Grouping
Following the merger of the LB&SCR and other railways in southern England to form the Southern Railway, during the Railways Act grouping of 1923, the Lancing works became one of three such facilities owned by the new railway, the others being at Ashford and Eastleigh. The new railway decided to concentrate carriage construction at Lancing and close the carriage works at Ashford. As a result 500 workmen and their families eventually moved to Lancing.
In 1927 a new moving 'assembly line' system was introduced for repairing coaches more efficiently.
During the Second World War the works was kept busy repairing bomb damaged carriages and wagons and in converting carriages to mobile hospitals to support the army during the D-Day invasion. The works were also involved in constructing Bailey bridges and the tail planes for Airspeed Horsa gliders for the invasion.
Read more about this topic: Lancing Carriage Works