"Two of our number caught it rather badly and are now in hospital, whilst a third received a slight wound in the breast. But I suppose it is all in a day's march, and probably I shall get another taste before I am through."
J. Simpson
RCA Head Office Clerk.
Born 1891 - Died France 5th November 1914.
Simultaneously with the development of capitalism during the 19th Century came the race to acquire colonial possessions, with Britain firmly in the lead. After the 1880s the industrial world achieved a tremendous rate of growth which, combined with a rapid concentration of capital, resulted in a large number of monopoly associations of employers and industries. By the time the clouds of war began to gather during 1914, British imperialism controlled 440 million people. The remaining leading powers, France, Germany, the USA and Japan, dominated more than 520 million people. Other European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, had also colonised considerable parts of the world. The problem was, how could they defend or increase their share of the world's riches?
The working class movement was alert to the danger, and Socialists throughout Europe gathered at international forums in Stuttgart, (1907) Copenhagen, (1910) and Basle (1912) where, in an attempt to stem the tide of war, it was agreed that:
"In the case of war being imminent, the working classes and their Parliamentary representatives in the countries concerned shall be bound to do all they can, assisted by the International Bureau, to prevent the war breaking out...Should war nevertheless break out, it would be their first duty to intervene in order to bring it to a speedy termination and to employ all their power to utilise the economic and political crisis created by the war in order to rouse the masses of the people and thereby to hasten the downfall of capitalistic class domination."1
On 29th July 1914 a massive demonstration was held in Brussels and Keir Hardie and other Socialist leaders voiced their opposition to war. As late as 2nd August the British Section of the International held a rally in Trafalgar Square with over 20,000 in attendance. Five thousand members of the Transport Workers' Federation joined the rally after marching from the East End of London, singing the "Red Flag" and "The Marseillaise" as they entered the Square. George Lansbury, Arthur Henderson, Will Thorne, J. Keir Hardie and even H.M. Hyndman, who later became the most vociferous of those in favour of the war, were present, all calling for peace and opposing the move towards war. The rally concluded with Russian, German, and French Socialists hugging each other in an expression of solidarity and calling upon the people of London to voice their detestation of war.2
The spark that ignited the flame which eventually engulfed Europe was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on 28th June 1914 in the town of Sarajevo. After their murder, the politics of Central Europe quickly took over; on 1st August Germany declared war on Russia, and two days later, on France. Following Germany's invasion of Belgium in August, Britain declared war on Germany, and despite all the rallies and international declarations most of the European Socialist parties changed their political positions overnight. The following year, on 15th February 1915, Socialist representatives of the allied nations reversed their pre-war policy and said that the invasion of Belgium and France by the German armies threatened the very existence of independent nationalities, and had struck a blow against all their faith in treaties.3 They then went on to commit themselves to fight until victory was achieved. This, too, was the position of the RCA.
The Labour Party gave immediate support to the Government's declaration of war and its General Secretary, J. Ramsay MacDonald, who opposed the war, resigned. Arthur Henderson was elected as Secretary, with MacDonald continuing as Party Treasurer. In 1915 a coalition Government was established including Henderson as the Cabinet Minister responsible for Education. The administration included other Labour members, one of whom was George Wardle who joined the Government in 1916 as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade.
A political truce was agreed between the Conservative, Labour and Liberal parties, who undertook not to contest any vacancies that might arise during the war. The ILP, which held its own conferences, sponsored its own Parliamentary candidates and established its own policies, opposed both the war and the political truce. The British Socialist Party (BSP), formed in 1911 and affiliated to the Labour Party in 1916 with a membership of 20,000, was divided between those who supported the extreme jingoism of its leader, H.M. Hyndman, and those who would eventually defeat his policies and help to form the Communist Party. The Irish Parliament supported the war and Nationalist MPs took part in recruitment campaigns; Sinn Féin chose neutrality. Both Larkin and Connolly opposed the war as did most Irish-based trade unions. The Irish TUC and Labour Party, although not directly opposed to the war, criticised it and believed that the interests of Ireland should have priority.
