The Aberfan disaster
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- Опубликовано: 21 фев 2024
- The Aberfan disaster as seen on the t.v. programme 'The Crown', shortened to concentrate on the actual event which claimed the lives of 144 people of which 116 were children.
#disaster #wales #school #coal #mine #life 
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Biggest scandal is when the coal board demanded money to clear slag heap from monies donated by a naive kid like me.
They demanded WHAT?? ...
Heartless B...😧
@@koppsr The NCB took £150,000 (around £2.7 million today) from the disaster fund to pay for clearing the remaining spoil tips. This was despite the fact that the NCB had breached its own regulations by placing the tip that collapsed onto Aberfan on top of a natural spring.
Nobody was ever prosecuted over the disaster.
And their demand was paid even though it was absolutely illegal to reallocate the money donated for victims in that way. The Government repaid the wrongfully taken money in 1997, but only the base amount without interest.
The mines were always run in a heartless manner. It was always the case that in an emergency, the pit ponies had to be evacuated before the men, as it cost money to replace ponies.
They didn't demand, they just took all the money.
My father was a junior doctor in Cardiff Royal infirmary, wards were cleared in anticipation of the injured victims being treated there. None came, it was so sad….
That just made me cry...
Same at Lockerbie - off duty medical staff came in, they were told to go home.
When the Twin Towers fell in New York I read the story of a videographer who had been in the city to do some work. He described seeing first aid stations and emergency staff standing by in hospitals, but few came for help, as most of the victims died, were not just injured.
Yeah it was very much a disaster where either you were barely injured or got killed, very few people inbetween.
@@deniseeulert2503😮
Blair in 1997 finally got the Government to pay all the monies owed back to the families. It had been withheld by the Coal Board on the understanding that thick miners and their families couldn't be trusted to spend the money wisely. However, what Blair did not do was also pay the families the interest on the money raised in 1966. That's 31 years of interest that the Government just craftily pocketed and spent on some old shit or other. The whole event and its history is just horrific. Those poor children.
The government of Wales got around to paying the inflation adjusted amount in 2007, but yeah... corrupt governments doing corrupt government things up until that point.
@Dolthra When I was about 10 or 12, in the 70s, I heard a news report about some benefit that was going to be paid to pensioners born _after_ a certain date. There was a lot of fuss as to why the older ones wouldn't get it. As it's so long ago, I can't remember the details, but what I've always remembered very clearly is that the government said that the problem would solve itself. Meaning "they'll die soon anyway, who cares?"
Hmm, they thought the people couldn't be trusted to spend the money wisely, like governments ever could....
Goes to show, libertarians are right, it doesnt matter what party U vote 4, all politicians act alike. The solution: make the state as small as possible. Power to the people / the free market
@@freemason4979 The free market is what helped cause this with its crazy mentality. It still is now.
The parents of the children dead in Aberfan sent their clothes to the children of Florence 🇮🇹 hit by the Arno flood on 4th November 1966
😮 now that is human decency and godly compassion if I ever saw it. Thank you for saying that and sharing gives me faith in humanity. Hopefully all these years later people will still follow the example under better circumstances.
Here I finally work up the courage to watch this vid here, because watching that in the crown, wrecked me. I felt enough time had passed that I wouldn't get emotional about it.
And, good sir, here you are reminding me that the saying "time heals all wounds" is LIE. 5am local time here and some fool around here is cutting onions.
Yes it's sad to say but sometimes horrific tragedy brings out the best kindness in people .
@@Awesome-fm1mo if that's a Ukraine flag you should know that the western Ukraine government have been killing the civilians of eastern Ukraine since 2014 because the eastern Ukraine people are ethnically Russian and the western Ukraine people always hated Russians that's why Putin invaded please think about these truths before supporting the evil western Ukrainian government
'Please get under the desks, now!' Has to have hit me harder than anything else. That please hits harder than anything else
They might have had a better chance pressing up against the walls facing the slag heap, but overall their chances were slim to none.
We did nuclear weapon drills in the 1970’s consisting of hiding under our desks. Even in the first grade we knew it was BS.
@@mnomadvfx From what I can find on the internet, the school was flattened. They stood no chance.
