Bentley - Town of Sorrow

Bentley Pit Disaster News Articles

Following the terrible underground explosion at Bentley Pit which claimed the lives of 45 men and boys in 1931, there were many stories in the national and local press telling of the horrific events of that day, the aftermath, and the suffering endured by the families left bereft, here are a few of those stories.

We start with a transcript of one story which was sent to me by Tom Booth (see photo above). The article appeared in Thomson's Weekly News on Saturday the 28th of November 1931, eight days after the disaster. The following is a copy of the transcript in full, and just a warning, it contains some very harrowing details.

Thomson's Weekly News - 28 November 1931

ARTICLE FROM 'THOMSON'S WEEKLY NEWS' - Saturday, 28th November, 1931 (pages 14 & 15)

43 LIVES LOST IN THE PIT DISASTER 

89 CHILDREN ROBBED OF FATHERS BY BENTLEY EXPLOSION

Sad eyed Mothers, and the future....

EPIC HEROISM IN UNDERGROUND INFERNO

43 men lost their lives and 6 others lie in Doncaster Royal Infirmary seriously injured as a result of an explosion at the Bentley Colliery, two miles from Doncaster.

16 men were killed outright. 22 died in the infirmary and 5 lie buried in a section of the Pit which has been sealed to prevent the spread of the flames which took toll on so many lives.

Harrowing scenes were witnessed at the Pithead as anxious relatives waited for news of their loved ones.

Bentley is a Town of sorrow and as a result of the Disaster 89 young children are left Fatherless. In 6 families - 2 of them in one street - there are more than 5 children.

Bentley is today the most tragic Town in the Country. Scarcely two months ago it was the scene of terrible flooding. More that a thousand of it's inhabitants were rendered homeless. For weeks they were housed in Schools and Clubs and distress abounded everywhere, and now this....

It was a Town of drawn window blinds into which I arrived. Tragedy seemed to lurk on every hand. It was writ plain on the faces of those I passed in the street and it shook the voices of those whom I spoke. Bentley will feel the effects of this tragedy for months to come, though efforts are already being made to alleviate the suffering which is bound to follow. It has been decided to open a Relief Fund.

This will be required to meet the distress and a fine lead has been given by the King and Queen, who have subscribed £1,000 and £50 respectively.

The Colliery Owners, Barber, Walker & Co., and the Yorkshire Mineworkers Association have promised £2,000 each. 

It is impossible adequately to describe the horror of, and the havoc which has been caused by this Disaster. There was a terrible explosion in one of the galleries of the Pit and the alarm was sounded. Men were rushed to the surface - there were nearly 1000 men working in the Colliery at the time - and they reached safety without mishap...., all but 48 (sic). 

MASS OF FLAMES

The galleries were a mass of flames - some of the men had been blown yards - none of the 48 (sic) had escaped. Those were the rumours which reached the waiting crowds. Horrified we hoped for a denial and feared a confirmation. Alas it was only too true. None of the men had escaped unscathed. 16 had been killed outright, the others were terribly burned - mutilated almost beyond recognition. So much so that we were dismayed, but not surprised, to hear that many died later in hospital.

No praise would have been too high for the heroism of the miners' wives. Midnight found them waiting round the Gates of the Colliery. Noon the following day and some were still standing. Waiting for news ... seemingly unwearied ... tense with anxiety I waited with them at the Pit Gates, wives and sweethearts as well ... Waited as the bodies were taken away in the ambulance. I was with them during the greater period of anxiety, when it was made known that the men were so mutilated as to be almost unrecognisable. I saw them try to go in and identify their loved ones, tense and alternatively hopeful and fearful.... and saw them coming out again broken inwardly with only their eyes giving evidence of the grief which tugged at their hearts. Pitifully heroic. I shall never forget their fortitude.

There were other deeds of heroism being enacted in another direction. Scores of men had volunteered to help in the rescue. Their courage in entering the inferno was magnificent. In the words of Mr. Herbert Smith, the veteran miners' leader, who took part in the rescue work, they thought only of their pals and not of themselves. Salvation Army Officers, Parsons in their shirt sleeves, all lent a hand and special praise must be given to three women who, with infinite tenderness helped to bandage the wounded and ease their sufferings.