On the 7th August Alexendar Walkden had an interview with J.M. Robertson MP, Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Trade, to discuss the immediate effect of the war on the RCA. He also wrote to the Railway Executive Committee (REC), which had been established by the Government immediately war was declared, and to the General Manager of each railway company, from whom he obtained assurances that volunteers for the armed forces would be reinstated upon their return from military duty. He was also advised that military service would be counted as railway service for superannuation and increment of salary. Unease at the sharp increase in prices brought a special allowance in 1914 for those servicemen with dependants, making up the difference to four-fifths of their railway pay, and in 1915, a War Bonus was obtained for those in the Conciliation Grades. This was denied to those on salaries but, after protests were made by the RCA, it was given to all railway workers - other than women. Such blatant discrimination provoked protests of outrage from RCA women, and following representations made by the EC they, too, received a War Bonus. This payment was designed to be a special award for one year only, but increasing pressure from the membership to match rising prices resulted in further bonuses being given in 1916 and 1917.
The General Secretary and other RCA officials attended a meeting of Labour Party and trade union leaders at the House of Commons on 5th August, when a War Emergency Workers' National Committee was elected. Walkden, who totally supported the Labour Party's position on the war, was elected to the EC of the National Recruitment Campaign and took an active role in its work. On 29th August 1914 he sent a circular to all branches appealing for recruits. This had a positive effect and by October 1914, over 1,500 RCA members had joined the armed forces, including four members of the head office staff. One of these was Jack Simpson who enlisted as a clerk in the Army Service Corps. Following a few weeks training, he was sent to France where he was killed on 5th November - the first of many RCA members to lose their lives in the war to end all wars.
Within the first two weeks of the war over 27,000 railway workers had either been called up as Territorials or Reservists or had volunteered for the armed forces. So popular was the recruitment campaign that the REC became concerned about the efficiency of the railway system. The Government then issued an instruction which ensured that men employed by the railway companies should not be accepted for the forces unless they had a certificate from their employer indicating that their services could be spared. By 1915 over 72,000 railwaymen had volunteered, and the demand for additional recruits was such that the mass employment of women on railway work now became a serious option.
The union was totally committed to the recruitment campaign but when war badges were issued by the railway companies in 1915 to employees whose work was considered essential to the running of the railways, Walkden, along with many members of the Association, voiced his objections as he believed it would be used to force men without badges to enlist against their will. The Association also had some sympathy4 for those who objected to compulsory military service on grounds of deep moral conviction. There were approximately 5,000 conscientious objectors to the war, and the RCA disagreed with the treatment they received at some of the Tribunals and from the most vociferous sections of the press. Stott wrote in The Railway Clerk, Many of those conscientious objectors are among the best workers in the Labour and Trade Union Movement, and some are in the RCA.
5 One of these was Jim Haworth,6 who became President of the Association in 1953. Haworth suffered considerable hardship for his convictions and spent three years, including his twenty-first birthday, in prison. B.T. Williams7, a member of the EC from 1913-1917 was also a conscientious objector and spent a period of time in Wormwood Scrubs.
The majority of the head office staff were members of the ILP but most opposed its attitude towards the war, as indeed did the overwhelming majority of RCA members. There were lone voices in support of the ILP; Harold Chadwick made his views known at the 1915 Annual Conference, but the most prominent opponents to the war were George Ridley and Percy T. Heady.8 Under his nom de plume of Cassius, Ridley wrote a long article in The Railway Clerk which criticised secret diplomacy and the pre-war armament race.9 However, in 1916 he resigned from the EC and volunteered for the army. He was eventually sent to Salonica with the Railway Troops, became a Warrant Officer, First Class, and received the Military Service Medal. Percy T. Heady, who had been appointed by A.G. Walkden as his confidential clerk in 1910 asked the EC why they now denied all the principles they had held so dear.
They had forgotten the Internationale in an enthusiasm for 'War Maps' and brass bands; exchanged the 'Red Flag' for 'God Save the King'; the motto 'Workers of the World Unite' for the soldier's cry of 'My King and Country'; to work yourself to such a frenzy that you can delight in prodding bayonets into the bodies of your German comrades, a deed you would never do in a sane moment.10
It also says much for the internal democracy of the union that such unpopular views were published in The Railway Clerk, whose Editor supported the war.
Throughout the war years the RCA, through its branches, endeavoured to maintain contact with members on active service, and many appreciated receiving copies of The Railway Clerk. The EC agreed that those who were serving in the forces would be exempt from paying membership fees, but when two women who were serving with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps applied for the same conditions in 1917, exemption was denied, as they had resigned just prior to joining the services. Eventually it was agreed that they, too, would have the same terms of membership as men.11 Ironically, it was contact with colleagues in the trenches, rather than in the office, that encouraged many former clerks to join the RCA, with the result that there was a sharp increase in membership during this period. This progress continued after the war and the number of branches recorded in 1920 would not be surpassed until 1943.
