All around Central Otago, sleeping under blue summer skies and the sullen skies of winter, in cemeteries large and small, are stones with the same date on them. Sometimes only the date - sometimes the word "accidentally."
The railway crash just out of Hyde, of a train taking people from Central Otago town into Dunedin, was New Zealand's most fatal, until that of Tangiwai on Christmas eve in 1953.
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DEATH ROLL NOW 21
Railway Disaster At Hyde
LIST OF INJURED
(P.A.) DUNEDIN, June 5.
The death roll in the tragic railway smash at Hyde on Friday afternoon mounted to 21 at the week-end. A further body was recovered from the wreckage on Saturday afternoon, and two seriously-injured men died in the Ranfurly Hospital. Mr Frederick Christopher died late to-night from his injuries.
The work of clearing the line of debris went on over the week-end. It is now considered extremely unlikely that any more bodies remain in the wreckage. All the dead have been identified.
One of the injured women in the Ranfurly Hospital, Mrs R. Maskell, of Dunedin, whose leg was broken and crushed, had her leg amputated, but her condition is reported as fair. In the first list of dead issued on the night of the disaster, it was stated that Maureen Tyrrell, of Makarora, had been killed. This was incorrect, but she is among the injured in the Ranfurly Hospital.
The list of dead and injured is now as follows:
DEAD
FREDERICK CHRISTOPHER, aged 52, Dunedin.
DUNCAN BROWN LINDSAY, Wedderburn.
THOMAS M. CHISHOLM, Cromwell.
THOMAS B. CONNOR, Cromwell.
JOHN BLACK CONNOR, Kyeburn, son of Thomas Connor.
FRANCIS ROBERT KINNEY, Hyde.
CHARLES ROBERT McKENZIE, Alexandra.
VIVIAN CARSON, Ranfurly.
DUNCAN MACDONALD, Patearoa.
ROBERT CARR, Patearoa.
CHARLES THOMPSON DOUGLAS, Kyeburn.
MRS IRENE ELIZABETH WHITE, Timaru.
DESMOND EDWARD WHITE, aged four months, son of Mrs White.
JOHN WILLIAM WHITE, aged five, years, son of Mrs White.
JOHN MASKELL, aged four years.
DANIEL MCDONALD, Poolburn.
JOHN WRIGHT, Ranfurly.
JOHN MARTIN NICHOLAS FRATER, Alexandra.
MRS ETHEL ANNIE CASSELLS. Kokonga,
JOHN EDWARD O’CONNELL, Hyde.
THOMAS HENRY CLARE, aged 59, Oamaru.
INJURED
Raymond Tait, Naseby, aged 16, scalp wounds.
Maureen Tyrrell, Makarora, aged 14. abrasions.
Pearl Jenkins, Kaihiku, aged 15, abrasions.
Harold Strode, Kyeburn, fractured leg.
Albert Kane, Becks, aged 53, fractured hip and severe cut on wrist.
John Edward Kearney, Ranfurly, aged 56, scalp wounds and bruises.
Mrs Annie Kearney, Ranfurly, aged 57, abrasions.
Mrs Merlyn Little, Chatto Creek, aged 23, fractured arm and concussion.
Lorna Hore, Naseby, aged 18, fractured jaw and and fractured wrist.
John Stuart, Naseby, aged 60, bruised back.
James Lynch, Ranfurly, aged 49, fractured spine (condition not serious).
Joseph Geoffrey, Wedderburn, aged 63, multiple injuries.
Francis Murray Rawcliffe, Kokonga, injuries to ribs.
Alexander Roas Helm, Gimmerburn, aged 17, fractured leg.
Dorothy Beryl Beel, Hyde, aged 35, bruises and abrasions.
Frank Pringle, Ranfurly, aged 36, injured shoulder.
Donald Grant McMillan, Naseby. aged 17, crushed fingers (tips amputated).
Eric D. Lambie, Ashburton, aged 31, scalp wounds.
Stanley E. Little, Centre Bush. Southland, aged 29, fractured arm.
David Connor, Kyeburn, aged eight, deep wound in leg and shock.
Charles A. Woods, Hornby, aged 34, injuries to chest and hips.
Mrs Agnes Hanrahan, Ranfurly, aged 33, bruises.
Robert John Little, Chatto Creek, aged 34, fractured leg.
Valerie Smolenski, Hyde, aged nine, lacerated leg.
Mrs Molly Maskell, Dunedin, aged 30, leg amputated.
Mrs Mary Frater, Alexandra, aged 69, lacerations.
