Cavell Van

Cavell Van
The Cavell Van after restoration
In service	1919–91
Manufacturer	South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Built at	Ashford Works
Family name	PMVY
Constructed	1919
Refurbishment	2010
Number built	1
Number preserved	1
Fleet numbers	132 1972 DS734 082757 93
Operator(s)	South Eastern and Chatham Railway Southern Railway British Railways (Southern Region) Kent and East Sussex Railway
Specifications
Car length	32 feet 0 inches (9.75 m)
Track gauge	4ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)

The Cavell Van is the prototype Parcels and Miscellaneous Van (US: boxcar) built by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1919. It is so named because it was the van which carried the body of Edith Cavell when it was repatriated to the United Kingdom following the end of the First World War. The van also carried the bodies of Charles Fryatt and The Unknown Warrior.

It served with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, the Southern Railway and British Railways before entering into preservation at the Kent and East Sussex Railway. The van was fully restored in 2010.

The Cavell Van was designed by Richard Maunsell. It was built to Diagram 960 by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway at Ashford Works in 1919 and was the prototype Parcels and Miscellaneous Van. In 1919, it was used for the carriage of the bodies of two people killed during the First World War – Edith Cavell and Charles Fryatt. It carried the body of The Unknown Warrior in 1920.

Edith Cavell was born in Swardeston, Norfolk in 1865. She trained as a nurse in 1907 and worked at various hospitals in Belgium. During 1914–15, she helped over 200 allied POWs escape before being arrested and subsequently executed. Her body was repatriated from Belgium in May 1919, and was transported in the Cavell Van from Dover to London.