大象传媒

Long after my Grandfather's death, I discovered this anecdote in his obituary which appeared in the house magazine of the company he worked for , the well known London printing firm of Thomas De La Rue Ltd. Grandad started work for them at the age of 13 as an errand boy. Later he became an inspector in the security control department, and completed more than 59 years service with the company.

It's a pity he never spoke about the incident while he was alive, although he knew I was interested in railways. Anyway for what it's worth here is the story as it appeared in his obituary.

'In the early years of the war he (my Grandfather) accompanied Mr Casbard (a senior colleague) to Southampton guarding a bullion wagon. While this wagon was waiting in Southampton station it was coupled by mistake to a troop train, which soon departed with the bullion wagon attached.
My Casbard and my Grandfather promptly told the stationmaster and the three of them then commandeered a locomotive and set off in pursuit on a parallel line. When they eventually caught up with the troop train the stationmaster took off his top hat and waved the troop train down. They shunted their engine round to the back of the troop train, retrieved the bullion wagon, and so saved their company's reputation for security.'

Thanks to the City Archives at Southampton I managed to discover the identity of the top-hatted stationmaster. He was a Mr Percival George Collins. Apart from that I have no other details of the incident. It would be interesting to know where the bullion consignment was going though.

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