CIVIL war, people beheaded while using rails as pillows and a loco buried because it was thought demonic.

These were among the stories told to the Adver by a Mr C Lloyd of Shrivenham Road on Friday, January 19, 1934.

Mr Lloyd – we didn’t reveal his first name – had spent 15 years in China, apparently leaving in 1927 when civil war erupted between the old Republic of China and the Communists.

We said: “Mr Lloyd is a Swindonian, trained at the GWR Works and recommended by the late Mr GJ Churchward for the position he held for 15 years on the Chinese Government Railways at Tongshang in North China, as head of the carriage and wagon department.

“He was the only foreigner in the department, with a chief clerk who acted as interpreter – for Mr Lloyd does not speak Chinese.

“He had about 1,400 employees under his direction.”

When Mr Lloyd was in China, the earliest days of the railways there – in the late 19th Century – were well within living memory, but stories of that period were rarely heard in the West.

Today China is the world’s greatest economic power, but it was once a largely agrarian society where technology was rare. We said: “It was at Tongshang where the Britishers introduced the first engine in China, known as the Chinese Rocket.

“The natives were scared of it and made representations to the Empress Dowager for the removal of this ‘devil’. The Empress sent troops to remove or destroy it, but the news reached the British before their arrival and they buried the engine until the trouble blew over.”

The Chinese Rocket is thought by some railway historians to have survived into preservation, only to be destroyed by invading Japanese forces in the late 1930s.

Mr Lloyd had other stories to share: “When the railways first came to China, scores of Chinese used to be found lying on the rails with their heads off.

“They used to travel from one place to another and always liked a block or something to lay their heads on at night.

“They found the rails were suitable and slept there regardless of the consequences. After a time they learned better habits.”

When civil war broke out, Mr Lloyd’s zone was controlled by American forces tasked with protecting industry.

He told us: “All the foreigners in Tongshang were enlisted in the American regiment in the town, given arms and alternate turns of four hours’ duty arranged.”

He added: “Mrs Lloyd and my eldest daughter travelled with me, and although I never learned Chinese, my four boys who were born out there and had a Chinese nurse can speak it like natives.”

The family returned to Swindon with happy memories of friends they made and various souvenirs. These included an ivory-faced bronze religious icon which took pride of place inside his front door.

We have no other information about Mr Lloyd, but it seems World War Two brought tragedy to his household.

In February of 1941 we reported the death of: “...Gunner Alan Lloyd, 20 year old son of Mr and Mrs C. Lloyd of Shrivenham Road, Swindon.”

The former Commonweal School pupil had volunteered for the RAF during the opening days of the war and taken part in a number of air raids on Germany and occupied Europe.

At least one online record lists him as buried in the Christ Church cemetery.