It’s the time of year when we take some time to remember the sacrifices people have made in war and conflicts.
As well as pain and suffering on the front line – as war became more industrialised there was increasing pain and suffering on the ‘home front‘, with the supply chain coming under attack from the air – ‘total war‘ as it came to be known.
In addition to factories in the Midlands being attacked, raw materials such as steel produced in Corby became military targets. The industry at Corby in addition to basic materials was also involved in some more novel projects such as project PLUTO in World War 2. (which was ultimately unsuccessful at its primary goal).
There are further details about Project Pluto on the Daily Grind.
The transport network, and in particular the railway and it’s workers also became targets of ‘total war’. There are a range of memorials to rail workers that became victims of war either through their service on the war front, or at home. One example is the Midland Railway’s memorial at Derby, and also more recently created memorials such as the one at St Pancras.
Further information about the Midland Railway memorial is available on the Midland Railway study centre’s website.
The Wikipedia page on the Midland Railway memorial contains links to information about several other railway memorials, such as the London and North Western Railway memorial at Euston.
There is more information about how the Poppy became the symbol of Remembrance on the British Legion website.
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