The devastating train crash that ‘almost destroyed’ a Cambridgeshire town

The explosion killed two people and damaged over 700 homes

History has seen some tragedies over its time, and Cambridgeshire has seen its fair few disasters, including major fires and crashes.

One disaster that “almost destroyed” a town was a railway fire that occurred in Soham in 1944. The day was June 2, when a heavy freight train left Whitemoor marshalling yard, near March, just after midnight.

The train was made up of a WD Austerity 2-8-0 engine, 51 wagons and a brake van, and it was headed for Ipswich. On board the train was driver Benjamin Gimbert, 41, fireman James Nightall, 22, and train guard Herbert Clarke.

Around 90 minutes into the journey the train approached Soham station. As it approached, the driver looked back and saw flames coming from the leading wagon.

This wagon contained 44 general purpose bombs, each weighing around 500 lbs. Gimbert stopped the train and instead of running to safety, he told Nightall to uncouple the first wagon from the rest of the train.

Nightall managed to sort this quickly, however the fire grew more serious. Gimbert started to get the wagon away and moved it around 140 yards away.

At this point, he was still alongside the platforms at Soham station and the bombs exploded. A more serious explosion was avoided as a result of the men’s actions.

The blast instantly killed Nightall. Signalman Frank Bridges, who was on the opposite platform, died the next day. Gilbert was badly injured, but didn’t die. Despite being in shock, Guard Clarke managed to walk to the next signal box to warn other signalmen of what happened. Five other people suffered severe injuries and 22 other people suffered minor injuries.

As well as human injury, the explosion created a massive crater, measuring 66ft in diameter and 15ft deep. The station buildings were almost demolished, and there was also severe damage to over 700 homes within a 900-yard radius of the explosion.

Despite the explosion being so severe, the line reopened to freight traffic within 18 hours. The cause of the fire was never fully explained, so it remains somewhat of a mystery.