If it had happened 24 hours later the school would have been closed for half term.
or if it happened an hour earlier most of the kids might not have reached school yet... :(
This is heartbreaking to hear this.My father was killed in mine accident these children died from the overspill from mines and still the tips are there.
It makes the tragedy even worse knowing that.
..... unfortunately there are no "what if's or butts" in life , life is life and trying make sense or change it for a better outcome is complete futile ....
@terrystephens8603 Two of my great-uncles were in a mine rescue party that also perished. I can see the mine where their bodies are still buried from my house.
My father in law was a policeman who’s first language was welsh . He was on a course that day and was sent there instead, with no equipment, just the clothes he was wearing. He was there for days and found the last school register, which gave the final count of the children.
He’s 96 and not something he talks about. He had a school aged son and daughter.
The National Coal Board knew the spoil heaps were unstable, underestimating the potential damage they could do
I was a child, but I remember Aberan.
My paternal grandfather remembers it he would have been just a young man 18/19 at the time. His father was a village school teacher.
my mum remembers watching it on Tv in our house when she visited when was going out with my dad, she often says, sitting on the green chair. That is what it was like, you do not forget.
I knew nothing of Aberfan before watching this episode of "The Crown", so it frightened me and really hurt my heart when the disaster happened on the show out of nowhere.
This horrific disaster was made worse through the callous actions of the National Coal Board afterwards. Despite being ordered to go to Aberfan that day by the Prime Minister to direct the rescue operation, its Chairman Lord Robens instead attended his investiture as Chancellor of Surrey University. He didn't arrive in Aberfan until 36 hours later. The NCB then attempted to deny liability by saying it was unaware that the spoil tip had been placed on top a natural spring despite previous land surveys which clearly indicated it.
The most despicable part of all however was when the NCB took £150,000 (£2.7 million today) from the disaster fund to pay for the removal of the other spoil tips, some of which had also been placed on top of natural springs in breach of safety regulations and were just as unstable as the one that buried Aberfan.
To rub further salt in the wounds of the bereaved families, nobody was ever prosecuted over the disaster.
The episode did a bit of a disservice to the Queen. When I was a child in the years following the disaster, I always heard that Her Majesty wanted to go straight there, but was asked to wait as there were too many reporters and spectators there already and her presence would attract more.
Prince Phillip was on an official visit nearby, and when he was told what had happened, his response was, "Get me a shovel, I'm going there." He was dissuaded for the same reasons.This provided the inspiration for a scene in the "House of Cards" sequel, "To Play the King" in which Charles is depicted visiting a disaster site and putting the fictional Prime Minister to shame by helping to carry a stretcher.
The Royal who did get bad publicity was Margaret, for saying that what the surviving children needed was toys. I never found out her reasoning, so I don't know whether she deserved the bad mouthing or not.
Same!
@@zacmumblethunder7466 King Charles or Prince Charles as he was known then was in school when it happened. As soon as him and his friends heard what happened they wanted to go there to help. He is also a supporter of the charity. For years he would go to his Welsh home and invite members of the charity their for lunch.
On 28 Febuary 1958, a school bus in Floyd Co. Kentucky went into a creek on the way to school. Like Aberfan, there had been heavy rains days before. And Eastern Kentucky like Wales is a coal mining region. Of 48 children, only 22 survived. The others and the bus driver were swept away and would only be recovered days later. You can imagine the fathers who were working the mines that day and accepted the dangers of their profession only to learn of their childrens deaths when they came off the shift. Much sympathy for the people of Wales and Aberfan. The wealth of coal was and is rarely passed on to those stoic souls who mine it.
@michaelcanty4940, such a tragic story of the bus with all those children. And if I'm not mistaken, later on in the same year (1958) the terrible Our Lady of the Angels school fire. I was born in '57 and remember in our junior school, Gateshead, north east England we held a two minute silence for those lost at Aberfan. We were of a similar age to a lot of those children.
@@TapMd I was 8 years old then and was riding a school bus in Kentucky. We passed near a lake near a distillery (it seems every county in Kentucky has at least a distillery, a coal mine or a race track).The tragedies at Aberfan and Chicago and other places and times as well as Kentucky should be remembered.
The teacher wasn't just standing there, he was found with his arms around the children protecting them.