As the 1915 Labour Party Conference had been postponed, matters arising from the war were not debated until 1916. The electoral truce and the recruitment campaign were the key issues of the conference and Walkden opened the debate with a successful resolution which approved the action of the Parliamentary Labour Party in co-operating with the other political parties in the national recruitment campaign.12 He also attacked the ILP for its condemnation of the Parliamentary Labour Party and for not supporting the recruitment campaign. Walkden, who had once stood for election to the Labour Party NEC, coming 19th of 20 candidates, decided that the time was opportune to oppose Ramsay MacDonald as Treasurer. The result showed that he had misjudged the mood of the Party, for although MacDonald's attitude towards the war was not popular, he still retained considerable personal respect and held his post with 1,722,000 votes compared to 339,000 cast for Walkden.
Even though the RCA was a staunch supporter of the recruitment campaign, like many other trade unions it had a deep aversion to conscription; when the Military Service Bill was discussed in Parliament the RCA indicated its opposition. A heated debate took place within the movement and when Parliament approved the Bill, conscription for single men was introduced immediately. In spite of the Prime Minister's assurance, conscription for married men followed shortly afterwards. The RCA's opposition continued and many feared it would be extended to industry and used to crush trade unionism. Even as late as 1919, the RCA recorded its strong opposition to conscription and demanded the withdrawal of the Military Service Acts.13
Although RCA members had demonstrated their enthusiastic support for the war at a massive demonstration in Dublin on 6th March 1915, with George Lathan as one of the main speakers, nowhere was the introduction of conscription opposed more vehemently than in Ireland. When the Government passed a law in April 1918 extending it to Ireland, protest meetings took place throughout the country including one in Belfast, which was attended by over 10,000 people. A massive meeting was also held at the Mansion House, Dublin on 18th April, with speakers from all the main political parties and the trade union movement. This was followed by an Extraordinary Labour Conference at the Mansion House two days later with over 1,500 present. The meeting was opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin and even though nationalist sentiment dominated its proceedings, William O'Brien, President of the Irish LP & TUC declared that he would be equally opposed to conscription if it had been forced upon them by a native Parliament.14 Walkden attended the conference, the only General Secretary of a union with its headquarters outside Ireland to do so, thus gaining considerable credibility.
In protest at the Government's decision, a General Strike was called and the railway unions formed an Irish Railway Workers' Emergency Committee with W.B. McMahon as its chairman. Two other members of the RCA prominent in its work were William Davin15 and Eamonn O'Carroll.16 Some unions, in an attempt to tell their members of the strike decision, endeavoured to place advertisements in newspapers but most of these were suppressed by the censor. The Railway Workers' Emergency Committee issued a leaflet, calling on all railway workers to strike on 23rd April, and with the exception of Northern Ireland, where the only sign of any action was in the Catholic schools, every part of the country felt its impact. The strike, which lasted for twenty-four hours, included the docks, theatres, shipyards, factories, cinemas and shops. Bread was baked in sufficient quantities to cover two days and even Government munition factories stopped production. The majority of railway clerks responded to the strike even though the RCA did not grant strike pay, and, with the exception of the Great Northern Railway, all the railway lines were affected. In Waterford, over 500 railway workers marched from the station to the Trades Hall to sign the anti-conscription petition, with other workers joining them on the way. In Dublin alone 100,000 signed. This was the first strike in which a significant number of RCA members had participated and only two complaints were received by the EC - from the Enniskillen and Dundalk branches. The end result was that Ireland remained the only unconscripted country in Europe.
