[1] Bernard was born in the LBSCR railway station house at Barcombe in East Sussex on 15 March 1908 on a section of the Bluebell Line that no longer survives.
[2] During the London Blitz Holden organised for trains to keep running often in circuitous routes as Luftwaffe bombing blocked numerous lines.
He was commissioned into the Indian Army and spent much of the war engaged in operating railways in northern India, carrying troops and supplies to the front.
In 1958 Bernard Holden and four other enthusiasts launched the Bluebell Preservation Society, ostensibly to reopen as a heritage railway the recently closed railway-line between East Grinstead and Lewes.
He was described as one of the greatest figures in the rail preservation movement of all time[5] As President he witnessed the re-laying of track to a new terminus at East Grinstead, although he died a few months before official services were re-instated.