Porter in England

[csmith9474]

The joy it must have been to be a porter in Britain during WWII.

http://www.mixedtraffic.net/war/wartimebritain/gasmask.jpg

[Anonymous]

Interesting theory about those masks - there's a strong feeling that issuing them to all persons prevented a gas attack (as it would have been somewhat ineffective). Regarding the rail system during WW2, there are numerous stories that illustrate the hazards. Most memorable would have to be the explosives train that caught fire near the town of Soham - the crew were able to uncouple the car that had caught fire and were in the process of hauling it to an isolated area so that when the inevitable happened it would injure as few people as possible. They made a brief stop to check that the line ahead was clear (pre radio, they had to stop by the signalbox and ask) at which point the bombs exploded. Two men were killed but their actions saved hundreds. Full story here: http://www.soham.org.uk/history/trainexplosion.htm