REMEMBERING WILMCOTE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2022 :: RMTnews 28 Until it was featured in the January 2022 RMT News, you were unlikely to have heard of the March 1922 Wilmcote accident. It wasn’t a big passenger train crash, yet it was significant – as every accident was and is. It was unusual in that it killed four track workers in a single moment: Edward Sherwood (43), George Booker (43), Lewis Washburn (40) and William Bonehill (27). Three of the four were members of the National Union of Railwaymen, RMT’s predecessor union. On the centenary of incident, March 24 2022, the men and their families were remembered at Wilmcote station. This included relatives of three of the men: two of George Booker’s grandchildren, two of Lewis Washburn’s cousins and a cousin of William Bonehill. Sadly Lynda, another of George Booker’s grandchildren, couldn’t attend due to Covid, but talking to her in the lead-up to the centenary made it clear how the accident had affected her family. George’s wife, Annie, rarely spoke of him in Lynda’s presence; George’s picture was missing from the house. Raising four sons by herself took a toll. Lynda’s father went on to become station master at Wilmcote; Lynda recalled that he and two of his brothers were offered jobs by the Great Western Railway by way of support after their father’s death. It took a lot of work – and a fair bit of luck – on the part of the Railway Work, Life & Death project to track down the family members, but it was really important to do. All of them were delighted that their ancestors were being remembered: these were men who were otherwise forgotten, ordinary men who didn’t leave a vast historical record, but men who were loved by their families and their communities. On the day of the centenary, the remembrance was led by Andrew Hall, Railway Chaplain for the area. REMEMBERING WILMCOTE Mike Esbester reports on a special ceremony on the centenary of the death of four track workers Wilmcote station on 24 March 2022. The memorial event, including Ian Taylor (Wilmcote station master; in hi vis), Lis and Judy (Lewis Washburn’s cousins; front left), Barbara and Roland (George Booker’s grandchildren; centre front and back), Denise (William Bonehill’s cousin; red jacket) and Andrew Hall (right, next to Denise).