A POINGANT CEREMONY took place to rededicate a locomotive named after a Royal Navy aircraft carrier which sank with the tragic loss of over 1,200 lives, writes Neil Gordon.
Class 50 diesel locomotive, number 50033 named Glorious, after HMS Glorious, was rededicated at the Severn Valley Railway’s Kidderminster station earlier this month in a ceremony to commemorate next week’s 85th anniversary of the ship’s sinking.
Representatives from the Severn Valley Railway, the Class 50 Alliance and the Royal Navy attended, along with relatives of some of those who died on the ship, while Sea Cadets from Worcester and Sandwell provided an honour guard.
Sea Cadets from Worcester and Sandwell. Picture by D Spencer. s
The railway’s managing director, Gus Dunster, opened the ceremony with poignant words on the history of the relationship between the names the Class 50 locomotives bear and their Naval counterparts, before Commanding Officer Ben Dando, 825 Naval Air Squadron, paid a heartfelt tribute to the legacy of HMS Glorious’ sinking and the bravery of the crew and her escorts.
The locomotive’s nameplate was re-unveiled during the ceremony and the Last Post was played by Bugler, Squadron Leader (Retired), Jason Davenhill. The service ended with the Rev Paul Roberts giving a Blessing.
HMS Glorious and her escorts, HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta, were all sunk by German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the North Sea on June 8, 1940, with the loss of 1,531 lives.
The ‘Glorious’ nameplate on locomotive 50033 after the rededication ceremony. Picture by Neil Gordon Media.
And 1,207 of those who died were men and boys on HMS Glorious in what was the Royal Navy’s worst loss of the Second World War, resulting in the tragedy being subject to a 100-year secrecy order by the Board of Inquiry.
Locomotive 50033 entered British Rail service in 1968 and was named ‘Glorious’ in 1977. It is now preserved and based at the Severn Valley Railway.
