Ralph Lewis Wedgwood

Ralph Lewis Wedgwood was the third son of Clement Francis Wedgwood, of Barlaston, Staffordshire, a descendant of the great potter and entrepreneur, Josiah Wedgwood. After leaving Cambridge Ralph Wedgwood joined the North Eastern Railway’s traffic apprenticeship scheme. He rose rapidly, becoming company secretary at 30 and chief goods manager at 36.

When the European War broke out he volunteered for the Transport Establishment in France. He worked in the Ministry of Munitions (1915-16), but on 20 October 1916 was appointed Director of Docks, BEF, with the rank of Brigadier-General. He held the post for the remainder of the war.

The docks at Boulogne, Calais, Le Havre and Rouen were vital to the BEF’s logistical system, which became increasingly vast and sophisticated as the war developed. Wedgwood brought the most up-to-date logistical techniques to bear, making possible not only the rapid deployment of men and equipment but also the most effective use of shipping. The latter was of major importance during the second half of the war when German U-boats began to sink Allied vessels at a worrying rate.

Wedgwood returned to the LNER after the war. He was Deputy General Manager (1921–23) and Chief General Manager (1923–39). He also became increasingly one of the ‘great and the good’, sitting on numerous governmental and semi-governmental committees.

Wedgwood was knighted in 1924 and made a baronet in 1942. His wife, Iris Veronica Pawson, was an author; their daughter was the historian, Dame C V Wedgwood.