WOMEN'S HEROISM

And when they had finished their administrations they walked quietly away without giving anyone their names.

Their identities however, have now been established. They are Mrs. Homer, of Daw Lane, Bentley, Mrs. Jones of Rostholme Square, Bentley and Mrs. Wadsworth, of Sprotborough Lane, Bentley, Nursing Sisters of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade. The fourth helper was Miss Crossby, of 56 Askern Road, Bentley, who is the Nurse of Bentley Colliery Nursing Association.

Those 4 women are deserving of all the praise that can be given, but when I visited them I found them anxious to avoid the limelight as much as possible. Modest and unassuming they insist that they only did their duty.

In this Disaster, which was marked by many deeds of heroism, the tribute which Mr. Joseph Jones, Secretary of the Local Branch of the Yorkshire Miners Association paid to Surveyor Temperley at the Inquest on the victims must be reiterated.

'Without rescue apparatus or anything to protect him', Mr. Jones said, 'Surveyor Temperley immediately he knew there were two men left and the likelihood that they might be alive, dashed in and brought one out'. 'No words can express our admiration for this particularly courageous act'.

The saddest street in Bentley, a Town of sad streets, is Hawthorne Grove. Between 2 houses 13 children have been left - 6 in one and 7 in the other. Most of them are too young fully to realise their loss and only the Mothers who have accepted their plight with stoic calm comprehend the greatness of the struggle which lies ahead. For in each case it is the sole breadwinner which has been taken.

No. 30 Hawthorne Grove was the humble home of William Ward, aged 41 years. Everything was clean and tidy when I called, apart from the discarded playthings of the children. They were lying as the 6 kiddies had left them before trooping off to bed.

Mrs. Ward stood before the fire disconsolate. she is bearing up bravely under the shock of her husband's death and in a low but steady voice she gave me some details of the plight in which she had been placed.

'Yes', she said, 'I have 6 children now to look after. They are not all mine. I have been married only a little over 3 years and have only a boy aged 2. The other children are my husband's by his first wife. But that does not matter does it? They are my responsibility now. The eldest of my husband's family is 17. He is learning to be a Jockey. The next child is 14 years. Soon he will be able to go to work and lend a hand.The others are 7, 9, 8 and 6. ................... I cannot tell you. I realise that a trying time lies ahead for all of us and I am fighting against my memories, but it is hard.... (section of type missing).... rushed to the Pithead as soon as I heard the news of the Disaster, and I waited there nearly distracted till midnight. It was terrible just to wait - to be unable to do anything to help. All I could do was to go on hoping, striving not to fear. Yet all the time I somehow felt that my husband had been terribly hurt. It came as a big shock when my next door neighbour came and broke the news to me. He is an ambulance man and had helped to bandage my husband.'

CHILDREN UNAWARE OF TRAGEDY

Just across the road in No. 23 Hawthorne Grove there is a family in as sorry a plight. 7 children have been left and it was a pitiful sight to see them grouped round their Mother, some of them understanding, some of them not, that their father, Joseph William Grain, aged 35, would never return.

'This has been a terrible blow', Mrs. Grain said. 'Some of my children do not yet know what has happened. They are too young to understand. My youngest child is only 4 and my eldest 12. 2 of the 6 girls are twins and there is only one boy, so you have some idea of the plight I am in. None of them will be able to go to work for long enough and my husband was the only one who brought in an income. How I shall manage I do not know - I scarcely dare think'.

I left this house of suffering to visit the home of John Brett in New Street. Last week this house abounded with happiness, for another baby was born, a girl, making the family 6, all of whom are very young.

Mrs. Brett, I was told by her Sister, was bearing the blow remarkably well. 'It is going to be a terrible struggle for her', the Sister said. 'She is too weak yet to fully understand her position and we are trying to keep her mind off it for the present. She has no Parents to depend on and now that the breadwinner has been taken away I do not know what she is going to do to tend to the needs of her family'.