Since 1896 the TUC had repeatedly called for the railways to be nationalised and at the 1913 Congress Alexander Walkden, on behalf of the RCA, carried a resolution which instructed the Parliamentary Committee to press the Government to introduce legislation in the next session of Parliament. The following year, on 7th February, the Railway Nationalisation Society,17 with A.G. Walkden as its secretary, organised a conference with 615 delegates in attendance. They represented the Labour, Liberal and Conservative Parties, the Chamber of Commerce, Socialist and co-operative societies and trade unions. The conference called on the Government to initiate railway nationalisation at the earliest possible opportunity and with only six of the delegates in opposition, this reflected a strong tide of support throughout the country. On 14th February 1914, Walkden presented the TUC's case for nationalising the railways to H.H. Asquith, the Prime Minister, and reminded him that they had discussed the matter on two previous occasions. Walkden emphasised that since their last meeting there had been considerable public dissatisfaction at the way the railways were being managed. The Prime Minister reiterated the Government's decision to appoint a Royal Commission to examine the relationship between the railway companies and the community, and looked forward with great interest to its findings.18
Whatever may have been the outcome of the Commission, the importance of the railway system to the nation's economy quickly became evident at midnight on the day war was declared, when the Government placed the railway companies under state control. This was to continue until August 1921. A committee, composed of railway General Managers and W. Runciman MP, President of the Board of Trade, was responsible for its management, but in practice, there was little or no interference in the internal administration of the railways. Each railway company retained its identity under the direction of its General Manager. The actual role of the REC was to co-ordinate the various railway systems to best advantage and to ensure that the movement of troops and war materials was carried out efficiently and that a service was provided for public and commercial use.
The Irish railways were not taken over by the state until December 1916 when, they too, were managed on a similar basis to those in Britain. Their administration was in the hands of a Railway Executive composed of six members; one representative from each of the five largest railway companies and the Under-Secretary of State for Ireland. In this instance the pressure for state control came directly from Irish railway workers who had had enough of price increases and threatened to strike for more pay. Initially, they had signed Memorials, held public meetings and appointed delegations to resolve their complaints. This failed to bring results and matters finally came to a head when the Great Southern and Western drivers decided to strike from 14th December, withdrawing their savings which were held in the company bank. Within days the Irish Railways were brought under state control and railway workers received an increase of seven shillings (35p) per week.
At the 1916 TUC Walkden called on the Government to nationalise the railways and for trade unionists to share in its management. On 20th March 1918, he met the Prime Minister and repeated his call for nationalisation and pointed to the success of state control during an extremely difficult period. This plea was ignored and shortly afterwards the RCA developed its own policy for a co-ordinated, publicly owned transport system. This was first approved at the 1918 Labour Party Conference which called for:
"The retention in public hands of the railways and canals, and on the expropriation of the present stockholders on equitable terms, in order to permit of the organisation, in conjunction with the harbours and docks, and the posts and telegraphs, of a united national public service of communications and transport, to be worked, unhampered by any private interest (and with a steadily increasing participation of the organised workers in the management, both central and local) exclusively for the common good."19
In September, the RCA proposed a similar resolution at the TUC. This was successfully moved by Samuel Lomax and specifically referred to nationalised public transport including canals, road motor vehicles, postal, telegraph and aerial services being brought into harmonious co-ordinated working.
20 This debate stimulated considerable discussion within the movement and from now on the co-ordination of public transport became an issue of widespread debate.
1917 was a momentous year. Two events dominated the scene, the entry of the USA into the war and the Russian Revolution. William Edgar Williams, who had taken over the Presidency of the RCA from Herbert Romeril in 1916, told delegates at the 1917 Conference, that the revolution was the most important and epoch- making event in history since the French Revolution.
21 Support also came from the TUC, and the Scottish TUC expressed the hope that their freedom would be extended and their example followed by the peoples of all lands.
22 However, In no country was the overthrow of the Tsardom hailed more gladly than in Ireland.
23
The RCA's support for the Russian Revolution was, in the main, contained within the politics of the Labour Party and the TUC. A Convention in support of the revolution, organised by the United Socialist Council24 in Leeds on 3rd June 1917, did not receive the blessing of the Association, and when some RCA branches expressed a wish to attend, permission was refused on the grounds that the RCA was not affiliated.25 The Convention was chaired by the miners' leader Robert Smillie, and the expelled Arthur Chandler was present amongst the 1,150 delegates. Of these, 209 represented Trades Councils and local Labour Parties with 371 delegates attending on behalf of trade unions. The ILP and the BSP sent 382 and a number of women's organisations, co-operative societies, the National Council for Civil Liberties and other bodies also sent delegates. The meeting established a Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates and Ramsay MacDonald, Philip Snowden, George Lansbury and Robert Smillie, who were amongst the thirteen convenors of the convention, were appointed as members of its Central Committee. It is unlikely that many RCA members would have supported their request for such Councils to be formed all over Britain. Indeed, it was in response to the Convention that the RCA placed a motion on the agenda of the 1918 Labour Party Conference calling on all its affiliates to refrain from co-operating with any political or semi-political movements or organisations unless they had received endorsement from the Party.26 The delegates would have none of it, and the motion was lost.
