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.
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.
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.
Please visit the Kent and East Sussex Railway website for more information and how to contribute to the appeal.
More images below, all courtesy of the Kent and East Sussex Railway.
(Image courtesy of Lewis J Brockway)
(Image courtesy of Lewis J Brockway)
