David Railton

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

David Railton
Clergyman, Military chaplain
SpouseRuby Marion Wilson[1]
ChildrenOne son and four daughters, including Dame Ruth Railton
Parent(s)George Scott Railton
Marianne Deborah Lydia Ellen Parkyn

clergyman, a military chaplain and the originator of the idea of the Tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Britain.[2]

Early life

Railton was the son of

General William Booth,[3][4] and his wife, Marianne Deborah Lydia Ellen Parkyn.[2] Although he saw little of him, David Railton shared his father's faith and concern for the poorest in society. He was educated at The King's School, Macclesfield, and at Keble College, Oxford, matriculating in 1904 and obtaining his BA degree in 1908,[5] and was further educated at Bishop's Hostel, in Liverpool. Having joined the Church of England he was ordained in Liverpool in 1908 and took up the curacy of Edge Hill
in Liverpool.

World War I

In 1910, he moved to Ashford, Kent, and in the following year became temporary chaplain to the Forces. He was curate of Folkestone in 1914–20, but had leave of absence to serve in France. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 for saving an officer and two men under heavy fire.[2]

Railton first had the idea of arranging for the body of an unknown serviceman to be transported back to England, and buried with full honours, in 1916, while he was serving on the Western Front during World War I.

Later in the war he wrote to Lord Douglas Haig expressing this idea. He received no response, but felt reluctant to let it go.[6]

The Unknown Warrior

The Tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey

After the War Railton became the vicar of St. John the Baptist Church at

King George V
.

In October 1920 Railton heard that his idea had been accepted by the Government. A committee headed by

the Somme, and the Aisne, where units of the Royal Naval division as well as the Army had died: each party exhumed an unidentified body
which was examined to ensure that it was British before being placed in a plain coffin.

At midnight one of these coffins was chosen by

Brigadier General L. J. Wyatt, General Officer Commanding troops in France and Flanders, and thus became the official "Unknown Warrior", placed in a new coffin bearing the inscription "A British Warrior who fell in the Great War 1914–1918 for King and Country".[7]

In 1916 Railton was an experienced and mature man in his thirties and was appalled at the sufferings and loss caused by the War. He later tried to explain why he had felt it was so important to commemorate the individual in this way. He recalled an incident near Armentières where he came across a grave with a rough wooden cross inscribed "An unknown British soldier, of the Black Watch":

How that grave caused me to think!... But, who was he, and who were they [his folk]?... Was he just a laddie... . There was no answer to those questions, nor has there ever been yet. So I thought and thought and wrestled in thought. What can I do to ease the pain of father, mother, brother, sister, sweetheart, wife and friend? Quietly and gradually there came out of the mist of thought this answer clear and strong, "Let this body – this symbol of him – be carried reverently over the sea to his native land". And I was happy for about five or ten minutes.[6]

Later years

After the war Railton returned briefly to Folkestone before being successively vicar of St John the Baptist, Margate (1920–25), curate of Christ Church, Westminster, vicar of St James's, Bolton, Bradford, Yorkshire, vicar of Shalford, near Guildford (1931–35), rector of St Nicholas's, Liverpool, and archbishop's visitor to the RAF (1943–45) before his retirement in 1945.

In addition, he worked with the Revd

Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy (better-known as the First World War padre poet "Woodbine Willie") for the Church of England's Industrial Christian Fellowship, among workers at their places of work.[8]

Rural Dean, when he accidentally fell from a moving train at Fort William railway station and died from his injuries. He was survived by his widow, one son, and four daughters. Dame Ruth Railton, the founder of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, was one of his daughters.[2]

Grave of the Rev David Railton, St Bride's Churchyard, North Ballachulish, Highland Regions. Shortly after Armistice Day, 2020.

References

  1. ^ Lundy, Darryl. "p. 27449 § 274483". The Peerage.[unreliable source]. Accessed 4 August 2011.
  2. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74777. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  3. ^ Railton on the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre website
  4. ISBN 9781594672064
    .
  5. ISBN 9780850330489
    .
  6. ^ a b c The Unknown Warrior: 'Unknown and yet well known' Compiled by Mary P. Wilkinson, (2000) Imperial War Museum, London
  7. ISBN 0-9524464-4-8
    .
  8. ^ Obituary, 1 July 1955.
  9. ^ Register of Deaths – 9 August 1955 Fort William

Further reading

  • Richards, Andrew (2017). The Flag: the story of Revd David Railton MC and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. Oxford: Casemate.
    ISBN 978-1-61200-447-1
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Railton&oldid=1168476969"