The Cavell Van - Latest News
Preserving a unique part of railway history
July Progress Report
Work continues on the Cavell Van itself at Ramparts Ltd of Derby. Not surprisingly for a railway vehicle more than 100 years old, dismantling has revealed more remedial work than had been apparent from superficial inspections and delivery is now estimated for mid-August. This delay will not affect the commissioning date of 10 November 2010.
The final design of the coffin has been agreed and work has started on its construction. This is being led by key members of the Bodiam Group, using their workshops, with the support of the Carriage & Wagon workshop at Tenterden.
Homewood School pupils have completed the design and text for three display panels: Nurse Edith Cavell; Captain Charles Fryatt; and the Unknown Warrior. The students will resume their research when school returns at the end of August on the two remaining panels: the Cavell Van; and Ashford as a railway town.
June Progress Report
Following the announcement of a most generous grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund of £27,000, coupled with the successful raising of £8,000 so far in the public appeal, work has started on the basic renovation of the structure and running gear of the Cavell Van.
On 27 April 2010 the Van was collected from Wittersham Road and transferred by road to Ramparts Ltd of Derby, the winning tenderer.
Initial dismantling by Ramparts has revealed areas where remedial work is needed to reinforce wasted metal work. Interfleet, located nearby, is undertaking regular reviews with Ramparts and providing progress reports to K&ESR's Engineering Manager. Work is scheduled ot be completed in early July.
Whilst the Van is away, planning work continues to decide the final interior layout, which will replicate as far as possible the Van's appearance on 10 November 1920 with a catafalque, Union flag and coffin, with drapes and wreaths.
Brunswick Ironworks of Caernarfon, the firm which made the original plaque, handles and iron bands for the 1920 coffin, are still trading and supplying, amongst others, the railway heritage movement (including major works for the Welsh Highland Railway). This company is now tendering to supply replicas for our own coffin.
At the same time, pupils from Homewood School continue their excellent research into the history of the three heroes, the Cavell Van and Ashford as a railway town combined with design and art work for the five display boards to be installed in the Van.
News Release - 10 May 2010
Heritage Lottery Fund helps safeguard future of Historic Cavell Van
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant of £27,000 to the Kent & East Sussex Railway it was announced today.
The historic Cavell Van is an important railway legacy of the Great War era and famous for carrying Nurse Edith Cavell’s coffin, that of Captain Charles Fryatt and the Unknown Warrior.
The South Eastern & Chatham Railway passenger luggage van No.132, built in 1919, was donated to the Kent & East Sussex Railway by one of the railway’s volunteers and will now be preserved thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The award of £27,000 together with £7,000 raised towards the project from public donations will allow the refurbishment to go ahead
A further £2,000 still needs to be raised to complete the project.
Stuart McLeod, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund South East England, said: “This project will not only preserve this historic railway wagon, it will also at as a catalyst for school students and other visitors to the railway to learn more about the First World War and the heroism of Nurse Cavell.”
The work will begin this summer with the aim to complete the restoration by 10 November 2010 – exactly ninety years after it carried the Unknown Warrior.
Since the grant was confirmed HLF representatives have visited the railway and met students from Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre in Tenterden, who have been involved in this exciting project. They heard how the school’s history students are working hard to produce interpretation boards about the fascinating history of the Cavell Van, which will go on display to visitors at the railway station. The students have visited the Imperial War Museum in London to research the stories and images associated with this famous wagon. The boards will tell visitors all about the restoration and the amazing history behind this special carriage.
Students from other departments at Homewood School were also involved in the project. Music students have created music for the attraction and maths students produced statistics to use in the display which includes how many young men lost their lives during the war.
The Cavell Van’s historic significance originates from its role in conveying, from Dover to London, the remains of three war heroes repatriated from Europe. The first of these sombre journeys was made during May 1919 when No.132 carried the body of nurse Edith Cavell. Thereafter, it became known to railway men as the Cavell Van.
In her early career Edith Cavell served as a staff nurse at The London Hospital in Whitechapel, eventually moving to Belgium as the director of a nurses’ training school in Brussels. She remained there at the onset of the Great War and was soon helping allied soldiers escape the Germans. It was only a matter of time before she was arrested and when she confessed she was court-martialled and shot on October 12th 1915 for “assisting the enemy.” She retained great dignity until the end - her final words ensuring her place as one of the war’s foremost heroines:
“Standing, as I do, in the view of God and eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”
Two months after Edith’s repatriation, Van 132 carried the remains of merchant seaman Captain Charles Fryatt. As master of the Brussels, Fryatt attained popular acclaim in March 1915 when, heading for Rotterdam, his vessel attempted to ram U-boat U33 instead of stopping, as ordered. Forcing it to dive, Fryatt thus made good his escape. The following year, however, bound for Tilbury, his ship was surrounded by destroyers and boarded. Fryatt was charged with attempting to ram U33; he was shot after a show trial.
