https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=24.59.36.170Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-07T14:46:31ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernard_Holden&diff=372426Bernard Holden2022-05-19T19:24:38Z<p>24.59.36.170: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
|name = Bernard Holden<br />
|image = <br />
|birth_name = Bernard John Holden<br />
|birth_date = {{birth date|1908|3|15|df=y}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Barcombe]], [[East Sussex]], England<br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|2012|10|4|1908|3|15|df=y}}<br />
|death_place = [[Ditchling]], East Sussex, England<br />
|resting_place = <br />
|occupation = Railway engineer, soldier <br />
|nationality = British (English)<br />
|signature = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Bernard John Holden''' [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (15 March 1908 – 4 October 2012) was an English railway engineer and manager with Southern and [[British Railways]] and a founding father of standard gauge railway preservation in the United Kingdom. He was President of the [[Bluebell Railway]] in Sussex for over twenty years until his death.<ref name="ReferenceA">Bluebell News vol:54 No:3, obituary of Bernard J Holden 1908–2012 Autumn 2012</ref><br />
<br />
==Biography==<br />
<br />
Bernard was born in the [[LBSCR]] railway station house at [[Barcombe]] in East Sussex on 15 March 1908 on a section of the Bluebell Line that no longer survives. He came from a family steeped in railway service as both his great grandfather, grandfather and father Charles were railway men. His father was the station master at [[Barcombe railway station|Barcombe]].<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/9587996/Bernard-Holden.html |title=Bernard Holden |publisher=Telegraph |date=2012-10-04 |access-date=2013-07-30}}</ref> In 1912 his father moved to the busier [[Steyning railway station|Steyning Station]] in [[West Sussex]] and Holden attended [[Steyning Grammar School]] matriculating in 1925 before following in the family tradition and joining the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]] as a ballast train clerk also studying transport law and signalling.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><br />
<br />
At the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] Bernard relocated to London where his duties included supervising the evacuation of children from London and from his Redhill base, the supervision of trains bringing back soldiers from [[Dunkerque]] in 1940; 865 trains passed through in ten days.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> During the [[London Blitz]] Holden organised for trains to keep running often in circuitous routes as [[Luftwaffe]] bombing blocked numerous lines. In June 1941 he reported to [[Longmoor Military Railway]] and was posted to 191 Rail Operations Company [[Royal Engineers]] before being posted to South Africa and then to [[Bengal]] where he worked on the logistics of supplying British troops in [[Burma]] who were fighting the Japanese. He was commissioned into the Indian Army and spent much of the war engaged in operating railways in northern India, carrying troops and supplies to the front.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> In July 1945 Holden served in 8 Indian Engineers Group who were engaged in the invasion of [[British Malaya|Malaya]]. He entertained [[Vera Lynn]] before the [[Battle of Kohima]] in March 1944 becoming a lifelong friend of the singer. He was discharged from the army as a captain after [[VJ Day]]. He later recounted his experiences of running railways during the war in a biography published in 2004.<ref>Bernard Holden, Let Smoke Make Steam - an account of managing the railways in Great Britain and India during World War II, Unknown publisher (2004)</ref><br />
<br />
He resumed his civilian railway career and joined [[British Railways]] upon nationalisation in 1948. He retired in 1972.<br />
<br />
==Service with Bluebell Railway==<br />
In 1958 Bernard Holden and four other enthusiasts launched the Bluebell Preservation Society, ostensibly to reopen as a [[heritage railway]] the recently closed railway-line between [[East Grinstead]] and [[Lewes]]. John Leeroy was the first chairman of the Railway and Bernard was Signalling Engineer. Under his guidance the [[Bluebell Railway]] became the first preserved standard gauge steam-operated passenger railway in the world to operate a public service<ref>Michael Welch (31 May 2010). The Bluebell Railway: Five Decades of Achievement. Capital Transport Publishing. {{ISBN|1854143360}}</ref> running its first services in August 1960, less than three years after the line from East Grinstead to Lewes had been closed by British Railways.<br />
<br />
As an active Superintendent of the Line and later President of the Bluebell Society, Bernard Holden oversaw the retention and then the expansion of the railway from [[Sheffield Park railway station|Sheffield Park]] to East Grinstead and in 1992 was appointed MBE for services to railway preservation. He was described as ''one of the greatest figures in the rail preservation movement of all time''<ref>Robin Jones, Heritage Railway magazine, Autumn 2012</ref> As President he witnessed the re-laying of track to a new terminus at East Grinstead, although he died a few months before official services were re-instated.<br />
<br />
Bernard Holden died aged 104 at [[Ditchling]], East Sussex, on 4 October 2012. His funeral cortège included a nine-mile ride on the Bluebell Railway.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-19964169 Bluebell Railway founder Bernard Holden's final journey.</ref><br />
<br />
In March 2013 [[Brighton and Hove Council]] commissioned the naming of a bus after Holden.<ref>http://history.buses.co.uk/history/fleethist/477bh.htm Brighton & Hove Names on Buses</ref><br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
* Bernard Holden, ''Let Smoke Make Steam - an account of managing the railways in Great Britain and India during World War II'' (2004)<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-19848345 Holden and Vera Lynn on his 104th birthday]<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Bernard}}<br />
[[Category:1908 births]]<br />
[[Category:2012 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:British centenarians]]<br />
[[Category:Men centenarians]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Steyning Grammar School]]<br />
[[Category:British Rail people]]<br />
[[Category:People from Barcombe]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]<br />
[[Category:Railway officers in British India]]<br />
[[Category:British people associated with Heritage Railways]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]<br />