Teachers are chronically underpaid for what they do. Anytime something terrible happens you read something like this. Or the teacher in Uvalde who shielded her students from a shooter's bullets. Or in Louisiana where a teacher shielded her friend during a mass shooting and saved them. Same thing at Sandy Hook. In the UK at Dunblane the PE teacher who was shot multiple times to arms and legs grabbed some kids and hid them in a cupboard and shielded them with her own body, another teacher, Gwen Mayor shielded her children and succumbed to six fatal wounds. Every one of them, heroes.
They dug and dug for days, but nobody came out alive after the first hour or so.
Horrendous incompetence by the Coal Board.
not incompetance....they simply didn't give a shit. They were only Welsh children after all. May whoever was responsible, rot forever in hell.
As a parent, it's heart breaking, the thought of losing children who should have been safe at school.
Safe? With that pile of slag just up the hill?
@@brainflash1
You can get used to anything if you live with it long enough.
Those children were likely born with it sitting up there and most of the parents likely didn't know much better either.
@brainflash1
Well no but just look at the 3,000,000 people who live within a deadly radius if Mount Vesuvius.
@@Knappa22 Vesuvius is going to give some hints before it erupts again.
U.S. kids practice "active shooter" drills at school. Schools are no longer safe.
My dad was in the navy when this happened and was sent in to help. He won't speak in detail on it, but his eyes take on a heartbreaking faraway look when he tells briefly of what they were tasked to do. He shares details of some pretty horrid things that happened in his life, but not about Aberfan. It must have been simply unspeakable. Even now in his mid 70's it still impacts him deeply.
Probably the best episode of The Crown. That funeral scene is one of the most devastating scenes I've ever watched in a movie or TV show.
The slag tip was started in 1958. Despite the fact that there were underground springs emerging on that part of the hillside. 5 teachers and 109 children died that morning. The aftermath was to prove as unbelievable as the horrrifying event. At the subsequent enquiry the National Coalboard was criticized but nobody was prosecuted and the NBC was not even fined.!!!
A fund for a memorial park on the site was set up by public and private donations. The government refused to pay for clearing the site on the grounds of the costs involved. The villagers did not give up and in the end the government insisted on a forced payment of 150,000 pounds from the Memorial Fund for the purpose. ( So much for Labour being the workers party!)
The money was eventually returned..... 30 years later.
I was a schoolboy at the time and remember we had one minute silence in morning assembly, for the children who lost their lives.
Many of the teachers were found shielding the children
Their last thought was to protect the kids
Both my grandfathers were miners from surrounding pits who left work to help with the rescue effort. I remember one saying, that he served in WW2 from start to finish and Aberfan was still the worst experience of his life.
I recall the tragic story of little Eryl Mai Jones, who told her parents he dream about this incident a day or so before it happened, and said she wasn't afraid to die. She was sent to school that day anyway, and is now buried with her classmates.
Well she's better off now, since her parents clearly didn't love her.
Fake
@@brainflash1 you're clearly not a parent and probably never should be. Next time before writing something this efin du*b just keep it to yourself.
Maybe they did. But kids generally are not taken seriously when they say things like that.@@brainflash1
@@brainflash1 Jesus Christ shut the hell up. What a voilently horrendous thing to say about a dead child.
Well edited emotional summary of the best Crown episode. The writing, directing, acting, special effects. I'm a Yank, never heard of this horrible disaster and travesty of justice. I hope the episode got awards. One of the best individual "TV" episodes ever made. Next time I'm across the pond, I would truly like to get to Aberfan and pay my respects to the families. May all those innocent children's beloved memories be a blessing to their families forever.
My late father in law was a member of the local mines rescue team & one of the first to arrive at the scene.
He didn't come home for 5 days & never once spoke of what he saw & had to do there. He was never the same after
I was born just a few weeks after the disaster & even the mention of the name Aberfan always instilled fear, sadness & disgust at the injustice & malpractice that allowed it to happen.
Throughout my childhood, whenever my dad took us to the Beacons for a day out, we would always stop the car on what was the old A470 & pay our respects.
The new A470 has in some way "hidden" the graveyard from view to most that pass the site below but we can never forget.
