South Western Railway (SWR) has released unseen photos ahead of the first anniversary of the Coronation of The King and Queen.
The photos take a behind-the-scenes look at more than 5,000 Armed Forces personnel from the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Commonwealth who arrived at London Waterloo station for their ceremonial duties.
The band gather on the Waterloo platform (Picture: SWR)
It was the largest movement of service personnel by train since the State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965. Nine trains were involved, including seven SWR services and two private chartered services.
The SWR services arrived from Armed Forces bases in Aldershot, Alton and Fareham.
The Royal Marines band take to the Waterloo platform (Picture: SWR)
Delivering the Armed Forces safely and on time took months of joint planning by SWR and Network Rail, working alongside the Ministry of Defence and others like the British Transport Police.
As well as the Coronation service in Westminster Abbey, SWR supported the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle, organising additional trains for its Windsor & Eton Riverside railway station.
The RAF marching through Waterloo concourse (Picture: SWR)
Ross Liddell, head of operational readiness who co-ordinated operations for SWR, said: “It was the biggest privilege of my working career to be able to lead such a fantastic team here at SWR.
“It was an absolutely first-class team who put in so much effort to ensure that it was safe and successful, allowing the Armed Forces to do what they needed to do.”
Pictured top: Pipes and drums played on the Waterloo platform (Picture: SWR)
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