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Ely Standard: Ely's Atlantic rowing hero will be honoured by his home city on Sunday 13th June.

Henry Dale will be the guest of honour at the Diamond44 community group's celebrations at the Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum after a triumphal waterborne journey along the Great Ouse.

He will present medallions to winners of the group's photographic competition run in the Standard and will open the war-time rowing exhibition that will now be a permanent fixture.

Henry, a 42-year-old computer consultant, will be accompanied by his wife Marie on a ceremonial half-hour cruise to mark his incredile feat of rowing the Atlantic virtually single-handed while battling against fierce storms, currents and huge waves.

But the man who spent 118 days at sea rowing 3,000 miles to Barbados from the Canary Islands in aid of cancer research at Addenbrooke's Hospital will not have to put in as much as a single stroke.

He will be joined on the trip boat Liberty Bell by Ely's mayor Derek Crawley, East Cambridgeshire District Council chairman Jeremy Friend-Smith and Diamond44 chairman Terry Overall for a leisurely voyage from outside the Maltings to Queen Adelaide bridge - accompanied by a flotilla of boats rowed by members of the new Isle of Ely Rowing Club.

At Queen Adelaide, the party will climb aboard a coach driven by former mayor Philip Eden for the final leg of the journey to Prickwillow.

The boat will leave at 10.45am and Henry is due at Prickwillow by midday.

"We hope that lots of people will turn out to cheer Henry along the way," said Mr Overall. "He's a real local hero and we're pleased to be recognising his fantastic achievement along with the Standard, the rowing club and civic leaders."

Also starting from the museum during the day will be walkers tackling the new six-mile heritage trail across Padnal Fen that will be opened at 12.40pm today (Thursday).

Members of the Ely Herward Rotary Club will be raising money through sponsorship for the Sue Ryder Care Home garden project and it is hoped that other people will walk for their own favourite charities to christen the new route.

CONTACT: Derek Tipler on 01353 648178 or Lynne Turner on 01353 722146 for more details.

Ely Standard: The train crew who saved a town were honoured in a moving ceremony at March's newly re-opened marshalling yards at Whitemoor last Wednesday.

Driver Benjamin Gimbert and fireman James Nightall, both awarded the George Cross for their heroism, had new class 66 locomotives named after them in front of around 100 local dignitaries, senior officials from the rail industry, family members and former railway workers.

They included Strategic Rail Authority chairman Richard Bowker and Network Rail chairman Ian McAllister as well as Mr Gimbert's daughter Joyce Dedman.

March man Mr Gimbert, aged 41, was seriously injured when he was blown from the train by the explosion and 22-year-old Mr Nightall, of The Hythe, Littleport, was found dead under the wrecked engine.

Soham signalman Frank Bridges, was also killed. Goods guard Herbert Clarke suffered from the trauma of the events for the rest of his life. Both he and Mr Gimbert died in 1976.

The driver and fireman, both based at Whitemoor, had locomotives named after them in 1981. But, during privatisation of the railway, the nameplates and the trains were lost.

Former ASLEF general secretary Lew Adams, who led the ceremony, said the combined efforts of EWS, Network Rail and the Strategic Rail Authority meant the two heroes could be commemorated again.

He said: "These were men who didn't have to be told what do to. They just went ahead and did it. They knew the first priority was the safety of the general public. They had to isolate that wagon and get it away from the town. They didn't think of their own safety."

He described Mr Gimbert as an 18-stone gentle and quiet giant of a man who loved a game of cards and angling and never talked about what he had done on the night of the explosion that demolished Soham station, created a 20-foot deep crater, damaged 600 buildings and blew out windows all over the town.

Graham Smith, planning director of EWS, said the two men had performed "a rescue act of remarkable bravery and heroism." He said Mr Nightall was "a hero to many a railwayman."

Mr Adams added that these were the kind of dangers railwaymen lived with every day during the war.

"They drove trains into London during the Blitz. They lived with the danger of attack from planes. They pulled wagons laden with bombs and ammunition.

"What Ben Gimbert and Jimmy Nightall did was heroic. But it was also their duty.

"The vast majority of railwaymen would have acted in the same way. And their sacrifice and courage is something for which we should always be grateful."

Mr Bowker said: "As we recognise the 200th year of the railway in this country, it is fitting that we reflect on one of the most courageous acts in the industry's history.

"It is a great honour to be part of this commemoration, alongside my colleagues in the railways."

Eighty-year-old former railwayman Norman Steward, of Burrowmoor Road, March, unveiled Mr Nightall's nameplate. Mrs Dedman, 77, Mr Gimbert's daughter, unveiled her father's nameplate, accompanied by her daughter Jenny Amps.

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