If there's one place you need to visit once in your life, it's Aberfan. It will guarantee to move anyone to tears & make you appreciate the fragility of life & the power of greed to do such unspeakable damage.
Thank you.
My father attended as a young policeman, he speaks of other mining disasters he attended where miners died but never this one...... this film brings it home to me the reason why.
There is a memorial garden where Pantglas School once stood and a row of White graves in Bryntaf Cemetery, Aberfan
I visited the cemetery about five years ago while on holiday in Wales. i can't describe the emotions i felt walking around the place, i'm 70 now, but remember this like it was yesterday.
My grandad owned a haulage business quite a way off in Carmarthenshire at this time. When he heard about the landslide he contacted the authorities to offer every truck and lorry he had. They took him up on it, and he and all his employees were there for days transporting the muck and rubble away from the disaster site.
Respect to Grandfather!
Heartbreaking........I remember when the news broke on TV. during Cliff Michelmore's programme and this consummate presenter just stopped and teared up, and was speechless....
I remember my father coming home early from work at the brewery on the day of the disaster, we had been sent home from school early that day too, though we didn't know why. I was four at the time, and we lived in the Rhymney valley.
Schools in Wales in those days closed at lunchtime on the last day before half term holidays. One of the most tragic "what if"s about that day is that if it had happened 4 hours later, the school would have been empty.
Throughout my schooling in the 70s and 80s, in Pennsylvania, USA, there was very little 20th century history covered in Social Studies, History, or World Cultures. By the end of each school year, we might reach the mid-to-late 19th century and the Industrial Revolution.
I knew nothing of the horrific disaster at Aberfan- I hadn't heard of it before watching The Crown. Knew nothing of the Great Smog of the early 50s until watching The Crown, and it was interesting to me that the small town of Donora, Pennsylvania was mentioned; it's about 25 miles north of where I grew up. I never watched The Crown thinking it was a documentary, but I did learn of these and other events of which I hadn't previously known, and that led me to seeking out to learn more.
Aberfan isn't easy to read about, but it _should_ be read about, to prevent similar tragedies from _ever_ happening _anywhere_ in the world.
May all who lost loved ones, forever cherish and have some comfort from their memories.
The establishment likes to nit talk about their huge screw ups of which there are many.
I agree except humans don't learn from history - they repeat the same mistakes over and over. WWII is too far away now in actual memory (not historical record which is mostly always around), and people are trying to bring back some of that - I expect a repeat of Vietnam or the Cuban Missile crisis will be after that. We humans have so much promise, but we waste it on short term pointless things like profit over people, and hate of 'other' so very often.
My dad was from Wales (although not Aberfan) and this news hit him hard (he was born in the '40s so he was a young man when it happened)
The Crown does get a heck of a lot wrong, I would treat it as a jumping off point to find out more from reliable sources.
What an absolutely beautiful comment. Thank you, from South Wales.
I feel like industrial history and accidents are specifically glossed over, if you dig into who owns the textbook companies you’ll find that they’re generally part of a portfolio owned by some wealthy bastard who also has significant stakes in these companies where disasters occur
I’ve read about the Aberfan disaster. My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones that horrible day..
Went primary in England in the earky 90s. Aberfan and Armistice Day were 2 important somber days every year. Had good teachers reminding us how lucky we were.
I was at primary school in the late 80s. I never even knew about Aberfan until the Crown
"The remaining children of Aberfan". 😞
One of the best hours of television ever made. I had no knowledge of the tragedy before watching this episode. It wrecked me and has stayed with me ever since.
“Buried alive by the National coal board, that’s what I want to see on my child’s death certificate”
When the mountain slid into the area of Oso, Washington, I thought of Aberfan and its people.
I went back last year to Oso and stood on the side of the road where the wall of mud and trees had crossed. The mountain was so far away- so hard to believe the destruction.
The coal slag heaps were so close to Aberfan.
Just horrific... I was at uni in South Wales on the 20th anniversary, and as you can imagine it was plastered all over the news. So many stories, so many tiny lives lost.... It was absolutely horrific.
My god the poor parents...Even if it happened decades ago, my heart goes out to them.
I remember this as if it was yesterday, I was 10 at the time. Those poor children with their whole lives before them.