John Patrick Corcoran, the engine-driver, Dunedin, fractured arm and severe scalds.
Stanley G. Hollow, Dunedin, aged 21, the fireman, severe scalds.
Dorothy Robinson, Dunedin, aged 24, injuries to hips.
Mrs Marguerite Avis Ward, Hyde, aged 25, both legs fractured.
Roberta Ward, Mrs Ward’s baby daughter, slight injuries.
James McBride, Lauder, aged 19, abrasions and shock.
Mrs Margaret Hansen, Cromwell, aged 61, fractured ribs.
Arthur Wright, Dunedin, aged 30. bruised hip and abrasions.
C. R, Crutchley, Kyeburn, aged 17, injuries to back and face (condition serious).
Mrs Mavis Sawers, Alexandra, aged 39, fractured leg and severe shock.
Andrew Sarginson, Gimmerburn, aged 53, crushed and fractured ribs.
Straun Robert Stringer, Gimmerburn, aged 19, injuries to arm.
MANY ACTS OF COURAGE
FOUR CARRIAGES TELESCOPED
RESCUING VICTIMS FROM WRECKAGE
From Our Own Correspondent DUNEDIN, June 6.
The disastrous telescoping of the carriages, four of which were smashed into less space than is normally occupied by one, was the cause of the high death roll in the railway accident at Hyde. The first carriage on the train catapulted past the engine and tender, while the second, third, fourth, and fifth carriages telescoped into one another, and on to the tender of the engine, which rested on its side against the embankment. Portions of some carriages — complete sections such as roofs — were hurtled up into the air and on to the high ground on top of the embankment, while 15 feet of the cutting itself was filled with an indescribable mass of debris and crushed carriages.
Providentially fire did not add to the horrors of the scene. Such a calamity might easily have followed upon the crash, for splintered matchwood was piled high all round the engine.
Amid this terrible scene of destruction and death, pitiable cries of the injured came from all sides. First arrivals at the cutting describe the scene as heartrending. Little children were buried with their parents — some dead, others injured. Men and women, old and young, were buried deep, crushed and mutilated.
The complete train comprised seven cars, one guard’s van. and two luggage vans. Of the carriages two only were not smashed to matchwood. It was the first five on the train which suffered, the sixth carriage, with its windows still unbroken, climbing semi-vertically on to the top of the wreckage of the others. The seventh came to rest in a normal position.
All through the night ghostly figures with torches, storm lanterns, or slush lamps moved silently about the wreckage. High up on the adjacent banks were scattered articles of clothing, women’s shoes, children’s slippers, toys, a tin of baby powder, a broken jar of honey, a child’s picture book crushed and torn, fur coats, handbags, and innumerable suitcases and boxes crushed beyond recognition. Town wearing apparel, hats, and gloves were scattered everywhere among the debris.
Naturally there were many stories of individual acts of heroism. It was seen in the stubborn refusal of an old lady, who, after having her hand bandaged, refused any further treatment until her husband and son were found. It was witnessed in the case of a boy of eight years, David O’Connor, of Kyeburn, who, with a broken arm, asked the rescuers to attend first to his father and elder brother alongside him, who were in a worse predicament than himself. The brother was found to be dead.
One man of medium build was thrown out of a carriage window by the force of the impact of the cars coming together, and as the carriage hurtled over he struck the bank of the cutting and was forced back through another window aperture into the carriage again. Apart from a few superficial cuts he was not seriously injured.
Caught for Six Hours
Amid the cries of the injured, great fortitude was displayed by Mrs Sawers, of Alexandra. She had a providential escape from death for just before the crash she gave up her seat to a lady with a baby in arms, and moved to a corner seat. The mother and child were killed and Mrs Sawers was trapped —buried almost — in the twisted wreckage, in which position she remained for more than six hours. She was given medical treatment during this time and assistance and support from the rescuers while the metalwork imprisoning her was cut away. It was nearly 8 o’clock in the evening before she was released.
When one of the telescoping carriages was hurled up on to the bank, the whole side was torn clean off it and the passengers were tossed in all directions. It was in the carriages immediately in front of this one that the greatest number of casualties occurred, for one had turned sideways on and the walls had become flattened together like two pieces of cardboard. All through the night the crew of the rescue train worked by the aid of flood lights, and by morning it had laid down another track of rails right up alongside the engine, which had to be hauled back out of the cutting before any further progress could be made. In the meantime the rescue gangs had been busy clearing away the dismantled seats, racks, and woodwork piled high behind the engine. It was here that most of the bodies were recovered.
