By Caitlin Hollywood Published: Oct. 21, 2022
"My right foot was stuck in the radiator, and there was water pouring out of it. My desk was pinned against my stomach, and a girl's head was on my left shoulder. She was dead;" this is what Jeff Edwards' primary school teacher stated.
On October 21, 1966, every parent's nightmare surfaced to reality; they sent their child to school and never saw them alive again. This tragedy was 56 years ago today, and I felt obligated to tell the grim story. This is not an in-class assignment nor a requirement for Journalism, but too many lives were lost that Friday.
I don't know if you have ever seen it, and if not, I highly recommend it, but I have recently been introduced to The Crown and am obsessed. I recently watched season 3, episode 3, "Aberfan," the show is not entirely accurate, but they got the essential facts right.
This deadly accident "could and should have been prevented," says Ceri Jackson. The children went to school on that Friday excited for the weekend and overjoyed by the beginning of half term. Then, at 9:15 am, an avalanche of coal occurs. All of the coal and sludge broke through walls and windows, ending 144 lives.
Years earlier, concerns were brought to the National Coal Board about the coal mountain, but the concerns were ignored. Unfortunately, they didn't just ignore the problems; they responded by threatening the livelihood of Aberfan.
You may wonder how the Queen fits into this story, but trust me, she does. The Queen was immediately informed of the tragedy and the lives lost, but she did not think Royalty would help in that situation. As a result, she delayed her visit to the village by eight days which she would grow to regret deeply.
Honestly, I could see both sides of this controversy; the focus was on all the lost lives and the buried school after the incident. If the Queen would have gone, that would have changed the attention to her; she needed to let the families grieve. But on the other hand, delaying her visitation would allow the town of Aberfan to assume that she did not care.
Prince Phillip and Antony Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon, were both seen in Aberfan the next day, which carried a heavy toll on them. Antony Armstrong-Jones wrote to Princess Margret while he was there and stated, "Darling, it was the most terrible thing I have ever seen."
After eight days, her secretary team urged Queen Elizabeth to visit Aberfan. "Aberfan affected the Queen very deeply, I think, when she went there. It was one of the few occasions in which she shed tears in public," said Sir William Heseltine.
Works Cited
Hallemann, Caroline. “Looking Back at Aberfan, the Welsh Mining Tragedy That Became Queen Elizabeth's Biggest Regret.” Town & Country, Town & Country, 2 Nov. 2021, www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a29309363/queen-elizabeth-aberfan-mining-disaster-reaction-the-crown/.
Magazine, Smithsonian. “The True Story of the Aberfan Disaster.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 15 Nov. 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-aberfan-disaster-featured-crown-180973565/.
On October 21, 1966, every parent's nightmare surfaced to reality; they sent their child to school and never saw them alive again. This tragedy was 56 years ago today, and I felt obligated to tell the grim story. This is not an in-class assignment nor a requirement for Journalism, but too many lives were lost that Friday.
I don't know if you have ever seen it, and if not, I highly recommend it, but I have recently been introduced to The Crown and am obsessed. I recently watched season 3, episode 3, "Aberfan," the show is not entirely accurate, but they got the essential facts right.
This deadly accident "could and should have been prevented," says Ceri Jackson. The children went to school on that Friday excited for the weekend and overjoyed by the beginning of half term. Then, at 9:15 am, an avalanche of coal occurs. All of the coal and sludge broke through walls and windows, ending 144 lives.
Years earlier, concerns were brought to the National Coal Board about the coal mountain, but the concerns were ignored. Unfortunately, they didn't just ignore the problems; they responded by threatening the livelihood of Aberfan.
You may wonder how the Queen fits into this story, but trust me, she does. The Queen was immediately informed of the tragedy and the lives lost, but she did not think Royalty would help in that situation. As a result, she delayed her visit to the village by eight days which she would grow to regret deeply.
Honestly, I could see both sides of this controversy; the focus was on all the lost lives and the buried school after the incident. If the Queen would have gone, that would have changed the attention to her; she needed to let the families grieve. But on the other hand, delaying her visitation would allow the town of Aberfan to assume that she did not care.
Prince Phillip and Antony Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon, were both seen in Aberfan the next day, which carried a heavy toll on them. Antony Armstrong-Jones wrote to Princess Margret while he was there and stated, "Darling, it was the most terrible thing I have ever seen."
After eight days, her secretary team urged Queen Elizabeth to visit Aberfan. "Aberfan affected the Queen very deeply, I think, when she went there. It was one of the few occasions in which she shed tears in public," said Sir William Heseltine.
Works Cited
Hallemann, Caroline. “Looking Back at Aberfan, the Welsh Mining Tragedy That Became Queen Elizabeth's Biggest Regret.” Town & Country, Town & Country, 2 Nov. 2021, www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a29309363/queen-elizabeth-aberfan-mining-disaster-reaction-the-crown/.
Magazine, Smithsonian. “The True Story of the Aberfan Disaster.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 15 Nov. 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-aberfan-disaster-featured-crown-180973565/.