Van No.132’s most poignant duty though came in November 1920 when it conveyed the remains of the war’s highest profile casualty – The Unknown Warrior. Since then, it has led a varied life, most recently arriving on the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 2004.
END.
To find out more about the Kent & East Sussex Railway visit www.kesr.org.uk
To request images or an interview please contact Caroline Edmunds at Pennington PR on 01892 616647.
We need to raise £35,000 to restore the van in time for the National Service of Remembrance on 11 November 2010
The BBC South-East News featured the Appeal Launch on Thursday 3rd December - watch it here
See the new gallery of images taken by Lewis J Brockway on the Appeal Launch day, 03.12.09
The ‘Cavell Van’, built in 1919, is important in the railway preservation movement for being the prototype of a class of vans used for mail and luggage on express passenger trains from the 1920s. Read more...
But it has a far wider and deeper significance historically, for the uses to which it was put following the end of the First World War - from which it acquired its name of ‘Cavell Van’ - conveying the bodies of three heroes from Dover to London.
The Kent & East Sussex Railway has acquired this extremely valuable historic vehicle and it is our intention to restore it mechanically and then fit out the interior to represent the journeys made to London with the bodies of these three British heroes.
There will be a catafalque with coffin draped with the Union Flag in the centre and on the walls of the van will be educational panels and photographic displays to commemorate its extraordinary history. The vehicle will be available for school educational visits, special events and for Armistice services as well as being on display to our general visitors.
Restoration will cost in the region of £35,000 and donations are sought towards these expenses. Our ambition is to complete restoration by 10 November 2010, the 90th anniversary of the Van’s use to carry the Unknown Warrior.
 Nurse Edith Cavell
The London Hospital-trained nurse, Edith Cavell, was appointed Matron of a hospital in Belgium in 1910. When the Germans invaded in 1914, she remained at her post, treating both British and German soldiers wounded during fighting on the Western Front.
In 1915 she joined the ‘resistance’ and helped injured British soldiers escape back to the British lines. Caught and condemned by the Germans, Nurse Edith Cavell was executed by firing squad on 12 October 1915. Nurse Cavell was acclaimed by British and French public opinion as a heroine and after the war, her body was returned to Britain. On 15 May 1919, her coffin arrived at Dover and was placed in the ‘Cavell Van’ to be carried to London. The van had been fitted out in full ceremonial style with a catafalque and hung with drapes.
Thereafter, it and all others of the class were always known as ‘Cavell Vans’ by railwaymen.
 Captain Charles Fryatt
The next ceremonial use was for the return of the body of Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt. Captain Fryatt was the Master of a Great Eastern Railway passenger and freight steamer, on the dangerous route between Harwich and The Hook, in neutral Holland.
In March 1915 his bravery was apparent when he successfully rammed a U-boat with his vessel rather than surrender. For this, he received a gold watch from the British Admiralty. The German Navy now actively pursued him and successfully deployed a flotilla of torpedo boats to intercept him in June 1916.
It was the “show trial” which followed which resulted in his being acclaimed a hero in Britain. Rather than being taken a prisoner of war, the Germans, determined to make an example of him, executed him in July 1916.
The Cavell van, now decorated with a plaque to Edith Cavell, was chosen to convey his body, with full military honours, from Dover to London on 15 July 1919.
The Unknown Warrior
Most famous of all perhaps, was the return of the ‘Unknown Warrior’, an unidentified body selected at random to represent the countless thousands who had no marked grave in the mud of the trenches.
The Unknown Warrior’s body arrived in Dover on HMS Verdun on 10 November 1920 and was placed in the ‘Cavell Van’, this time being decorated with laurel leaves, palms and lilies.
The coffin of the Unknown Warrior was then conveyed to London for a burial service attended by King George V at the inauguration of the Cenotaph on 11 November 1920.
 Patron of the Cavell Van Appeal
Admiral the Lord Boyce GCB OBE DL
Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports
Constable of Dover Castle
The Western Front Association
As the UK’s leading educational charity on the First World War the Western Front Association (WFA) is delighted to be associated with the K&ESR Cavell van project.  Founded in 1980 with a focus on the Western Front the WFA has developed to cover all aspects of the 1914-1918 war. Branch activities nationwide include lectures, battlefield tours, museum visits, school competitions and research support for projects including family history. The WFA website contains Great War articles, a discussion forum and a schools’ section. WFA members also receive magazines exploring life during the conflict. For an application form, visit www.westernfrontassociation.com
 We need to raise £35,000 to restore the van in time for the National Service of Remembrance on 11 November 2010
BV Rail presents K&ESR Cavell Van Restoration MSTS Pack - see bubbles railways website for more details
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