Those who were at the Inquest found it hard to restrain from tears. It was a pathetic sight - this sad procession of grief stricken men and women to and from the witness box.

The proceedings were conducted in a very sympathetic manner. Evidence of identification only was asked for and this was given haltingly, almost in a whisper. And as one sobbing woman after another told of how she was left with a large family the intensity and far reaching effects of this Disaster became more and more apparent.

'I have 7 children', came in a whisper from Mrs. Eve Atkinson, and when I saw her after she told me that her eldest, a girl of 14, was ready for work. She has now no income of any kind coming into the house.

'My daughter has been left school a fortnight and although she has searched high and low for work, she has been unable to find any. It will be 4 years yet before my youngest child, a boy, will be able to go to work and how we are going to manage I do not know. I have never had an opportunity to save money. We have only just managed to keep out of debt. And now as I have no friends or relatives in a position to assist me the outlook is very black'.

The courage with which the injured men suffered their pain was remarkable, judging from the story Mrs. Atkinson told me. Her husband was one of those who died in the infirmary and although mortally wounded he greeted her quite cheerfully when she went to visit him.

'I could not wait with the others at the Pithead after the explosion', Mrs. Atkinson continued. 'My children demanded my attention. But when I learnt that my husband had been seriously injured I hurried to the Infirmary at the earliest possible minute'. 'It is like new wine to see you again lass', was the remark with my husband greeted me and when I asked him how he was feeling he replied, 'I shall get better, I have got the guts'. Such was his confidence that I felt sure he would.' 'When I rose to go I gave him a little kiss'. 'Give me a real one lass', he begged. 'I did and as I walked away he asked me to be sure and come the following day. Naturally I went to see him again as he had asked and I found him as confident as ever. Yet I had not long returned home from this second visit when a Policeman came and told me my husband had died. I could scarcely believe it'.

FOUND HIS OWN SON

One Father experienced the terrible ordeal of finding his own son. He is the Father of Clifford Hayes, aged 25, of Cross Street, and he is a member of the Ambulance Brigade. He was working at the Colliery at the time the alarm was sounded. He was startled to hear that the explosion had occurred in the section where his son was at work.

'I cannot realise it yet', Mr. Hayes said in recounting his experiences to me. His son's young wife sat on a sofa unable to speak.

'No-one who was not down the Mine at the time could realise the horror of the scene', Mr. Hayes continued. 'Everywhere there was dust and the smell of fire, I passed men terribly mutilated, suffering severe agonies. They struggled on the stretchers on which they were carried and some had to be strapped down. Yet, in a way, I seemed blind to all this. I was near to being inhuman. 15 such men I passed, some of them beyond suffering, and then I came across the body of my own son. He was not so badly wounded as some, but yet he was terribly mutilated. I stopped when I reached him. I did not want to go any further. In fact I could not. I just waited with him and went with him to the hospital, but he was beyond aid'.

And so it goes on. I could write indefinitely of the train of tragedies which this Disaster has left behind - of two brothers both married whose lives were claimed; of how one of the brothers William Pritchett aged 46 of Balfour Road, Bentley, was reluctant to go to work that morning; of the other brother Joseph aged 52 (recorded as 53 on his memorial), of The Avenue, Bentley, who leaves 7 grown up children; of how the sons of both had worked hard, hand in hand, till they were ready to drop in an effort to reach their Fathers; and of how another woman, Mrs. Womack, of 9 Fisher Street, Bentley had been left with 6 children ranging from 3 years to 21 years, only two of whom are working.

Still there is another sad delight on the Disaster which calls for special mention - the revelation that Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Laughton of Brighton Street, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, mourned a double bereavement. Their younger son Harold died in the Infirmary from the injuries he sustained in the explosion and when in Doncaster the grief stricken parents received word that another son, Arthur Laughton, aged 39, of Water Street, Fenton, had committed suicide. (Name recorded on memorial spelled 'Lawton').

