The Bere Ferrers rail accident occurred at

Bere Ferrers railway station Bere Ferrers station on the Tamar Valley Line is situated near the village of Bere Ferrers in Devon, England. The station is on the former Southern main line between Exeter and via . It is currently operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). His ...

in England on 24 September 1917 when ten soldiers from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

alighted from their troop train on the wrong side of the train, having assumed they should leave by the same side they had entered, and were struck and killed by an oncoming express.

The accident

Two troopships of the

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

, the ''Ulimaroa'' and the ''Norman'' had just arrived at Plymouth Sound from New Zealand, and the soldiers were en route to

Sling Camp Sling Camp was a World War I camp occupied by New Zealand soldiers beside the then-military town of Bulford on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. History The camp was initially created as an annexe to Bulford Camp in 1903; it was originall ...

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wit ...

. Their train left Plymouth Friary railway station at 15:00, the soldiers had not eaten since 06:00 that morning and had been told that at the train's first stop,

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, two men from each carriage could collect provisions from the

brake van Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van ...

. In response to a signal the train made an unscheduled stop at Bere Ferrers station at 15:52. The length of the train meant that the end carriages were outside the station and those aboard assumed that this must be Exeter station. Eager to break their ten-hour fast and ignoring the 'two from each carriage' rule, many jumped down, some onto the down-line track. The

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station o ...

to Plymouth express train had left Exeter on time at 14:12 and had made its previous stop at

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

. As it approached Bere Ferrers the driver noticed the stationary train and gave a prolonged blast on his whistle, but there is a sharp turn on the approach to the station and the driver was unable to see the soldiers on the track ahead until it was too late. The express was travelling at 40 mph (65 km/h) and nine soldiers were killed instantly before the express managed to come to a halt a quarter of a mile (400 m) beyond the station. A tenth died later in Tavistock Hospital. One of the survivors said "We never thought of expresses travelling at 40 miles per hour. They don't travel at that rate in New Zealand. It was a wonder more of us were not killed." The inquest revealed that the men instinctively exited the train from the same side they had entered, placing them on the railway's other track. They would also have been unaware that in Britain all stations had high platforms, unlike New Zealand and many other parts of the world where it was normal to climb down carriage steps at stations.

Remembering the dead

The dead were buried in

Efford Efford (anciently ''Eppeford, Elforde'', etc.) is an historic manor formerly in the parish of Eggbuckland, Devon, England. Today it has been absorbed by large, mostly post- World War II, eastern suburb of the city of Plymouth. It stands on high ...

cemetery in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

, but a brass tablet was unveiled in the local St Andrews Church the year after the accident and a plaque was also erected at the station. A further plaque was unveiled in 2001 in their memory in the village centre following a request by the New Zealand Army Museum.

References

{{Railway accidents in the United Kingdom, 1900–1999, state=collapsed Railway accidents in 1917 1917 disasters in the United Kingdom Rail transport in Devon History of Devon Railway accidents and incidents in Devon New Zealand in World War I 1917 in England 1910s in Devon Bere Ferrers 1917 in New Zealand September 1917 events