Description
Gresley's A4 Pacifics are arguably the most famous locomotives ever built, a status cemented by Mallard's record breaking run on the 3rd July 38. And yet only a year later the glamorous streaks' seemed likely to be cast into obscurity by the coming of another world war. So, for only four exhilarating years they were allowed to flourish as their creator had intended and in that time captured the imagination of railwaymen and public alike. With the help of previously unpublished material the author analyses the complex evolution of the A4s - a project that began in 1911 when Gresley was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway. It is a story with many strands to consider - war, peace and war again, engineering and art, politics and business, recession and social change, the growth of the media and consumerism, the struggle for professional reputations and a growing, deeply damaging international rivalry. All these elements are captured in the story of the A4s in the heady days before conflict ended their brief golden age and Gresley's life came to an end.
About the Author
Ronald Hillier was born in North London in 1922. When only 18 he volunteered for service with the Army and saw much action in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. He landed in France on D Day plus 2, then, after a short period in hospital, returned to the battlefield to be involved in the drive across Europe to Germany. He was in the forward units that discovered Bergen-Belsen and returned a few weeks later to help burn it down with a flame thrower equipped Bren Gun Carrier. After demob' he returned to live in London and worked at the at Explosives Research and Development Establishment at Waltham Abbey as a chemist. He retired in 1984 and died shortly afterwards. From childhood to the end of his life he undertook detailed research into railway and military history, leaving his extensive collection to his nephew. It is this material, and an outline he left, that forms the basis of this book.
Book Information
ISBN 9781399073394
Author Tim Hillier-Graves
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Pen & Sword Transport
Publisher Pen & Sword Books Ltd
About the Author
Ronald Hillier was born in North London in 1922. When only 18 he volunteered for service with the Army and saw much action in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. He landed in France on D Day plus 2, then, after a short period in hospital, returned to the battlefield to be involved in the drive across Europe to Germany. He was in the forward units that discovered Bergen-Belsen and returned a few weeks later to help burn it down with a flame thrower equipped Bren Gun Carrier. After demob' he returned to live in London and worked at the at Explosives Research and Development Establishment at Waltham Abbey as a chemist. He retired in 1984 and died shortly afterwards. From childhood to the end of his life he undertook detailed research into railway and military history, leaving his extensive collection to his nephew. It is this material, and an outline he left, that forms the basis of this book.
Book Information
ISBN 9781399073394
Author Tim Hillier-Graves
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint Pen & Sword Transport
Publisher Pen & Sword Books Ltd
