From the railways, to war, and back again

DCRO Accession, LNER Ledger

We recently received this volume transferred to us from the National Railway Museum in York. Whilst it looks pretty nondescript from the outside, it is in fact a ledger from the London and North Eastern Railway containing the details of men who fought in the First World War who worked in the Shildon, Darlington, Middlesbrough, Ferryhill, and West Hartlepool districts.

The Railway Museum has indexed the names of the men who died, not just from the LNER, but other railway companies, and you can find their database here: http://www.nrm.org.uk/RailwayStories/WW1/railway-workers.aspx

However, for the Durham at War project we are getting volunteers to index all the names. It is a valuable piece of work as it is often harder to trace those who survived the war and the majority of the men in the book did so.

Crop of DT (55.06) 1915 edition Ordnance Survey map, NER works, Darlington

The information given includes their job with the LNER and their service/regiment during the war. It also says when they resumed work after the war. The men didn’t just join the army (and they joined many different regiments) but also the Royal Navy, and the Royal Naval Air Service.  Once the ledger has been indexed, further research can be done on the men. It is a document that once again shows the breadth of experience of the men from County Durham.