On 18 August 1911 an express train was stranded at Llanelli station by rail workers who extinguished the steam locomotive’s fire. Trade-union leaders had ordered members across Britain to stop work, after talks on 17 August over pay and conditions broke down.

Many other workers were discontented that summer too. In Llanelli large crowds of pickets, from various local industries, gathered at the level crossings each side of the station on 18 August. Home Secretary Winston Churchill sent extra troops to the town – part of a deployment of 58,000 soldiers tasked with protecting railway assets around Britain.

On 19 August a determined effort was made to send a train through Llanelli, but pickets west of the station halted the train. The Riot Act was read, and the troops fired at the crowd. Two 20-year-old men were shot dead: Leonard Worsell and John John (known as Jac). The troops then returned to the station, their stronghold. Enraged local people rioted, and four of them died after a rail wagon loaded with explosives blew up.

The strike finished the same day, after the nervous government called managers and union leaders to talks. Trade unions were still not officially recognised by the railway companies, but the 1911 strike had demonstrated the power of collective action by workers.