On Wednesday 18th April 1945 an incident happened at Gascoigne Wood, then one of the largest railway marshalling yards in the North of England and now home to the Selby mine complex.
But for the bravery of one man this incident could have had a great impact on the village of South Milford which had experienced a relatively quiet war. Although in close proximity to the RAF station at Church Fenton and the Blackburn factory at Sherburn-in-Elmet the village sustained no bomb damage. This could all have changed on this fateful day.
A wagon on a goods train travelling from Selby towards Leeds caught fire on its approach to Gascoigne Wood.
Not an unusual occurrence in its day, no doubt caused by the axle box overheating from lack of grease. One thing compounded the situation somewhat as this particular trains consignment was ammunition.

The driver of the train, Mr H. Stainton of Selby noticed the fire and brought the train to a stand. Knowing full well the contents of his train Mr Stainton ran back to the blazing truck, uncoupled the rest of the train and then drew the blazing truck to a nearby water pump.

Unfortunately his action was to no avail. When he realised his efforts were in vain he and his fireman laid themselves on the ground and when the ammunition exploded both men, although shocked escaped injury.

Nearby stood a light engine, awaiting a clear signal. The driver of this engine, Mr C Jackson, also from Selby was lucky enough to escape with shock, but his fireman George Crowe of Selby was killed by flying fragments from the explosion.

Two local residents, Stanley Warner and Edward Panton, both of Railway Cottages, South Milford who were working nearby were also injured by the blast.

A number of cattle grazing in a nearby field had to be destroyed. The roof of nearby Milford Lodge Farm was demolished and the window of Ward's shop opposite the White Swan was blown in.

The blast created a crater some 90 feet wide by 20 feet deep and hurled a number of bombs into nearby fields.

Had the driver not isolated the wagon from the rest of the train then one can only imagine what the outcome would have been. Gascoigne Wood employed a great deal of men on each shift, many from South Milford and surrounding villages. Had the whole train exploded more lives would probably have been lost.
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Email from Alan Dandy

Hi - An old resident of Railway Cottages, as a lad of 7 I saw the explosion. My father Eric Dandy (engine driver) had just passed our cottages on the branch line going to Gascoigne Wood and was held at the 'distant' signal. I remember the large ball of fire which then turned black.
I've written a lot about my family history and recently my children persuaded me to add my own childhood in South Milford and at Tadcaster Grammar etc. I worked on the farms in the late 40s / early 50s and have some pictures of the school class circa 1950 and the village cricket team.
I found the site, which was brought to my attention by an old friend now in Canada, very interesting - Thank you