Colliery Deaths
AN INTRODUCTION TO MINERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES AT DINNINGTON COLLIERY
It must be said that Dinnington Colliery had a very good safety record at the side of many other collieries both local and further afield. There were not any major disasters as the most men killed at any one time being two. However, it must be remembered that for every man killed many more were injured, some lightly and others maimed for life and it is believed that there are no records available to verify this. Unfortunately when the colliery closed down most records were either burned or simply thrown down the shaft before it was filled up.
There are 75 names on the memorial in St. Leonard’s Church but that is not the complete story as at least 94 men lost their lives at Dinnington Colliery from when it first opened in 1905 up to the closure in 1992. The terms of reference for this number (75) are that the men were killed outright on the colliery premises or they died shortly afterwards as a result of the injuries received. So, how was it that the names of 19 more men were omitted from the memorial? Some of the missing men qualified for inclusion on the memorial just as much as those who were included. Mistakes were probably made and terms of reference not strictly adhered to.
The list does not include those who died as a result of working in the unhealthy conditions that were always present in coal mines. Men died of such diseases as silicosis and pneumoconiosis and anything else that lurked down a coal mine. The problem with men who died of dust related diseases as mentioned above often survived for years afterwards but suffered poor health in the mean time and were not fit enough to live a normal life.
Roof falls were the main cause of deaths especially in the early years with health and safety measures in short supply. The next most common cause of death was transport accidents.
Then some fell off structures including one down the shaft, two died of scalds and others listed had heart attacks.
What were the criteria for a man to be included on the memorial? If men were killed on the premises then there was no doubt but some men suffered heart attacks and there were anomalies centred round this as men died in hospital shortly after admission. Other suffered dreadful injuries and died in hospital days or weeks afterwards, should their names have been included on the memorial?
It will be seen that the vast majority of the men named were not born locally. The first Dinnington born fatality was a 15 years old lad in 1935. Then in later years there were several Polish men killed at the colliery. This state of affairs also applied to those killed during WWI.
Many of the early men were buried in St. John’s Churchyard at Throapham especially if they had lived at Laughton Common. St. John’s Church was ‘adopted’ b the people of Laughton Common with many children buried there.
Another feature to consider about some men is the lack of detail about them; these seemed to have happened during the early stages of WWII. Why is this? At Maltby details of some men mainly Bevin Boys has been omitted from the records there but these men were buried in Maltby Cemetery and it is presumed that church records will have the necessary information there.
So was there a political reason here, did the Government not want details of casualties in the coal mines at this time to be public knowledge? More work needs to be done in this area to find out more about the men concerned.
It must be said that Dinnington Colliery had a very good safety record at the side of many other collieries both local and further afield. There were not any major disasters as the most men killed at any one time being two. However, it must be remembered that for every man killed many more were injured, some lightly and others maimed for life and it is believed that there are no records available to verify this. Unfortunately when the colliery closed down most records were either burned or simply thrown down the shaft before it was filled up.
There are 75 names on the memorial in St. Leonard’s Church but that is not the complete story as at least 94 men lost their lives at Dinnington Colliery from when it first opened in 1905 up to the closure in 1992. The terms of reference for this number (75) are that the men were killed outright on the colliery premises or they died shortly afterwards as a result of the injuries received. So, how was it that the names of 19 more men were omitted from the memorial? Some of the missing men qualified for inclusion on the memorial just as much as those who were included. Mistakes were probably made and terms of reference not strictly adhered to.
The list does not include those who died as a result of working in the unhealthy conditions that were always present in coal mines. Men died of such diseases as silicosis and pneumoconiosis and anything else that lurked down a coal mine. The problem with men who died of dust related diseases as mentioned above often survived for years afterwards but suffered poor health in the mean time and were not fit enough to live a normal life.
Roof falls were the main cause of deaths especially in the early years with health and safety measures in short supply. The next most common cause of death was transport accidents.
Then some fell off structures including one down the shaft, two died of scalds and others listed had heart attacks.
What were the criteria for a man to be included on the memorial? If men were killed on the premises then there was no doubt but some men suffered heart attacks and there were anomalies centred round this as men died in hospital shortly after admission. Other suffered dreadful injuries and died in hospital days or weeks afterwards, should their names have been included on the memorial?
It will be seen that the vast majority of the men named were not born locally. The first Dinnington born fatality was a 15 years old lad in 1935. Then in later years there were several Polish men killed at the colliery. This state of affairs also applied to those killed during WWI.
Many of the early men were buried in St. John’s Churchyard at Throapham especially if they had lived at Laughton Common. St. John’s Church was ‘adopted’ b the people of Laughton Common with many children buried there.
Another feature to consider about some men is the lack of detail about them; these seemed to have happened during the early stages of WWII. Why is this? At Maltby details of some men mainly Bevin Boys has been omitted from the records there but these men were buried in Maltby Cemetery and it is presumed that church records will have the necessary information there.
So was there a political reason here, did the Government not want details of casualties in the coal mines at this time to be public knowledge? More work needs to be done in this area to find out more about the men concerned.