21st December 1940 – The Christmas Blitz – Four Brave Railwaymen
There were intense raids on Liverpool on the nights of the 21st and 22nd December, killing an estimated 345 people. The Liverpool area was strongly attacked on the night of the 20th– 21st December, and an even more severe attack followed the next night, when a concentration appears to have been made on the Docks area. On the night 22nd – 23rd, some bombs were again dropped in Liverpool, Bootle and Birkenhead. Although 15 hits were registered in the railway system, the cumulative effect of which reacted seriously on the working of the lines.
A plaque recognising a brace act by four Merseyside railway workers in Birkenhead in December 1940 is sited at Hamilton Square station. The men – Alfred Philpott, Eric Calverley, Charles Pote and Ernie Irwin – were working at Morpeth Dock when a train carrying ammunition caught fire during an air raid. Despite bombs raining down on the dock they immediately ran to put out the fire.
Eric Fenna, 66, from Wallasey, is the grandson of Alfred Philpott and led calls for the men to be honoured. He said “It’s an important piece of local history and I felt it should be recognised in some way. They were on a night shift and incendiary bombs were dropping but they managed to get the train under a water crane. It wasn’t far from a built-up area so if the train had exploded it could have done huge damage to Birkenhead.”
The men all received a commendation from their employer, the Great Western Railway. We believe they also received British Empire Medals, but this needs confirming.
NB: The Great Western Railway was originally one of four rail networks which covered the UK and connected London to the West of the UK. Liverpool was serviced by two of these four companies LMS and GWR – as GWR only went as far as Chester and Birkenhead and LMS went up towards Manchester and Scotland both lines covered Liverpool. Later, Merseyrail as it is known today, was formed from both GWR and LMS railway lines.
