Honouring the Railwaymen: Ken Griffiths speaks at the unveiling of Haslemere’s signal box memorial

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Transcript

00:00I think the unveiling went really, really well. We couldn't have asked for anything better.

00:04There must have been, I think, 120, 130 people here, friends of the Cigna Box,

00:09obviously senior railway managers, network rail, south-western railway, railway 200 people are here.

00:15It has gone exceptionally well, and it's a wonderful service in the memory of those railway workers,

00:21the southern railway workers, who gave their lives in the second world.

00:25Can you talk a little bit more about those who lost their lives?

00:28How did they lose their lives?

00:32They lost their lives on the railway.

00:34The railways, obviously, were a prime target during the Second World War,

00:37with the bombs and the bombers, etc.

00:39The railways were carrying the troops around the country.

00:42So they were not in the front line as such, but they were really supporting the front line.

00:47And like so many of the services, I don't think about the fire service, you know, the police service,

00:52they were always on duty when the times of trouble were there.

00:56They weren't hiding, they were actually carrying on doing their job, and they suffered because of it.

01:02And why do you think it's so important to preserve the Cigna Box for the future?

01:05It's part of our heritage, it's part of our national heritage, it's part of Hazemere heritage.

01:12The signal goes, the signal box, if I could say, goes back to 1895.

01:16It's got the original equipment still in there.

01:19We will add some bits to it.

01:21And if people like us didn't take it over, it would probably be boarded up and actually fall into disrepair,

01:27which so many boxes have along the entire railway network.

01:30So it's important that we keep it for the people of Hazemere, for the wider people of Surrey,

01:36and the wider people of the country.

01:38And why did you decide to do a memorial garden?

01:40What drew you to the signal box yourself?

01:43Because when you go through Waterloo, it's got the names of all the southern railway workers

01:48who died in the Great War, the First World War.

01:51When you look at the Second World War, there's just a small plaque saying 626 people actually sort of died.

01:57When this is moved into the memorial garden, we will have the names of those people who died as well.

02:03So there's more meaning to it.

02:05And then members of the family, members who are actually perhaps not related to people,

02:10but in the railway world can come to the garden and reflect on what's actually happened

02:14and what they gave to the country and the service to the railway.