An Untold Story From World War II Revealed

One of the darkest periods in human history is World War II.

The sheer magnitude of destruction of human, animal and plant life as well as the complete carnage done to the ecosystem and the quantum reshaping of the natural topography of countries in Europe and Asia by bombings from air raids is something no one would like to remember or relive.

The generation of people that grew up and experienced that world war is naturally on a decline due to their deaths as it has been over 70 years now and even memories from that dark past is fast fading away in the minds of this generation.
Historians have however tried to keep the memory of the world war alive with documented stories and events that might not have been told at the peak or tail end of the war.

Here is one story that may not have made the headlines of major newspapers back then but it's significance to the war efforts cannot be undermined.

Colossal Explosion At Soham Railway!

This happened before the infamous D-Day and it is a story about the bravery of a freight train driver named Benjamin Gimbert and his fireman colleague James Nightall.

The two were assigned to the task of transporting bombs that were meant for the USAF that had stationed in White Colne, Essex in the United Kingdom.

It was the 2nd of June, 1944 and the two gentlemen were in a freight train delivering the highly volatile cargo.
Suddenly as they reached a small village located in Cambridgeshire known as Soham, the freight train driver, Benjamin Gimbert spotted that one of the carts was in flames and considering that their cargo consisted of explosives, the sight of the cart on fire was simply shocking.

Benjamin then decided that rather than drive a burning freight train it would be better to have it come to a halt, he put on the brakes and eventually stopped the flaming freight train.

The freight train was just about 420 ft or 128 meters away from the Soham station. James Nightall then proceeded to get down from the train and rather than take to his heels, he went over to the burning cart with the intention of un-coupling it. Their intention was to get the freight train away from the burning cart before the explosives ignited, however time was not on their side and approximately seven minutes after Benjamin had seen the fire and stopped the train the bombs exploded.

Benjamin Gimbert was thrown 600 ft or 200 meters away by the sheer force of the blast. The explosion killed two individuals working for the railway company that were trying to warn other trains that were coming to the station of the danger and the blast completely destroyed the Soham station building that was 420 ft away and left a 20 ft or 6 meter deep craters as a result of the explosion.

Unbelievably because of the importance of the rail track to the British and Allied forces war efforts, it was back functioning perfectly by evening time.

The bravery of Benjamin Gimbert and James Nightall was acknowledged by the British government and they were given the most prestigious non-combat award for bravery known as the George Cross in recognition of their courage and selfless sacrifice.

Today if you go to Soham, two plaques that commemorate their heroic feat can still be seen in honour of these distinguished gentlemen.