Me too, i was 12. i visited the cemetery about five years ago, a very emotional experience indeed.
I was a kid the same age and living in Wales when this happened. My father became an atheist - "if there is a god, how could he let this happen?"
I recall my mum watching the news crying
My first real memory; my mum cried for days
I was in Junior infants class in Murroe, Co. Limerick, Ireland when the Aberfan tragedy occurred. I was so very young then but remember vividly how horror stricken our teacher was. Our parents too. We remembered the Aberfan victims in our prayers at school every day for weeks. Never forgot this. God Bless them all and their families....
Thank you to the producers of 'The Crown' for bringing this story of a lost generation to a whole new generation. R.I.P sweet, innocent angels and all who lost their lives that heart-breaking day.
I am 68 on December 22nd and I well the Aberfan disaster and although I was too young to Understand and I didn't watch the old film till 50 years later, I was Shocked beyond words and this sort of thing must never be allowed to happen again
I remember hearing this, on the News, when I was a small boy, it was REALLY UPSETTING for me, can never forget this HORRIBLE EVENT.
No parent is designed to lose a child, my time as a South African Marine was trivial in comparison to losing my 3 year old daughter 20 years ago , I stand as a testimony that it is only and only by the Grace of Jesus that I carry on the race before me.... I remember this tragedy in Wales 😢😢😢
there needs to be a film or series made about this there is so much that needs telling
Here in Italy we had a similar disaster in de sixties, read about : the Vajont disaster, an entire little town was blown away from a wave that came out over a damm, because the autorities would'nt believe that a sidepart of a hill could slide down in the artificial lake belowe, after havy rain in the days before...
Hi, I've just spent the last hour reading about this disaster after reading your comment, I've also spent some time looking at the area on Google earth and I've gotta say, what a truly horrific disaster and the dam is still standing unused today, once again people suffered due to negligence and greed.
Hello friends from the UK. My father, Aleksey, was a foreman at a coal mining company here in Slovenia. At the time, he was sent to the United Kingdom to help rebuild everything with safety protocols after the disaster.
He watched the scene and thought it was very realistic.
I'm 63 years old. I am utterly astounded and embarrassed that I first heard about this tragedy a week ago.
it's weird....if you go look at pics of the disaster and then go look at google maps you can see the area that the slurry cut thru the neighborhood by what buildings are still standing today.
Im confused I don’t see it
@@DrunkLuna in the disaster pics there's a home that was in front of the school that is still there today but a smaller house that shared a wall with it was destroyed. and a lot of the buildings to the left of that are now gone or different.
My dad, a welder from St Helens was working close by when the disaster happened. He and his mates downed tools and went to help with the recovery.. it deeply affected him for the rest of his life 😢
File that under “ How to get away with MURDER” corporation 101
Can one assume NONE of the corporate overlords saw justice?
Manslaughter. This was not murder, unless you think the National Coal Board planned to kill those children by burying them alive after 3 weeks of heavy rain they couldn’t have predicted. Not a great murder weapon, especially since it wouldn’t have killed anyone if it slipped an hour earlier.
The inquiry concluded that the disaster was caused by ignorance, ineptitude and failure of communications on behalf of the National Coal Board.
Interestingly, their MP was arguably most responsible. He predicted exactly the disaster that unfolded (former miner himself), but chose to keep quiet because he expected voicing his concerns would cause the pit to be closed. That’s by his own admission. Ultimately he judged the disaster a worthwhile risk to keep Merthyr Vale Colliery open, which it remained until 1989.
@@Necron990 Correct, no-one faced any justice
@@HALLish-jl5mo It's manslaughter in the UK but in the US it would be negligent homicide (that MP's admission constitutes mens rea) or potentially depraved-heart murder.
@@HALLish-jl5mo The NCB tried a little too hard to wipe their hands clean of this long-term negligence. It turns out that the proffered resignation of the director had also been staged. We all knew about the three springs under that tip, we chose to ignore the previous slips. And you would blame a former miner when the corporation knew about the problem?
60 years later and those toxic monsters have still not all been cleared.
I never heard of this tragedy until now, and it breaks my heart to know so many were lost. But what disgusts me is that no one, no company, no agency, was held to account for this. Those poor kids and the adults too.
