Incident on a Train

The Three Counties Asylum at Arlesey, 1913 [Z1306/2/19/4]

Friday 16th April 1915: An incident on the 9.08 westbound train from Bedford this morning serves as a sad example of the effect that the war is having on the mental state of some of the fighting men taking part in it. When the train arrived at Lidlington a man was handed over to the stationmaster by other men in the carriage. It appears he had tried to commit suicide by jumping from the train between Millbrook and Lidlington. A discharged soldier, he was driven to this extreme by the belief that he had killed his own wife and children. The man was detained while the police were sent for, but he escaped, ran down the line and into a field. After a two mile chase he was caught by P.C.Arnold and Mr. Boddington, the stationmaster. His state of exhaustion was such that he spent five minutes unconscious. On medical examination at Ampthill he was found to be insane and was taken to the Arlesey Asylum.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette, 20th April 1915