On This Day in 1944, Soham Rail Disaster

On this day in 1944, the town of Soham in Cambridgeshire was shaken by a wartime railway explosion that could have caused far greater destruction had railway staff not acted within moments of spotting danger. The disaster happened in the early hours of 2 June 1944, just days before the D-Day landings, when a heavy ammunition train caught fire as it approached Soham station. Two railwaymen were killed, others were seriously injured, and the station and surrounding buildings were badly damaged by the blast.

The train had left Whitemoor marshalling yard at around 12.15am, bound for Ipswich, and was hauled by War Department Austerity 2-8-0 locomotive No. 7337. It was made up of 51 wagons and a brake van, with 44 wagons carrying high explosive bombs and the remaining wagons carrying associated components. Driver Benjamin Gimbert and fireman James Nightall were on the footplate, while guard Herbert Clarke was at the rear. As the train approached Soham about 90 minutes after departure, Gimbert saw that the leading wagon, immediately behind the engine, was on fire.

The danger was immediate and extreme. The burning wagon was carrying high explosive bombs, and if the fire spread to the rest of the train the consequences for Soham could have been catastrophic. Gimbert stopped the train and Nightall went back to uncouple the blazing wagon from the rest of the load. Once that had been done, Gimbert began drawing the burning wagon away from the other wagons in an attempt to isolate it and reduce the scale of any explosion. Their actions were carried out knowing that the wagon could detonate at any moment.

At about 1.43am, while the engine and burning wagon were still near Soham station, the bombs exploded. Nightall was killed, and signalman Frank Bridges, who had remained at his post and helped warn others of the danger, died the following day. Gimbert was badly injured but survived, while Clarke, despite being stunned by the blast, continued to protect the line by warning others and helping prevent further danger. Five other people suffered severe injuries and 22 suffered minor injuries, while the explosion left a large crater, wrecked much of the station and damaged hundreds of nearby properties.

The exact cause of the fire was never established with complete certainty, but the official investigation focused on the wagon that had caught fire and the conditions that may have allowed ignition. One possibility was that the wagon had previously carried bulk sulphur powder and that traces may have remained despite cleaning. Investigators also noted that some wagon sheets had been tucked inside around the load rather than hanging down outside, which could have allowed sparks from the locomotive to enter the wagon and ignite material inside. The disaster was therefore linked not to a single proven fault, but to a hazardous combination of explosive cargo, possible contamination and vulnerable sheeting.

Remembered today, 82 years on, the Soham rail disaster is as much a story of courage as it is of destruction. Benjamin Gimbert and James Nightall were both awarded the George Cross for their actions, with Nightall receiving the honour posthumously. Their decision to stay with the train and separate the burning wagon from the rest of the ammunition almost certainly prevented a much larger explosion and heavier loss of life. In a town already living under the pressures of wartime, the events of 2 June 1944 left a permanent mark on Soham and on the history of Britain’s railways.