Harold Todd and colleagues (Easington Pit Disaster) - Easington Colliery (easc0215)

Harold Todd and colleagues (Easington Pit Disaster) - Easington Colliery

Photograph showing four men standing in a row in front of a notice board and a wall bearing framed certificates; the men are wearing collars, ties and jackets, and have been identified as, from Left to Right: Councillor McWilliams, Durham County Council; Harold Todd, Safety Officer, Durham County Council; Jim Hughes, Safety Officer, Durham County Council; Ron Brewis, Safety Officer, Durham County Council. The photograph was taken on the occasion of the retirement of Harold Todd, who, at the request of Jim Hughes, wrote a letter to Jim Hughes describing his, Harold Todd's, experience as a member of the Blackhall Colliery Rescue Brigade at the disaster in the pit at Easington in May 1951, which may be read below

Date: 1980

Letter written in 1979 to Jim Hughes by Harold Todd, describing his experiences as a member of a Rescue Brigade in the aftermath of the Easington Colliery Disaster in May 1951 It all started in 1941, I was employed at Wheatley Hill Colliery on a ‘Skip Face' doing datal work until the coal was filled off then maybe being sent onto the face to clean up for the cutters and to erect any timber that was missing. I then decided I would like to follow my three brothers footsteps and study for a deputy overman's certificate. Taking this decision I enrolled at a night school under the instruction of F Simpson the undermanager of the colliery. The examination was taken at Ryhope Secondary School. In November 1942 I started deputy work on the same skip face in the South Busty Seam and continued in the same seam for three and a half years until the seam hit a fault too large to get through. For the next one and a half years I was employed in the Top Hutton Seam, which was eighteen inches high making it very unpleasant to say the least. I stuck this for as long as I could and then left to work at Blackhall Colliery in September 1947. Being employed on long wall faces at Wheatley Hill I found the work at Blackhall strange at first, it being broken work in some of the districts, the other districts being arc walls, which was quite pleasant being able to walk around without bending. I had been at Blackhall approximately two years when the mastershifter told me the undermanager wanted to see me. All that night I tried to think what I had done wrong for the undermanager wanting to see me, but could not find any answer. The following afternoon I reported to the office and Mr Sparks asked me if I would consider joining the Colliery Rescue Brigade. If I passed the medical examination I would have to report to the Rescue Station at Houghton each Thursday for fourteen weeks and would receive ten shillings plus bus fares, money for old rope, so he said. I agreed and was instructed to report to the Medical Officer the following afternoon. After being turned inside out by the doctor, I was declared fit for Rescue Work and told to report to Houghton the following week to commence training, which I really enjoyed. The training took the form of lectures and gradually to working two hours wearing the apparatus. After training the programme consisted of four time at the Rescue Station and two underground practices at different collieries yearly. On the 22nd May 1951 we were at Easington Colliery for one of these underground practices and were descending with the backshift men when I heard one of these men say ‘Look at these lot, they don't half fancy themselves with that gear on.' The practice was completed and the remark forgotten about. 29th May 1951 that terrible explosion took place and the Rescue Brigade called out to the pit. Receiving word to proceed to Easington I felt anything but brave, but I had been trained for the work therefore I was needed. Arriving at the Colliery another deputy from Blackhall, A Brown was there and three rescue men from Whitburn Colliery made up the team, one of these had done his training with me. After a medical examination we prepared our breathing apparatus and had to wait our turn to descend the mine. Eventually what seemed like ages our time came, proceeding up the shaft sidings we turned left into the seam where the explosion had occurred and came face to face with the biggest fall of stone I have ever seen, the full landing had collapsed leaving an unprotected road over the top of about four feet. It was found later that this fall had saved the rest of the colliery. After negotiating this fall we proceeded up a drift where the heavy ‘H' girders had not just been blown out, but had also been twisted like a corkscrew, further up this drift an engine house had been built and four young boys were found burned almost to ashes. Reaching the fresh air base a team was waiting for us and as soon as we arrived they moved up to the advance fresh air base. Soon after we arrived another team came from the surface and it was our turn to move up. The operation was supervised by Mr Richardson from the Rescue Station and the procedure was that one team had to be standing by, before another team was allowed to enter the noxious gas, and then retired back to base and then on to the surface. The first two days were spent looking for anyone who may have been fortunate enough to have missed the blast, but everyone knew this was an impossibility, so we tried to restore the natural ventilation by the use of canvas strappings etc. On the Friday morning when we arrived at the advance base Mr Richardson asked if we do a favour and disembowel a dead pony which was beginning to smell. The three men from Whitburn refused saying they were not butchers, I was no butcher and no braver than anyone else, but if this was going to help the rescue operation it had to be done, A Brown said he would help me and the others would carry the lime etc for us. I was given an old army knife and a drawing axe and a shovel to do the job with. Strikin the knife into the pony I tried to follow a straight line but with the knife being blunt this was a difficult task, eventually we managed to disembowel it and fill it with lime to help burn it away. Completing the task we were told by the doctor (there was always one underground) to call at the Surface Medical Centre