Deeds of a great railway : $b A record of the enterprise and achievements of the London and North-Western Railway company during the Great WarDarroch, G. R. S. (George Richard Sutton)
History
Deeds of a great railway : $b A record of the enterprise and achievements of the London and North-Western Railway company during the Great War
Darroch, G. R. S. (George Richard Sutton)
London and North-Western Railway; World War, 1914-1918 -- Transportation
As a single instance of the reliance which could be placed in the
work-people's resolute support, we have only to note the loyal
adherence by the men in Crewe Works, which they maintained to the
bitter end, to a resolution which they passed themselves, to the
effect that "We, the working men of Crewe, will do all that is humanly
possible to increase the output of munitions, and stand by our comrades
in the trenches"; and this resolution was the outcome of a series of
meetings organised and held in the summer of 1915, in the various shops
within the Works, when Mr. Cooke, having emphasised the paramount
importance of keeping up the great railways, "which have to deal with
the transport of soldiers and munitions, that keep together the life of
the country," went on to remind his hearers that "it is to those who
produce the material for the making and repairing of locomotives who
have this all-important matter in their hands."
[Illustration: "WE, THE WORKING MEN OF CREWE, WILL DO ALL THAT IS
HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO INCREASE THE OUTPUT OF MUNITIONS, AND STAND BY OUR
COMRADES IN THE TRENCHES." [_To face p. 186._]
Appropriately enough, Mr. Craig, M.P. for the constituency, having
already wired the terms of the resolution to Mr. Lloyd George, was able
on behalf of the latter to "thank you, the men of Crewe Works, for the
splendid efforts you have put forward in the past;" adding, that he had
peculiar satisfaction in so doing, for "never either in the House of
Commons or out of it have I heard a word of reproach levelled against
the men of Crewe. Their patriotism has never been impeached."
That this outspoken tribute contained nothing from which could possibly
be construed anything in the nature of what is commonly known as
"gush" is easily apparent from the fact that Mr. Craig had only just
previously appealed to the men to "allow nothing to interfere with
the production of munitions of war. You are asked," he said to them
point-blank, "to relax for the time being all trades union rules and
regulations, and to compete with one another in order to produce the
largest possible amount of munitions."
With the exception, then, of an insignificantly small minority of
juvenile and inexperienced would-be firebrands, who in nine cases out
of ten could not boast of ever having ventured beyond their native
shores, if indeed beyond reach of their mothers' apron-strings, the
attitude of the men of Crewe was, throughout the protracted struggle,
loyal to the core, and that this was so must ever redound to their
undying credit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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