Explosion
On Saturday 22 September 1934 at 2:08 a.m. a violent explosion ripped through the Dennis section of the Gresford colliery coalfield. The blast, which had happened more than 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from the bottom of the Dennis' main shaft, had started fires and blocked the main access road to all the other districts in the section. At the time up to 500 men were working underground on the night shift with more than half in the affected areas. The rest were in the Martin section about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the explosion; many there were unaware a disaster had occurred for some time afterwards.
In Dennis the night overman, Fred Davies, who was on duty at the bottom of the main shaft immediately telephoned the surface. Bonsall, the manager, went into the mine to try to establish what had occurred. At approximately 3.30am, the under-manager and Overman from Martin, Benjamin Edwards reported that parts of the Dennis main road were on fire beyond the Clutch (a point where the main line took a 60° left deviation) and that a large number of miners were trapped beyond the blaze. Meanwhile the shift working an area called the Slant in Martin were ordered to the pit bottom and told to get out of the mine.
Only six men escaped from the inferno that engulfed the Dennis section. The group, named as Robert (Ted) Andrews, Cyril Challoner, Thomas Fisher, David Jones, Albert (Bert) Samuel, and Jack Samuel, was sitting taking a mid-shift break about 300 yards (270 m) north of the Clutch when the initial explosion happened. A colleague advised them to leave the district via the "wind road" which was the 29's air return drift. Around 30 men working in the 29's district were also told to follow them. But as the six-man lead group went ahead attempting to fan the air to mitigate the effects of the deadly afterdamp, they soon realised the other miners had not followed them. After a long and difficult escape up 1:3 gradients, several ladders, and past rockfalls, the six miners eventually rejoined the Dennis main road and met up with Andrew Williams, the under-manager, who along with Bonsall had immediately descended the Dennis main shaft on being notified of the explosion.
Read more about this topic: Gresford Disaster
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