Verne railway accident

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The railway accident Verne was a rear-end collision on 31 March 1945 the Easter Vigil , at the block point Verne the Hamm-Warburg railway in the district of Geseke . At least 7 people died.

Starting position

The accident was primarily caused by the chaotic circumstances of the last days of the Second World War in Germany : An order had been issued to the railway workers to bring all mobile material from the Ruhr area to the Nordhausen area in order to avoid the impending encirclement of the Ruhr area by the To evade allies . The railway operation went very irregular, since among other things, the systems for command were largely damaged or destroyed. So the train crew set the points themselves. The American armed forces were already standing in front of Salzkotten that night, in the immediate vicinity of the accident site. Around 11 p.m. there were two trains on the Hamm – Warburg railway line , both from the Ruhr area heading east.

the accident

A first train, a locomotive train consisting of two steam locomotives , had entered the area of ​​the Verne (Westphalia) block station at that time. There were several passengers in the driver's cab . The train in the Geseke forest may have been shot at. At least that is what descendants of the victims report. In any case, at around 11 p.m. he stopped unlit at the boundary between Geseke and Verne in the area of ​​the Verne block. The block site itself had been destroyed on March 25, 1945 when an American fighter plane crashed on its building . Train drivers and heaters failed to secure the train back - as with detonators .

A construction train followed, which was filled with numerous refugees from the Ruhr area. It drove - probably largely unbraked - onto the stationary first train, with the front cars of the approaching train sliding into one another.

consequences

At least 7 people died, five civilians and two soldiers , including the engine driver and stoker of the approaching train. The Salzkotten Red Cross hid the dead. They were initially buried in Salzkotten. Presumably there were other dead, where they were buried - possibly directly at the scene of the accident - is unclear. In 2010 the seven dead who were rescued by the Red Cross were identified.

Residents rushing to help could hardly help the injured because heavy rescue equipment was missing. The following day, injured people could be heard in the wagons of the construction train. After American soldiers had occupied the area, they cleared the route on April 6 with the help of armored recovery vehicles . Because of the general distress residents had previously everything useful, such as the coal of locomotives , salvaged . Until 1948 a locomotive and no longer roadworthy wagons from the accident stood next to the track.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Flörke: Seven fates cleared up. In: Paderborner Kreiszeitung / Neue Westfälische . October 19, 2010.
  2. ↑ df: The train accident is still a mystery 65 years later. In: The Patriot - Lippstädter Zeitung. October 29, 2010.

Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 20.7 ″  N , 8 ° 33 ′ 30.6 ″  E