Not long after he heard of his brother's death, Laughton's clothing was found on the towing path of the canal and it was stated at the inquest that when his body was recovered it was naked. The ankles were tied together and one end of a noose which was found about his neck was tied to his knees. 'Suicide whilst temporarily of unsound mind' was the verdict.

32 of the victims have been buried together in one common grave and the funeral procession to their last resting place was one of the most touching Yorkshire has ever known. The grave was 36' square and the coffins were laid side by side. Later each will be surmounted by a memorial. 

The remainder of the dead are being buried in private graves. 3 of the victims will find their resting places at their native districts in Cumberland, Wales and at Goldthorpe.

Note: The number of victims was revised up to 45 following two later deaths.

With thanks to Tom Booth

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From an unconfirmed publication, possibly the Daily Mail. Tuesday 24th November 1931.

BENTLEY PIT DISASTER

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Death Toll Increased to 43

The long death roll in the Bentley Colliery disaster was added to to-day. Thomas Brown, aged 61, of Wainwright-road, Doncaster, died in Wood-street Hospital, bringing to total of dead to 43.

Six men are still in the Infirmary at Doncaster, and a 'Mail' representative was informed today that two or three of them are in a dangerous or critical condition.

FUNERAL PLANS

The final plans for the burial of the victims have been made. The bodies will be taken to Arksey Cemetery at noon to-morrow and placed in one large grave.

The coffins will be taken from the hospital and the colliery to the Mission Church of St. Philip and St. James in the new village of Bentley, and the funeral procession will go from there to the cemetery.

The service will be brief and simple and will be conducted by the clergy and ministers of various denominations.

Three of the victims were Roman Catholics and their bodies will rest to-night before the Altar in the Lady Chapel of St. Peter's Church, Doncaster.

£40,000 NEEDED

The men at the collieries in Yorkshire have been asked by their leaders to try and make a contribution of about £5,000 to the fund for the families of their dead comrades.

It is stated that at least £40, 000 will be required to alleviate the distress.

Note: Mr Brown was recorded here wrongly as 'Thomas', his name  was actually John Baden Powell Brown.  

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From an unknown publication. Wednesday 25th November 1931.

PIT DISASTER VICTIMS BURIED

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ONE GRAVE FOR 32 MEN

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Village in Mourning

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The blinds of every house and shop in Bentley and district were drawn to-day, and the whole village was in mourning. 

The men who lost their lives in the colliery disaster were during the afternoon laid to rest side by side in the cemetery at Arksey, within sight of the pit which they had descended so often.

A heavy grey sky created a damp bluish mist which helped to intensify the feeling of dreariness and desolation in the village.

At an early hour here people began to make their way along the road to Bentley. They went to pay homage to the dead. The road from the new village of Bentley to Arksey Cemetery, a distance of a mile and a half, along which the sad funeral procession passed, was lined with silent folks.

A special body of police controlled the traffic arrangements.

Of the 43 men who lost their lives, 32 were taking the long last journey together.

Five men lie imprisoned in the depths of the pit where they lost their lives, but a little lot is being made sacred by the side of their comrades in the cemetery and on it will be placed a tombstone bearing their names.

The bodies of the five men who died during the week-end are being laid to rest in their native places in different parts of the country, and it is likely that Tom Brown, who died only yesterday, will also be given a private funeral.

Huge Crowds

Three hours before the funeral cortege was due to reach the cemetery 2000 people surrounded the wide open grave lined with evergreens.

A dense dumb-stricken crowd lined the route, ten deep, silent and reverent. The police estimated that they numbered quite 30, 000.

Hundreds had come from mining districts in distant parts of Yorkshire. Charabancs poured into the village and crowded cars stretched for mile after mile.

Ambulance men and women were in duty along the routes. At various points were first-aid tents, fully equipped and staffed with doctors and nurses ready to render assistance to the fainting women and children, who were continuously being brought to them.

In the Church

In the soft half light of the little church of St Philip's at Bentley, from which the procession started, the coffins lay in long rows hidden beneath thousands of wreaths.

Only the close relatives of the dead were allowed within the church.

