In 2023 we have worked with creative writer Olivia Macnab to create a poem to remember the fallen.
We ran poetry workshops with some of our employees, Community Rail Partners and Station Adopters and created 'It Took Every Soldier' which reflects on the important role the rail industry had transporting soldiers during war time.
It Took Every Soldier poem
Soldiers line up at the station
Soon to fight for their nation
Wheels greased and engines fired
Duckling carriages warned of mire
All in uniform, harsh and stiff
Polished boots, new leather, no give
What awaits they do not know
Only to defeat the foe
Soldiers line up at the station
Soon to fight for their nation
Glancing up and down the line
All this will end by Christmas time
The train begins to pull away
Oh, how she wishes he could stay
No letter, no whisper, no sign of return
Heart for her hero begins to yearn
Soldiers line up at the station
Soon to fight for their nation
Hissing engines, coaches sway
Taking soldiers on their way
King and Country, proud to serve
But wartime is a learning curve
Flag-waving children watch in awe
They can’t understand the truth of war
Soldiers line up at the station
Soon to fight for their nation
While young men go to join platoons
This platform fills with children soon
“Mummy, where did daddy go?
Are we going to get him?” “No.”
Families divided by sorrowful partings
To mobilise, evacuate. Wartime starting
Brings fears unknown and country life
Far from bombs, but not from strife
Soldiers line up at the station
Soon to fight for their nation
“Last time I was here was with our Peggy
Getting the Sunday train to Skeggy.”
“How do you think it’ll be when we arrive?
You don’t think there’s a chance we won’t
come back alive?”
“Nah, mate, over by Christmas, we’ll be fine.
You’ll be back on the train to the seaside next
summer, having a lovely time.”
Soldiers lined up at the station
Humans, machines; all fought for this nation
For families ripped apart by war
The railway station: the guardian’s door.
Download the It Took Every Soldier poem here.
The Poem is displayed at stations across the network and 'AV IT media have created a voice recording with 3 of our employees, Dean Myers, Nick Woolley and Paul Mobbs with video of footage from the Routes of Remembrance train from Wirksworth in 2022. Watch the video of the It Took Every Soldier poem below.