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By Harriet Steers on

Lizzie the Elephant’s War Work

Research in our First World War records reveals an unusual character...

We recently started a project to enhance our list of 20, 000 railwaymen who died in the First World War. The project started by looking at Great Central Railway (GCR) journals printed during the period of the conflict. The 1915-1916 volume, which is available on the open shelves of Search Engine, contains a surprising Yorkshire based story reported by the railway company to their readers.

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Lizzie the elephant, who belonged to a travelling menagerie, was conscripted at the outbreak of the war to help with the vast amount of munitions work that took place in Sheffield. Her duties included carting machinery, munition and scrap metal around the city.

She was reported to be able to remove and load vast quantities, her largest being 28 tonnes in 6 journeys from the station to the firm that she worked for, T. W. Ward Ltd. Her co-workers, specifically horses, were said to have not taken very kindly to their new competitor, even bolting in terror of their first meeting. Yet, with time her appearance became less of a worry for the other animals at work.

Although fed daily rations consisting of two buckets of mixed corn and half a truss of hay, Lizzie became well known fast as a great forager of food in the city. Stories such as stealing an apple from a lad’s pocket quietly with her trunk were soon heard of, and many of Lizzie’s visitors enjoyed bringing her edible treats.

One man fed Lizzie a whole basket of potatoes, which led to the elephant calmly confronting the man a short time after, with the now empty basket at the end of her trunk wanting more. Not only did she steal food, but was reported to have eaten a schoolboy’s hat.

She was said to have done very satisfactory work, and was more easily handed than the horses that worked there. Yet it wasn’t just Lizzie that contributed to the war effort. Camels were also used in Sheffield to pull heavy loads, with another elephant found in Surrey being used as a substitute for ploughing the fields and transporting the hay.

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On the same page as this light-hearted story in the journal there is a list of eleven wounded GCR men, these Clerks and Railway Porters formerly based at locations such as Liverpool and Grimsby are reported injured in France, Egypt and Greece. A stark reminder of the reality of war, and shows how the railway companies attempted to highlight the lighter sides of wartime work whilst their men were away fighting.

 

We regularly update the list of fallen railwaymen with new information, so keep checking our website and this blog for details.

3 comments on “Lizzie the Elephant’s War Work

  1. Working in the T.W.Ward site over the last 20 years, we always knew that our office (IT Department) in the yard was known as the Elephant House, so we investigated and found the story of Lizzie in the online Sheffield City Archive. This included details of the specially adapted cart in the photograph with the shafts wide enough to go round her. The archway where she is standing is the main entrance to the works off Savile Street, and is a relatively short walk from the old Victoria Station, but with a pretty steep slope leading up to it.

  2. Interesting reading just trying to find out about Lizzies final days and if she was retired somewhere until the end of her hard working life
    Thank you

  3. I heard Lizzies owners son on radio Manchester last night & he told her tale .It seems she became ill & sadly died .The vet said it was from a broken heart as she missed her family so badly .She was well looked after but wanted her Dad

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