Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum > Records

Second World War ‘Help the Railway Queen To Help Our Boys’ Ticket purchased by Sapper Kingsley Charles MOHR WX26433

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c. 1940

Overview

A small paper voting ticket with an off-white background and blue ink print with a number and an appeal to help “OUR BOYS”. There is a small photo of a smiling woman at the top of the ticket identifying her as a “RAILWAY QUEEN” and a drawing of an Australian Soldier’s head towards the bottom, followed by further writing.

Historical information

The ‘Railway Queen’ competition was part of the Railwayman’s Carnival, a major annual national event held at Belle Vue, Manchester. Starting in 1925 as a celebration of the Railways centenary, it continued until 1975. Railway employees’ daughters between the age of 14 and 16 from all over Great Britain submitted photos and the girl chosen as the Railway Queen was crowned and presented with a “chain of office”. Links were added to this chain for each ‘goodwill’ visit to other countries.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-12-2023.14.16

Item type

Tickets

Themes

War and Conflict > World War 2

Material

Ink

Paper

Width

42 mm

Height or length

107 mm

Inscriptions and markings

“No. 33650 / HELP.. / THE / RAILWAY QUEEN / TO HELP OUR BOYS / ONE VOTE / ONE PENNY / RETAIN this ticket for / gifts distribution.”

Contextual information

Sapper Kingsley Charles MOHR WX26433 was born in Northam on 29 August 1909 and was a farm labourer in Koorda, Western Australia, before enlisting at Guildford on 9 August 1941. A Sapper in the Australian Mechanical Equipment Company he spent 1495 days on Active Service in Australia and 625 days on Overseas Service from September 1943 – August 1944 and 10 March – 6 December 1945 before being discharged at Karrakatta on 24 January 1946. MOHR had lived in Denmark Western Australia before enlisting and returned there after the war.

Keywords

The Railway Queen

World War 2

Place made

Australia

Year

c. 1940

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Social or spiritual significance

Google Maps search term / URL

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gWHZtRH1mm24SAjK8