Steam train carriage that transported the body of the Unknown Warrior will be at Bodiam Station for a special Remembrance Day service

The Cavell Van is named after Nurse Edith Cavell, who was shot by the Germans for helping escaped British prisoners.

It also carried Charles Fryatt, a Channel ferry captain who was executed after being falsely accused of trying to sink a submarine.

In 1920, it saw service a third time, conveying the body of the ‘Unknown Warrior’, his sacrifice representing the hundreds of thousands of British soldiers who had not returned from the Great War.

David Nibloe, Trustee of the Kent and East Sussex Railway and local Ewhurst resident, said: “We are so privileged to have this unique piece of history preserved on the railway and exhibited at Bodiam station. The stories of these heroes are a prompt to us all to pause and reflect on what was sacrificed during times of war to secure the freedoms we all enjoy today’.

A short act of Remembrance will take place at Bodiam station on Thursday, 11 November, just before 11am when the two-minute silence will be observed.

The ceremony will be led by Rev Canon Christopher Irvine, Priest-in-Charge of the Parishes of Bodiam and Ewhurst. All are welcome to join the act of Remembrance and the Cavell Van will be open for

viewing following the ceremony.

Nurse Cavell’s body was carried in the van as part of the final journey to her resting place at Norwich Cathedral.

The Unknown Warrior’s return was a huge event attended by the Royal family and members of the Government. One million people visited his grave in Westminster Abbey during the following week.

The Kent and East Sussex Railway runs trains through more than 10 miles of beautiful Rother Valley countryside, from Tenterden to Bodiam, typically from April to October and in normal times attracts 90,000 visitors a year.

The Kent and East Sussex Railway, was the first light railway opened in Britain under the Light Railways Act of 1896, built by Holman F. Stephens.

Today it is one of Britain’s most loved and original heritage railways, running for over 10 miles from Tenterden, capital of the Kentish Weald, to Bodiam in Sussex in the shadow of the 600 year old National Trust castle.

The Kent & East Sussex Railway is operated by the Kent & East Sussex Railway Co Ltd, a charitable company.

See also: Take a look inside Grade 2 listed period house that dates from 1700 in Rye’s cobbled Watchbell Street