THE MANTON TUNNEL DISASTER

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2024 :: RMTnews 28 O ne hundred years ago a devastating fire at Manton tunnel killed John Cockerill and William Hibbert and injured George Buckby, Richard Shillaker and Thomas Shillcock. All were members of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), the union which became part of RMT, employed by London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The accident happened on May 24, 1924 when Shillaker was filling lamps with naphtha, a form of fuel oil. It was never established how it happened, but at some point Shillaker ‘rushed out of the hut shouting that it was on fire.’ This was followed by a ‘terrific explosion’ which flung [naphthalene] in all directions’. As the men were trying to put out the flames ‘a second and more violent explosion occurred’. This severely injured Buckby and Shillcock and fatally injured Cockerill and Hibbert. Hibbert ran into the tunnel, on fire; the stationmaster followed him and tried to extinguish the flames, though sadly to no avail. Hibbert died that day; Cockerill died several days later with his wife and youngest son beside him. The accident was widely reported in the local and national press, no doubt because of the number of men involved and the terrible circumstances. What wasn’t widely known was that these deaths and injuries contributed to 263 deaths and 21,098 injuries at work on the railways in 1924 alone. Most of these happened in far less spectacular cases, usually involving individuals – and therefore much less visible and deemed less newsworthy. Given the nature of the incident, it was one of the three per cent of staff accidents which was investigated by the Railway Inspectorate, the state appointed accident investigators. Inspector JLM Moore thought that Shillaker might have transferred flames accidentally from a lamp lit for testing, via flammable material on his boots or clothing – but he couldn’t be certain. He put the case down to ‘misadventure’. Significantly, Moore noted ‘that in spite of the highly inflammable contents of this hut no precautions against fire had been taken, and this feature should receive the early attention of the Company.’ From today’s perspective it seems quite astonishing that such a slapdash arrangement should be possible. Sadly, we don’t know whether or not the LMS made any changes – but the Railway Inspectorate had no power to compel them to do so. The coroner’s inquest into Cockerill’s death returned a verdict of ‘accidental death.’ It also added a rider to the findings, suggesting the LMS ‘should issue printed instructions to men working at oil stores’. In both these cases it is interesting that the railway company was particularly singled out for censure, rather than a perhaps easier route of blaming the workers. Cockerill left a wife and two adult sons, one of whom was also a track worker. Hibbert left a wife and an adult daughter. In theory each family should have received compensation from the LMS, up to a maximum of £300 (around £20,000 at today’s prices). We don’t have the THE MANTON TUNNEL DISASTER Mike Esbester marks the centenary of the deadly fire at Manton tunnel in Rutland MEMORIAL: Dorothy Buckby at 104 years young along with friends and family members attended a ceremony of remembrance along with Joe Rowberry of Network Rail, RMT Area Health and Safety Representative Derby Paul Shore and railway chaplain Colin Fraser and Gordon Dudman of Leicester and Rutland family history society