The coffins were carried from the church by ambulance men and amid a profound silence were placed on huge motor lorries bearing the wreaths. Wonderful floral creations were piled high on triangular stands mounted on the lorries.

The floral tributes were tokens of the vast wave of grief and pity which had passed over the whole of the Yorkshire coalfields.

About (illegible) of the family mourners followed behind their dead. Then came officials of the Yorkshire Miners' Association and representatives of the colliery company. 

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From an unknown publication.

A CHILD'S SECRET

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POIGNANT TRAGEDY OF THE PIT DISASTER

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DYING GIRL ASKS FOR DYING FATHER

How a dying girl in the Doncaster New Infirmary asked for her father, who had promised her a present, but was dying in the old institution from injuries received in the Bentley Colliery disaster when rescuing a comrade, was revealed yesterday.

The father, Arthur Kirkland, of Bentley-road Doncaster, one of the heroes of the disaster, and his wife regularly visited their 11-year old daughter, Mary, in the hospital until Friday, when he was badly injured in the explosion, and was taken to hospital.

With wonderful fortitude Mrs. Kirkland visited her husband and child in the two institutions. Mary had been promised a gift by her father on the day of the explosion, and when her mother visited her the next day the girl's first question was "Where is daddy?"

"WHEN DADDY COMES"

With great difficulty the mother evaded the question, but Mary  then asked for the gift her father had promised her. Mrs. Kirkland, not knowing what had been promised, did her best to find out from Mary what the gift was to be, only to be met with the reply, "You will see what it is daddy is going to give me when he comes with it."

"Daddy" never came, and the child grew worse. She died without receiving the promised gift. Her death was kept from her father, who died yesterday, and the little girl never knew why her father had ceased to visit her.

Father and daughter will be buried in the little cemetery at Arksey, near Doncaster, on Monday, where the majority of the miners who died are buried.

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From an unknown publication. Thursday 26th November 1931.

BENTLEY RELIEF FUND

The 44th victim of the Bentley Colliery disaster, Arthur Kirkland, was buried at Arksey Cemetery, near Doncaster, yesterday in the presence of 2,000 people. In the same grave was buried his eleven-years-old daughter, Mary, who died in the same infirmary a day before her father, who until the end was in ignorance of her death.

The Bentley Colliery disaster relief fund reached £13,000 yesterday, and further substantial sums are promised, including £2,000 from the South Yorkshire Coal Trades Association and £50 from Mr. J. T. Downing owner of North Drift, the winner of the Manchester November Handicap.

Note: Arthur and Mary Kirkland are buried in section C, plots 388 and 389, a few yards away from the Pit Disaster Memorial.

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From an unknown publication.

BENTLEY DISASTER RELIEF FUND

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MAYOR OF DERBY TO FORWARD DERBY CONTRIBUTIONS

The Mayor of Derby, Alderman W. H. Salisbury, has undertaken to forward to the promoters of the Doncaster Mansion House Fund for the sufferers in the Bentley disaster any donations which Derby people may desire to contribute.

An appeal is issued by Mr. A. Thompson, Mayor of Doncaster; Mr. L. Massarella, chairman of Bentley with Arksey Urban Council; and Mr. W. Bagshaw, town clerk of Doncaster. 

The fund is for 150 dependents of victims.

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From an unknown publication. 1932.

COLLIERY DISASTER HERO DEAD.

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Within Few Days of Carnegie Award Announcement

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Mr. S. Watkinson, of Arksey, near Doncaster, who was one of the heroes of the Bentley Colliery disaster, died in Doncaster Infirmary last night.

A year ago last November, when 45 men and boys lost their lives in an explosion at Bentley Colliery, Watkinson took [a] prominent part in the rescue work and was so severely burned that his life was in danger for several weeks. He recovered was discharged, and resumed work.

Last week he was severely injured in a fall of roof at Bentley Colliery.

Three days before this accident his name figured in a list of 12 men whom the Carnegie Trust intimated they intended to recognise for their gallantry in the explosion by awarding them certificates and grants of £20.

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Alison Vainlo 2019