It's tragic and horrific beyond comprehension, but I don't see what good would come of fining the company or whatever, it would just lead to more sadness and misery as people's financial situation was damaged. I'm sure they lived with awful guilt about what happened, and obviously schools won't be placed anywhere anymore where something like this could possibly occur
Feels weird seeing my old primary school used as a stand-in for Aberfan.
I was 8 when this disaster struck. My mother,who was from a Durham mining family,and i went through my toy box and took out nearly all my toys and posted them off to the surviving children in Aberfan. Maybe in an attic somewhere in a house in Aberfan is one my old "Action Man"... i'd like to think so.
My dad!!! Donated his toys to this,, i think he was about 6/7,,,, just heartbreaking and a disaster 😒
I was born 2 years after this disaster but knew about it well even before the age of 10. Don't know how, maybe at school, maybe just from reading, but the horror of it has lasted.
Unamaginable horror and sadness the heart of Aberfan was ripped out that day, God Bless their sweet soul's.🙏
Maybe god could have, you know, DONE SOMETHING to prevent them from being buried alive???
The late queen visited aberfan than any other royal member
She was the Queen! Why shouldn't she?
The establishment in the UK have never cared for anyone at all.
See also "the establishment in every other country".
Quite a silly over the top sweeping generalization, no?
Just the Tories...Labour established the NHS in 1948
@@MrBrutal33That same Labour party that supports radical Islamists? Is that who you are referring to?
@@MrBrutal331 right doesn't equal no wrongs, even Thatcher did one good thing, DLA for disabled people like me. Other than that she was crap.
I remember this and seeing it on TV. Very sad.
I recall this as if it were only yesterday, although I was only 5 when it happened. About the same age as all those children. A black and white horror. Its impact never left me. RIP everyone who left us that day in Aberfan.
I remember my mother crying about this and she never cried. We lived in Hertfordshire. It affected people all over the country. Rest in peace, little darlings.
Chilling, seeing those scenes from the disaster, I was the same age as the children who died in the disaster, going to school just as the children in Wales were on that terrible day when the slag heap swept down the hill side burying the school and near by house's.
I learn something from British history watching that episode. So sad😢😢
THOSE POOR SOULS THEY DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE ! ! !😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Why did this god guy let it happen?
In Australia ehen this happened as schoolchildren of the same age we all donated money to be sent to the community of Aberfan. I visited the town and cemetery in 2018, it was so sad to see the graves of the young people.
Whenever someone asks why the Welsh hate the English so much. Well, this is one of the reasons.
My great grandfather was a coal miner. When this happened he rushed there with the rest of his work friends to help. He never spoke about it
Tragic and heartbreaking
This was so well done. I had never heard about this tragedy before!
It hurt my heart when I saw this part from The Crown, The Queen did say, she wished she Visited it sooner. Those children and adults, I cried for all the children and adults. My love always from The USA, This scares me because i send my children to school and ypu think your children are safe, and them a horrible disaster like this happens, USA.🇬🇧❤️😭🙏🏾
The Queen was right not to visit sooner. It would have slowed down the rescue operation as everyone would have felt obliged to stand on parade for her.
Anti monarchists used it as an opportunity to portray her as not caring but forgot that besides being the Queen she was also a mother of four children.
@@justonecornetto80 Very True As Well...❤️
Our love and thanks to you too, our cousins from across the pond, from South Wales.
I was living in Germany at the time. I would have been the age of these children. It was the first time I was aware children could die. I never forgot the news coverage and how awful it was for the children, the parents and community. Unfortunately we've not learned much from it.
The Beatles got flack for refusing to perform a concert to benefit the village (the group had decided to stop performing live in front of audiences a couple of months earlier)🎩
It was a disaster that everyone old enough to appreciate the tragic mistakes made will always remember,it’s still very upsetting.
Did anyone at the Coal Board ever get done for negligence ?
I remember this as a six year child. It affected me badly as most of the children killed were about my age. We also used to practice hiding under our desks in case of a nuclear strike from the Soviets. What good that would do I have no idea. God bless all the young lives taken that day and the teachers
About as good as paper tissue for keeping at bay greatest threat to mankind EVER (covid scamdemic)
I was only 4 years old at the time, so I wouldn't remember this but my mom had told me when she heard the news, later that afternoon she called my dad who was at work to tell him. She told me they cried so much. The heartless government didn't do a damn thing about it.
