At Velpe, Germany, 29 May 1945, the rear of a train of approximately 40 cars of petrol was crashed into by another train and the rear three cars were demolished and set on fire almost immediately. Staff- Sergeant Woodcock, who was a passenger on the train of petrol, immediately took action to have the front portion of the train moved forward to avoid not only the balance of the train of petrol being destroyed, but also the destruction of the tracks, which would have resulted in the blocking of the railway line of communications for at least 48 hours. At great risk to himself he attempted to cut off the train at the fourth car from the rear, but flams and bursting jerry-cans prevented him from doing this. In spite of the fact that he found it impossible to do this, he immediately went to the head of the fourth car and again at great risk to himself made the cut and was able to get a signal to the engineer to move the train so as to avoid further loss and danger. By his actions not only was the balance of the train saved from destruction, but also a very serious tie-up in traffic was avoided.