'An outstanding feature of this occurrence is that with the exception of deputy A.Griffiths, who was instantly killed, the lives of all those involved in the explosion were saved'

 

per T. A. Jones, H.M. divisional Inspector of Mines Official Report on explosion at Bedwas Colliery on 10th October, 1952

This occurred on the afternoon shift at 6.30pm in a new district, recently opened. I was a Deputy or Fireman in an adjoining district, and was working there on this particular afternoon. It was a scene of horror which I shall never forget; an afternoon which I shall remember to my last day, and I thank God that He gave me courage, coolness, skill and resourcefulness to give help when so badly needed.

On this afternoon, immediately following my break for food, I was proceeding on my second round of inspection. The time was a little after 6.30pm. I was approaching the Main leading to the new district, I passed the haulage which was feeding my district. There was a man there driving the engine. There was also a telephone at this point as a means of communication with the rest of the Pit. I proceeded on about 50 yards to the Main. This was a Main Heading in good condition with big steel arches and electric lights at intervals.

Suddenly, something happened. A tremendous rush of air which stopped my breath for a moment; then the dust. I stopped. I wondered what had happened – someone had fired a heavy shot in the roof or something. An explosion never entered my head. What? An explosion in Bedwas? Impossible. I turned back and ran to my telephone and tried to get communication with anywhere. For a few minutes I could get no answer – then suddenly, I was plugged in my exchange and I heard C Jones, Overman, asking for the Manager. I interrupted the conversation and asked what was wrong, and as soon as he heard my voice, he said "Come down here as soon as you can. Get all your men out and bring help". Even then I did not know what had happened. I sent the man off my engine into the district with an emergency call of "All out" as quickly as possible, and started to run towards the new district. I realised now that something was amiss.

As I ran on to the Main, I met a man walking out in a dazed condition. He was bleeding on the face and looked very much shocked. I went to him and, before I could say anything, he said, "Don’t bother with me, Evan, let me go out. Go on down there. There’s worse than me".

The Main Rider and Driver came running down then. I covered the injured man with coats, and told these two men to keep him going to the top of the Pit.

I started to go down towards the new district by myself and met two more men staggering out. I could hear them moaning fifty yards away. As soon as they saw me, they both said in the same breath "Do something, Evan, for God’s sake". Their faces were burnt. Their hair was burnt off. Their arms and hands were blistered up. I stopped these two men there, and there, by the act of God, was a large emergency First Aid Box hanging up on the side. I quickly opened this and obtained large mine burn dressings and bandaged them up. By this time some of my men had come. I sent them out with these two men and warned them to hurry back. I then tipped out a large canvas haversac belonging to one of my men and covered it up with First Aid Burn dressings, then ran into the district.

I ran in about 200 yards, to the "big loading point" of the new district. What a sight for anyone to meet. Men were lying about everywhere, moaning, groaning, some even shouting with terrible pain. Charles Jones, Overman, came forward and said "Do what you can for these men, Evan. I am going inside. There are more men." He called for volunteers, and two men who had escaped injury went with him.

I was down there by myself. How can I hope to describe it? Even now, when I think about it, it makes me shudder. I went to the first man who was lying down. His face was as black as coal. It appeared to be charred. His hair was burnt off. The skin was ravelled on his shoulder, and the skin was hanging off his hands. I asked his name, then spoke to him and told him I would do something in a minute and that help was on the way. I had to see the more serious first. It seemed that as I went to each one, his injuries were the worst. Every man was as black as coal, unrecognisable although I knew them all. Some of them started calling me to do something. One man lay back in the manhole. He was a big Pole named Lisak. He must have been working stripped to the waist. The skin was stripped off his body in sheets. His arms, hands and face had been burned. What could I do for him? I didn’t have half enough stuff. I covered him over with coats as he was, and encouraged him to keep still, as I would send him out first.

I went to two men who lay very quiet on the side together. I spoke to them. The long one, "Shank Jones", said to me "Don’t bother with us. Leave us until last". I put the coat off the side over these two and left them until last. What a wonderful spirit. What courage.

I went to another one. He was lying very still. I didn’t know him. I asked him how he was. He said "Never mind me. See to that boy there", pointing to a young lad sitting below him. The manner of this man’s speech caused me to ask who he was. He said "I am Glyn, the Surveyor. Go, see to Derek". I went to him and spoke to him and didn’t get an answer. The sight of that boy was horrible. I looked at him with pity. His face was charred. His lips and nose were charred away. His hair was gone, burnt. His eyes were looking out of a fixed charred mask. His mouth was charred to a small round "O". I asked him if he could see and he nodded. All this had taken a few minutes. I stood aghast. Where could I start?

I began to apply burn dressings and large mine dressings as fast as I could. I could only cover part of the burns of each of them as I came to them. I now had the help of a fitter, G Evans, who broke open bandages as fast as he could. I kept applying drink in sips to the men as I came to them. Three men came down with a stretcher, and I loaded up one of the men and sent them away with urgent verbal messages for help, blankets and stretchers. Just then, the rescue party which had gone in under C Jones, came back out with two men badly burnt. One was a Pole named Musial. He stood in front of me. His face was burnt badly and the skin was hanging down below his hands in shreds. I laid him down where he was and tried to encourage him. I couldn’t do much for him. The other burnt on the back and the buttocks and the back of his legs and hands. He appeared to have had his back to the explosion. I laid him down on this face and covered him over.

The Rescue Party again went back in. Four men came in from outside with another stretcher. I loaded up another patient and sent them away. I used their outer clothing for covering. I had now used up all my First Aid material.