to ‘ Have something out of the bottle' this being the first taste of brandy I had ever had. Saturday we had to report at twelve noon, and on this day a good number of funerals were taking place. The NCB van taking us into the pit yard had to stop because of the crowds and it was pitiful when women got hold of you crying and asking if we had seen their husbands or sons. Reporting to the office we were ordered down the pit immediately, making us very popular with the other teams already waiting, this being Saturday afternoon. Arriving at the fresh air base Mr Richardson and the doctor were waiting for us. We asked what all the fuss and rush was about and we were informed that another pony had been found and would we please treat it the same as the other , the only difference being it was in the fresh air and the doctor would very kindly loan us a scalpel and would accompany us. I must say that this made the job much cleaner and quicker, more so that we took two of its legs off as well. This was our shortest shift instead of being there twelve to thirteen hours we were there just six. We always seemed to get the best of shifts, Sunday five pm arriving at the pit we were informed that the three men from Whitburn had been sent for at five am this made me see red and to cap it all one of the full time Rescue Men informed us that they were going to send a team with me and a team with A Brown. It appeared that the doctor's had failed half of the men and reinforcements had been brought in from Northumberland. After our medicals we refused to be separated, going down there you wanted someone you could trust without being disrespectful to the Northumberland people. We were asked if we would take a team with us which we couldn't very well refuse. These people were laughing and joking amongst themselves and thought it all a big joke. I thought to myself wait until you get down there and then let us see you laugh. When it came to our turn to go into the gas we were filling our apparatus with liquid air instead of the regulation five and a half pounds I used to fill mine until it ran over, I was carrying overweight but I have a little in reserve. I mentioned this to the men but they took no notice. Arriving at the district meeting station I could not believe my eyes for what I saw, there were twenty seven bodies in various forms of undress making ready to go to the face when the blast had struck them. The deputy was lying face down and after drawing a pin man on the roof (everything had to be drawn whatever was found ready for when the surveyors could map everything out) we proceed to prepare a stretcher, now it was impossible to speak wearing the apparatus but by signs A Brown would lift the body by his belt while the stretcher was placed under him. As soon as the body was being lifted the little air left in his lungs escaped and the rest of the team turned tail leaving A Brown and myself. We loaded the body onto the stretcher and proceeded outbye and arriving at the fresh air base each of the standby team were filling their apparatus to come and look for us. Putting the stretcher down and taking our mouthpieces out we tried to answer the thousand and one questions that were being thrown at us, asking where our team mates were we were informed that if they were still going as fast they would be at the surface, that was the last we saw of them, and it came to my mind that the so called joke had backfired on them, bringing the horrific job to reality for them. One outstanding incident stands out in my mind, after the medical on Monday we were water testing our apparatus when I noticed air bubbles escaping from the brass tubes, I pointed this out to the regular rescue man and he said it would be alright. I immediately told him I was not depending on it, needless to say I obtained another apparatus. By this time the majority of the bodies had been recovered and we were engaged with the colliery deputies erecting and strengthening the strappings while we had the breathing apparatus and the birds with us we were more or less working in fresh air. We were there to give the deputies confidence, so we were told. This went on for a couple of days and then we were back into the noxious atmosphere. Travelling one of the roadways we came a cross a kibble welded to the roof emphasising the terrible heat that must have been caused by the explosion. One afternoon walking across the pit a group of men were standing and seeing the team they came across and gave us a couple of bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale, I didn't think I could enjoy drinking this as I had never tasted it before, but it was like nectar to my tongue. On the Thursday Mr Fry the group manager at Blackhall was at Easington and while we were at the advance base he asked us to synchronise our watches with his and if he was not back to base within twenty minutes to go and look for him. Refusing all offers for us to accompany him he went into a side road, he was back very shortly and reported he could smell a body under a fall of stone, the body was recovered and it was a Wheatley Hill resident who had worked under me at Wheatley Hill Colliery. Friday we were told to report back to the colliery where we were employed. It must be said the NCB looked after us well enough, sparing no cost we were even sent sandwiches and tea down the pit for us. Of course it has to be borne in mind that we were in the mine for a period of twelve to thirteen hours each day. The sandwiches were ham and lettuce which in itself was alright, but the Easington workmen working backbye were taking the ham and leaving just lettuce for us. Arriving at the surface each day the team man who had acted as captain that day made out a report while the rest of us were interrogated. While this was going on we were given twenty cigarettes each while we waited for our turn, this was very good as cigarettes were scare at that time. I have written this out at the request of my good friend Jim Hughes, but after thirty years I am afraid that some of the incidents have escaped my memory. Being there for the whole fortnight I can only thank god that I came through satisfactory not like the two unfortunate rescue men who lost their lives.

Comment added by Harold Todd on 17/10/2008 11:10:00