Marine

The railways iin many countries are involved in marine activities: docks and shipping. This used to be the case in Britain until Wee MacGregor dismembered them. Many railway workers showed their bravery in this sphere of activity: notably Captain Fryatt.

Fryatt, Charles Algernon
Shares with Edith Cavell the honour of being a civilian shot by the brutal German regime which were occupying Belgium at that time. Born in Southampton on 2 December 1871. Father was a mmerchant seaman who moved to Harwich where the son was apprenticed. He joined the Great Eastern Railway in 1892 and was eventually Master of the Colchester and then the Brussels. Acting on orders from the Admiralty he attempted to ram a German submarine U33 when en route from Harwich to the Hook of Holland on 28 March 1915. He was awarded a gold watch by the Admiralty for this action, but on 22 July 1916 his ship was arrested by the German Navy as it left the Hook of Holland and after a brief court martial was shot in Bruges on 27 July 1916, He has an ODNB entry by Liza Verity and according to Humm (J. Rly Canal Hist. Soc., 2015, 38, 252) has more more memorials than any other World War I individual. These include one in Liverpool Streeet station and the Fryatt Memorial Hospital