Love it when they uncover personal stories. "IT WAS one of the best kept secrets of the Second World War, a covert operation on the railways which allowed Eisenhower and Churchill to travel across the country plotting the defeat of Hitler. Now the fascinating true story behind a diesel locomotive codenamed Train Alive can be told for the first time after the family of the lowly soldier who was put in charge discovered a cache of documents revealing how it was used. The extraordinary story of the historic events witnessed by Albert Phillips is being made into a film after his grandson Keith Joyce discovered his diary revealing how the young gunner travelled 100,000 miles with the US army general Dwight D. Eisenhower, later the 34th president of the United States. Although the two men came from different sides of the Atlantic, not to mention the military hierarchy, they struck up a unique bond as the Allied commander planned the invasion of North Africa in 1942 and the D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944. A Sunday Express article dated November 11, 1942, describes what life was like on board the train, which had 67 berths as well as two conference cars and storage for vehicles including Eisenhower's Jeep. "Eisenhower worked out the strategy of the Allied descent on North Africa in a tiny conference room 20ft long and 6ft wide, formed by taking berths out of the first class LNER sleeping coach which was his secret mobile headquarters in Britain," the article says. "The coach was one of those normally in regular use on the night Scotsman. "It was fitted with a shower bath, an innovation introduced by the LNER just before the war. As the coach moved up and down the country from one camp to another, the general worked day and night with his staff on plans. "He likes Wild West books (he once read five overnight) and plays poker or bridge when he gets the chance (which isn't often). "Once, when inspecting an army kitchen, he picked up a piece of raw beef and chewed it as he went round. "Gee!" muttered a dazed sergeant, 'Tough guy! He eats raw meat'. As a matter of fact his favourite sandwich is raw beef, with onions and plenty of pepper." Born in 1916 and brought up in a one-bedroom flat in Finsbury Park, north London, Albert Phillips had been working as a booking clerk at King's Cross station when he was conscripted into the Royal Artillery in 1939. Nicknamed "Speedy" for his ability to be last out of bed and first on parade, the immaculately turned out lance bombardier was 23 when he was suddenly told to report to the War Office. He was appointed Eisenhower's "personal coach attendant" and spent more than three years travelling Britain and the Continent on the train, nicknamed the Bayonet. Father-of-three Phillips kept a diary of every journey the 12-carriage train made, to destinations including Versailles, near Paris, as well as everyone who travelled on it. The 77-page diary reveals how Winston Churchill was a passenger en route to the French city of Reims alongside Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in the weeks leading up to the German surrender in 1945. Phillips, promoted to sergeant, later received a letter on Downing Street notepaper from the prime minister which read "With Mr Churchill's compliments" and contained a signed photograph. During their time together, Phillips also witnessed Eisenhower's blossoming relationship with his wartime driver, Kay Summersby, who later rocked America by publishing a book about their love affair." Humble British squaddie who ran D-Day train that propelled us to victory
