Henry T. GWILLIAM/Fanny POWELL/H LEYSHON (General)

by tuffers64, Cinderford, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 11:10 (2423 days ago) @ MPGriffiths

Henry Gwilliam and Hubert Leyshon were killed by the falling of a huge fall of stone from the roof in Eastern United Colliery, on 5th February 1914. They were filling coal into coal trucks at the time of the fall and were killed instantly. Eric (ky) Warren once told me that his father recalled that the lumps of rock were so big that they had to be blasted apart in order to get the bodies out from underneath. A lad named Horace Evans was badly injured in the initial fall, but survived. The coal was being worked "to the rise" and the coal heaved out and downwards, causing the roof to fall. The men's bodies were brought out with due reverence in bags, due to their horrific injuries.
This case was well known in mining circles, but as most of the old miners have passed on now, the story is gradually fading. I am doing my best to make sure this does not happen.
Dave Tuffley