Mr Xavier, an experienced guard, received a letter telling him that he had been rejected for a job at Euston. Mr Xavier showed the letter to local National Union of Railwaymen official at Marylebone James Prendergast. Known as Jimmy, Prendergast was a life-long anti-fascist who had fought in Spain against fascism and in the RAF against Hitler’s Luftwaffe. Jimmy knew that fellow NUR member Tony Donaghey – who was to become RMT president many years later – had been offered a guard position at Euston. When Tony CELEBRATING ASQUITH XAVIER Plaque to remember National Union of Railwaymen member Asquith Xavier to be unveiled at Chatham station in Kent VICTORY: Asquith Xavier, the first black guard at Euston Station, arrives at work on August 15 1966 to collect his equipment from Guards Inspector Philip Howard.