A very good clip about a terrible disaster. Pity about the 1972 Rover at 0:50. (P6 facelift)
I was 11 at the time of this incident and had just started my first term at grammar school, so those children of Aberfan would be the same age or a couple of years younger than I am. I remember hearing about this incident at the time and now adays, thinking about it, it has the same effect on my mind as watching the Twin Towers fall on 9/11 live on the BBC News as it happened.
"Uh... under the desks!" - I mean, I guess its the only alternative, but I feel like I would just stand there going "Dont mind that, itl be fine..." knowing full well its the end.
I was the same age as the children who died and remember it happening. I remember the shock, distress and disbelief of my parents and teachers and as a child I think it was the first national tragedy I experienced. It's hard to convey how the word Aberfan affects me to this day.
I was 7 when this happened, it was (understandably) all over the tv & radio news, newspapers...I didnt fully understand what had happened but I remember my mum and grandmother deeply upset hearing about it. The name "Aberfan" still sends a chill down my spine, as I suspect it does most of my generation.
The Coal Board's attitude and actions were utterly despicable.
Je me souviens de cette catastrophe. À l'époque j'étais âgée de huit ans . Ma mère achetait Paris Match et je me souviens de sa couverture , ce jeune garçon ,le visage couvert de suie et son casque blanc sur la tête . RIP
nous vous oublierons pas.
J'étais pas née mais j'en avais entendu parler - le choc quand je l'ai vu dans la série...
We said a special prayer in 1966 at Motcombe Infants School.
And what did that accomplish?
Can remember my mum telling me about it when I was a young boy. Even as a little, naive boy it chilled me to the bone.
This scene broke my heart
I was 11 when this happened. I was a similar age in school in NZ.
The scene with the teacher honestly makes me sick to watch I have to skip it it’s so upsetting
not seen this series but heard podcasts about this tragedy, these people were treated like dogs, absolutely fucking shameful - NCB lied, cheated hid and cajoled, then the victims were hit to spend money they were supposed to be given to try in some way, god knows how, to heal their losses...
This comment 👆👍
I've read the horrific tragedy
And two years before the disaster there was a substantial slip of coal waste from that monster that eventually killed all those poor children
Despite the huge slip the coal board did nothing to secure or remove the tip RIP little ones 😪
This broke my mams heart, she cried for weeks . Rip sngels
Very moving. I remember well as an 11 year old seeing it on the news.
2:51 oh no, AVALANCHE, and there's no time to warn the children, if only the school was closed for the day, if only the children were dismissed early, if only...
October 21 1966 was the only time I ever saw my late mother cry the anguish of the rescuers on that tragic nights news really upset her rip little ones (and you mum)
I never heard of that until THE CROWN. Then I GOGGLED it. Technology IS good when you want quick history.
And nobody is guilty... typical...
We never learn
Well we learnt from this, as all the dangerous slag heaps were removed as a consequence.
I was 6 when this happened. I remember the news bulletins and our prayers at school assembly next days.rip to all that died. Coal board were a disgrace,should have been prison sentences for some.
I am Heartbroken at the Lose of Lives ,this was a Horrible Tragedy that could have been prevented .🕊️🌹rest in Peace .
Corruption at the highest level.
my mum told me about this years ago horrific
0:42 something about this perspective makes it look like its a videogame cutscene. Maybe its the lighting. Idk, found this interesting.
A dark, dark day in Britain's recent history, one of the darkest. And one that the people of Aberfan still have to bear. The actions of an unspeakably arrogant Coal Board & Government before and after are shocking.
I'm not sure how I feel about a dramatisation of it, given that many people affected are still alive. Its not as if we still have a mining industry to learn from it (not that it learned anything back then).
However so many people don't know about it these days, and they should so perhaps this is a good thing it being part of that tv show. It should be taught as part of the national curriculum instead of Henry VIII or Agincourt ffs. Because this is what Big Bosses in all aspects of our lives, are capable of, and culpable of.