Altogether 184,47527 railway workers joined the forces. A total of 88,000 railway clerks were on active service, including 16,826 members of the RCA and 14 of the Association's head office staff. Of the 21,522 railway workers who lost their lives, at least 1,457 were members of the Association. No fewer than 5,296 railway workers received medals for courageous conduct; six were awarded the Victoria Cross, two of whom were members of the RCA. These were Lance Corporal J.A. Christie, aged 22, who had previously worked in the Parcels Office at Euston and was a member of the East London Branch, and Lance Corporal Charles Graham Robertson who had also been awarded the Military Medal some time earlier. In memory of all railway workers who gave their lives during the war monuments were erected in stations throughout the length and breadth of the system. The first to be unveiled was at Nitshill Station, Scotland; this was erected by railway comrades in memory of Sergeant John Meikle VC and Military Medallist, a former clerk who enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders on 8th February 1915 and was killed in action on 20th July, 1918.28
[1]. Labour Party Annual Report 1913.
[2]. Daily Herald 3rd August 1914.
[3]. Labour Party Annual Report 1916.
[4]. The Railway Clerk June 1915.
[5]. The Railway Clerk March 1916.
[6]. James Haworth MP (Liverpool No.5). Joined RCA 1911. Chairman Liverpool and North Wales Divisional Council. RCA National Treasurer 1943-1953; President 1953-1956. Auditor ITF; Treasurer NFPW. Alderman Bootle Borough Council. Labour MP 1945-1950.
[7]. B.T. Williams (Birmingham). EC 1913-1917. On his release from prison he was treated as if in the forces and was obliged to resign from the EC. He left the railway industry for a position at Cadbury's.
[8]. P.T. Heady (Central and Head Office). Joined RCA staff 1910. Appointed Line Secretary 1935, Assistant General Secretary 1945, General Secretary 1948-1949. Secretary Watford Trades Council and Watford CLP, which, (along with Herts. Federation of Trades Councils) he was largely instrumental in forming. Labour Party NEC 1945-1949.
[9]. The Railway Clerk October 1914.
[10]. The Railway Clerk October 1914.
[11]. RCA EC Minutes 27th/28th October 1917.
[12]. Labour Party Annual Report 1916.
[13]. The Railway Service Journal July 1919.
[14]. The New Way May 1918.
[15]. W. Davin (Dublin). Joined RCA 1909. EC 1916-1918. When Davin was elected as a Deputy for Laois-Offaly in 1922, he recorded the largest vote of all Labour candidates. Re-elected until his death in 1956, his speeches in Dáil Éireann were forcible and well documented
. (Irish Times 2nd March 1956).
[16]. E. O'Carroll (Dublin). Joined RCA 1909. EC 1921-1933. President Dublin Trades Council 1919; President Dublin Workers' Council 1921. Secretary Fusion Committee which was formed to reunite Dublin Trades Council and the Workers' Council
[17]. The Railway Nationalisation Society was formed in 1908. A. G. Walkden was a member of its EC, vice-president and then secretary. A Railway Nationalisation League had been formed in 1895.
[18]. The Railway Clerk March 1914.
[19]. Minutes of Labour Party Conference 1918.
[20]. TUC Annual Report 1918.
[21]. The Railway Clerk June 1917.
[22]. Report of Scottish TUC in The Railway Clerk May 1917.
[23]. Ireland at Berne Report: presented to the International Labour and Socialist Conference 1919 by the Irish Labour Party & TUC.
[24]. The United Socialist Council was formed in 1916 following attempts by the International Socialist Bureau to introduce unity between the various groups in Britain, but at national political level it was only the BSP and ILP that participated and it was they who called the Convention.
[25]. RCA Circular 30th May 1917.
[26]. Minutes of Labour Party Conference 1918
[27]. British Railways and the Great War Page 370. E.A. Pratt.
[28]. Railway Service Journal March 1920. No indication was given in the Journal that John Meikle VC had been a member of the RCA.
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