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]</div>24.59.36.170https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernard_Holden&diff=364948Bernard Holden2022-05-19T19:24:38Z<p>24.59.36.170: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
|name = Bernard Holden<br />
|image = <br />
|birth_name = Bernard John Holden<br />
|birth_date = {{birth date|1908|3|15|df=y}}<br />
|birth_place = [[Barcombe]], [[East Sussex]], England<br />
|death_date = {{death date and age|2012|10|4|1908|3|15|df=y}}<br />
|death_place = [[Ditchling]], East Sussex, England<br />
|resting_place = <br />
|occupation = Railway engineer, soldier <br />
|nationality = British (English)<br />
|signature = <br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Bernard John Holden''' [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (15 March 1908 – 4 October 2012) was an English railway engineer and manager with Southern and [[British Railways]] and a founding father of standard gauge railway preservation in the United Kingdom. He was President of the [[Bluebell Railway]] in Sussex for over twenty years until his death.<ref name="ReferenceA">Bluebell News vol:54 No:3, obituary of Bernard J Holden 1908–2012 Autumn 2012</ref><br />
<br />
==Biography==<br />
<br />
Bernard was born in the [[LBSCR]] railway station house at [[Barcombe]] in East Sussex on 15 March 1908 on a section of the Bluebell Line that no longer survives. He came from a family steeped in railway service as both his great grandfather, grandfather and father Charles were railway men. His father was the station master at [[Barcombe railway station|Barcombe]].<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/9587996/Bernard-Holden.html |title=Bernard Holden |publisher=Telegraph |date=2012-10-04 |access-date=2013-07-30}}</ref> In 1912 his father moved to the busier [[Steyning railway station|Steyning Station]] in [[West Sussex]] and Holden attended [[Steyning Grammar School]] matriculating in 1925 before following in the family tradition and joining the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]] as a ballast train clerk also studying transport law and signalling.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><br />
<br />
At the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] Bernard relocated to London where his duties included supervising the evacuation of children from London and from his Redhill base, the supervision of trains bringing back soldiers from [[Dunkerque]] in 1940; 865 trains passed through in ten days.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> During the [[London Blitz]] Holden organised for trains to keep running often in circuitous routes as [[Luftwaffe]] bombing blocked numerous lines. In June 1941 he reported to [[Longmoor Military Railway]] and was posted to 191 Rail Operations Company [[Royal Engineers]] before being posted to South Africa and then to [[Bengal]] where he worked on the logistics of supplying British troops in [[Burma]] who were fighting the Japanese. He was commissioned into the Indian Army and spent much of the war engaged in operating railways in northern India, carrying troops and supplies to the front.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> In July 1945 Holden served in 8 Indian Engineers Group who were engaged in the invasion of [[British Malaya|Malaya]]. He entertained [[Vera Lynn]] before the [[Battle of Kohima]] in March 1944 becoming a lifelong friend of the singer. He was discharged from the army as a captain after [[VJ Day]]. He later recounted his experiences of running railways during the war in a biography published in 2004.<ref>Bernard Holden, Let Smoke Make Steam - an account of managing the railways in Great Britain and India during World War II, Unknown publisher (2004)</ref><br />
<br />
He resumed his civilian railway career and joined [[British Railways]] upon nationalisation in 1948. He retired in 1972.<br />
<br />
==Service with Bluebell Railway==<br />
In 1958 Bernard Holden and four other enthusiasts launched the Bluebell Preservation Society, ostensibly to reopen as a [[heritage railway]] the recently closed railway-line between [[East Grinstead]] and [[Lewes]]. John Leeroy was the first chairman of the Railway and Bernard was Signalling Engineer. Under his guidance the [[Bluebell Railway]] became the first preserved standard gauge steam-operated passenger railway in the world to operate a public service<ref>Michael Welch (31 May 2010). The Bluebell Railway: Five Decades of Achievement. Capital Transport Publishing. {{ISBN|1854143360}}</ref> running its first services in August 1960, less than three years after the line from East Grinstead to Lewes had been closed by British Railways.<br />
<br />
As an active Superintendent of the Line and later President of the Bluebell Society, Bernard Holden oversaw the retention and then the expansion of the railway from [[Sheffield Park railway station|Sheffield Park]] to East Grinstead and in 1992 was appointed MBE for services to railway preservation. He was described as ''one of the greatest figures in the rail preservation movement of all time''<ref>Robin Jones, Heritage Railway magazine, Autumn 2012</ref> As President he witnessed the re-laying of track to a new terminus at East Grinstead, although he died a few months before official services were re-instated.<br />
<br />
Bernard Holden died aged 104 at [[Ditchling]], East Sussex, on 4 October 2012. His funeral cortège included a nine-mile ride on the Bluebell Railway.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-19964169 Bluebell Railway founder Bernard Holden's final journey.</ref><br />
<br />
In March 2013 [[Brighton and Hove Council]] commissioned the naming of a bus after Holden.<ref>http://history.buses.co.uk/history/fleethist/477bh.htm Brighton & Hove Names on Buses</ref><br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
* Bernard Holden, ''Let Smoke Make Steam - an account of managing the railways in Great Britain and India during World War II'' (2004)<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-19848345 Holden and Vera Lynn on his 104th birthday]<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Bernard}}<br />
[[Category:1908 births]]<br />
[[Category:2012 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:British centenarians]]<br />
[[Category:Men centenarians]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Steyning Grammar School]]<br />
[[Category:British Rail people]]<br />
[[Category:People from Barcombe]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]<br />
[[Category:Railway officers in British India]]<br />
[[Category:British people associated with Heritage Railways]]<br />
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]<br />
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]</div>24.59.36.170