Previous to this I had been ringing on the phone and couldn’t get a reply. I jumped to the phone and rang, determined to get an answer. I was mad! The help was so long in coming, - or appeared to be so. I had an answer, and the man at the phone couldn’t seem to give me any information – only that he had sent out the emergency call. I shouted to him to put me through to the Surface, which he did. I then heard the Manager’s voice. I tried to tell him the position, that I must have help for the men or half of them would die of shock. I asked for blankets, as many as he could get. Stretchers, hot water bottles, hot drinks. He said everything was being done up there. Help was on the way – to hang on and do what I could. He was coming down immediately.

I turned to the men who were lying stretched on the ground, some groaning, most of them very quiet, and said "There is plenty of help on the way down. You will be from here in a few moments." I went to them in turn, talking, pretending to adjust the bandages, to do something to take their minds off things, trying to give drinks. After what seemed hours, I saw lights coming in from outside and I said to some of the men "Here’s help". Some men came in with two stretchers and about a dozen blankets, also some First Aid material. Also with them came Irving Jones, Deputy, from another district. I asked him to take some help and see if C Jones could do with some help inside. He took two of the best present, and went on into the scene of the fire.

I shared the blankets out to the men who, I thought, needed them most. I loaded up the two stretchers with two bad cases, wrapped them in blankets, and sent them going towards the Surface. At this period some of the men were asking me to send them out next. I had to promise to send them in their turn, as some were worse cases. Then I saw some bright lights approaching from outside. I was then waiting for more stretchers. Every one of my patients was now a stretcher case. Shock was setting in. Then Mr Walters (Manager) and Mr Monte and Mr J D Hill, (Under-Manager) came in and encouraged the men with news that help was very near. The Manager spoke to the men individually encouragingly. He then spoke to me and said "Do the best you can, I am going inside to the Rescue Parties".

At this period I was still waiting for stretchers and help, and I saw that some of the men were comfortable with the help of blankets. I started to use up some of the First Aid materials. I remember bandaging one man’s arms from the shoulders to the finger tips with a view of excluding air when he reached the surface. I found that when I came to the finger tips the skin was stripped from his forearms and hands and hung behind the finger tips in shreds fully 15" in length, and when I tried to bring the skin up to bandage the hand, I couldn’t do it. The skin had hardened. I couldn’t release him to go out like that. It was ghastly for him, so I told him I would cut it off as it was no good to him any more. This I did. I cut skin off level with the tips of the fingers and then bandaged up. The man handing me the bandages turned away for a moment with his insides turning over.

The stretchers were coming in now, and I was able to despatch the injured men with more speed. As soon as I loaded up a stretcher and covered over with blankets there was another one there until the last two men left were Long Shank Jones and his mate who had been lying side by side covered over with blankets all the time. Each time they said "We’ll go last". They were the last to go – two wonderful men who stuck their frightful injuries without a murmur watching me send the other men away before them. Someone had to be last. They preferred to wait.

As they were loaded and started towards the Pit,, I grabbed a large First Aid Kit and proceeded inside to see if I could be of help. As I got into the coal face, I met William Doble coming down. He had gone back in with Mr Charles Jones although he had been burnt. He must have been made of iron. He went to pass me to go out. I asked him if there were any more injured. He said they were on top, and I saw then that this hand, face and arms were burnt and blistered.

I seated him and bandaged him up with burn dressings and sent him out with two men towards the Pit. I then passed on up the new face.

Near the top I met the Manager and shouted if he wanted me there, and he said "No. Go up to the top road". I reached the top road and there I found that they had laid A Griffiths on a stretcher. He was dead. I made a quick examination and formed the opinion that he must have died instantly. The three other injured men had been sent out by another route to the Pit Bottom. We covered the body over and proceeded to carry it out. As I saw this I thought how strange fate was. I could have been on that stretcher. This had been my district up to a short time previously. I wondered as I walked behind the men carrying the stretcher how many of the terribly injured would die. I knew that with such injuries, especially with burns, the reaction of shock would be terrific and that only a miracle would save them. I knew that even my treatment had been hopelessly inadequate. Now we know that on the Surface as the emergency call went out, a wonderful organisation was put in motion, Police, Rescue Paries, Ambulance fleets, Doctors, Hospitals.

As the men arrived at the Surface Ambulance Station they were given good medical treatment, then were rushed to different hospitals at top speed. They were given the benefit of the latest treatment that medical science had evolved for cases such as these. This treatment was administered within an incredibly short space of time after the disaster. Their ambition was the counteracting of the effect of terrific shock which was bound to come in every one of the injured persons – and what a job they made. With such frightful burns it seemed impossible that men would live.

I have been an ambulance-man for 22 years and have always been taught that great extensive burns shatter the nervous system and crush the vitality of the body, and yet in this case the life of every injured person was saved. It was a modern miracle.

As I sit back now and think over everything – of the moment I stood there by myself with nine or ten badly injured men, I didn’t know which to go to first. I thought of the stoicism and courage of Shank Jones and his mate, of Glyn Price, the Surveyor, although badly injured himself, enquiring for the safety of his two mates by his side.

I thought too of the Overman, C Jones, who went into the scene of the disaster to look for more injured, of Mr Doble, who although burnt on his hands and face, went straight back with him.

I thought of the dead man, how unfortunate that he should have been just where he was, to have died doing his job, yet there were men close by who are still alive.

I thought too of the quiet word of praise which the Manager gave to me as I left the district.

It is an afternoon which I shall never forget to my dying day, and I shall always be thankful that I was there on the spot to do what I could as an ambulance-man under such circumstances.