The train left Hyde at 1.37 p.m., but its usual scheduled time was stated to be 1.25. By the time it had reached Ranfurly there were about 80 passengers on board, while others were picked up at Waipiata, Kokonga, and Hyde. Indeed; it is said that one young man. Kinney, had not found a seat when the accident occurred. He was among those killed.
The first news of the tragedy was telephoned by Mr Harold Preston, of Galloway, a passenger on the train, from the home of Mr Michael Kinney, about two miles from Hvde. to Mr Charles Taylor, of the Hyde Hotel. Mr Preston asked for brandy and this was dispatched on horseback, as the only means of transport available. Word was then sent out to Ranfurly, Middlemarch, and Dunedin, and all possible arrangements were made for the rescue of the passengers still trapped in the debris. Shortly after 5 o'clock, ambulances from Dunedin, including personnel from the Otago University Medical Corps, left for the scene of the accident, together with Army transport lorries and City Corporation and Railway buses, to convey the injured to the hospitals in Ranfurly and Dunedin, and to transport the remaining few passengers from the scene,
By sundown many willing workers were on the scene doing everything in their power to assist in the rescue work. The first doctor on the scene (Dr. I. J. Logan, of Middlemarch) arrived within an hour. He was followed shortly afterwards by Dr. Horton, of Ranfurly, and Drs. A. Kidd and A. H. Webb, from the Orangapai Sanatorium. Dunedin doctors arrived later in the evening. This calamitous train smash was all the more tragic because nearly all the passengers were journeying to Dunedin on holiday, either to attend the winter show or races.
FOUR RELATIVES KILLED
MAN’S TRAGIC EXPERIENCE
Mr G. H. Frater, formerly of Christchurch (where he was well known as club captain of the Christchurch Football Club) and now registrar of Social Security at Rotorua, received the tragic news on Saturday morning that his father had been killed, his sister and her two children killed, and his mother seriously injured in the railway disaster near Hyde on Friday afternoon. Mr Frater passed through Christchurch yesterday on his way to see his mother, whose condition is reported by the Ranfurly Hospital to be improving, and to attend his father's funeral, which will be held at Alexandra. His sister was Mrs W. White, of Harper street, Timaru.
MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY
(P.A.) WELLINGTON, June 6. The Governor-General (Sir Cyril Newall) has sent to the Minister or Railways (the Hon. R. Semple), a message expressing his deep grief in hearing of the tragic railway accident in Central Otago. “I shall be grateful if you will convey to the relatives of those who lost their lives the heartfelt sympathy of Lady Newall and myself and to the injured our best wishes for a speedy recovery.”
The Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Railway Engine-drivers, Firemen’s and Cleaners' Association has passed a motion of sympathy and condolence with those suffering bereavement or injury through the accident. -Press, 7/6/1943.
DEATHS
WHITE — On June 4 (result of accident), Desmond Edward, loved son of William McLeod and the late Irene Elizabeth White; aged four months. — The Funeral will leave the Presbyterian Sunday School Hall on Tuesday, 8th inst., after the arrival of the Central train, for the Alexandra Cemetery — J. D. Thomson and Sons, funeral directors.
WHITE. — On June 4 (result of accident), Irene Elizabeth, beloved wife of William McLeod White, 46 Harper street, Timaru, and youngest daughter of Mary D. Frater, Earnscleugh, and the late John Frater. — The Funeral will leave the Presbyterian Sunday School Hall on Tuesday, 8th inst., after the arrival of the Central train, for the Alexandra Cemetery. — J. D. Thomson and Sons, funeral directors.
WHITE. — On June 4 (result of accident), John William, beloved son of William McLeod White and the late Irene Elizabeth White; aged three years. — The Funeral will leave the Presbyterian Sunday School Hall on Tuesday, 8th inst., after the arrival of the Central train, for the Alexandra Cemetery. —J. D. Thomson and Sons, funeral directors. -Otago Daily Times, 7/6/1943.
Visit Postponed.
The visit of Mr. G. H. Frater, Social Security Department officer, who was to attend at the Opotiki Courthouse on Wednesday next, has now been postponed. Mr. Frater's father, Mr. John Martin Nicholas Frater, and his sister, Mrs. Irene Elizabeth White with her four-months-old son Desmond and her five-year-old son John, were all killed in the recent tragic train smash in the South Island. Mr. Frater’s mother was also injured in the railway accident. -Opotiki News, 11/6/1943.
Alexandra Cemetery.
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