The Disaster

Compiled by Carol Herben

31st July marks the anniversary of the Mt Kembla Disaster, where 96 men and boys lost their lives in the explosion.

On 23 March 1887some 15 years and 4 months earlier the first major mine disaster struck the Illawarra region with the Bulli Mine Disaster which claimed the lives of 81 men and boys. A leader in that rescue campaign was one Henry Osborne MacCabe a young man of 30 years of age.

Amongst the many rescuers was John Evans, Manager Mt Kembla Colliery, and W. B. Green former manager Mt Kembla Colliery.

Both mine disasters devastated the Walker family of Cordeaux River. In the Bulli Mine Disaster William Walker aged 40 years and both his stepsons George and Henry Cole were killed. In the Mt Kembla Mine Disaster William's brother Richard Walker aged 45 years. Along with Richard Walker was his two nephews John aged 16 years and William aged 18 years.

Dreadful Explosion at Mount Kembla.

The Illawarra Mercury 2 August, 1902

A gloom was cast over the whole district on Thursday last when it became known that a dreadful explosion had taken place at Mount Kembla a few minutes before 2 o'clock at a time when there were upwards of 250 men in the mine. The explosion resulted in the roof of the mine tunnel collapsing and imprisoning the men. The explosion so far as is known at present, killed 57 men outright. The names of the men whose bodies were last recovered had not come to hand.

The townspeople of Wollongong were thrown into a state of great excitement. A terrific report was heard, the windows of the houses rattled, and for a moment the people stood aghast wondering what had happened. Many attributed the noise to an extra large blast at Port Kembla quarry, while others in the town state that they distinctly noticed smoke and debris being blown upwards from Mount Kembla.

There was, however an almost unanimous opinion that some dreadful disaster had occurred in one or other of the mines. All doubt was very shortly removed by a telephone message received at the Wollongong Post Office. It was a brief statement to the effect that a dreadful explosion had occurred in the mine, and it was feared all the men had been entombed. At once there was a great commotion especially amongst those who had relatives working in the colliery. Business was suspended immediately, and in a few minutes vehicles of all description loaded with people, also horsemen and pedestrians, were hurrying towards the mine.

First Receipt of the news in Town

News of the disaster was first received at the Arbitration Court, sitting in Wollongong on the dispute between the Southern Collieries proprietors and their employees. It was received by Mr W Rogers, manager of the Mount Kembla mine. The court at once adjourned and the managers of the different coal mines hurried away with Mr Rogers to assist in the rescue of the unfortunate miners. The miners representative present in court also joined in the human effort of lending assistance to the men in distress.

Arrival at the incline

When Mr Rogers and his fellow mine managers reached the bottom of the incline leading up to the mine they learned that the explosion had been a disastrous one. A fireman named Weston was met with his head bandaged. On being interrogated as to the nature of the accident he said it was very serious, and that it was a gas explosion. On reaching the mouth of the tunnel Mr Rogers and the other mine managers found that the volumes of had died away almost to nothing.

Relief Parties

Relief parties were at once formed of willing hands from other mines, whilst civilians who work not miners cordially joined in the work. Amongst those who assisted was Major MacCabe formerly manager of the Mount Keira mine. He took a prominent part in the rescue work at the Bulli disaster, and was again to the front with his advise and assistance. It was gleaned from Weston that he was working at his usual place with Engine-Driver Purcell when the explosion occurred both had a miraculous escape. Weston was practically uninjured, but his mate was blown clear out of the engine house. He escaped with a few bruises. A lad named Nelson standing near Weston, was knocked down and killed instantly.

Terrible scenes of Devastation

At the tunnel moutha terrible scene of devastation was presented to view. All the buildings, including the office, engine house, and every other building in connection with the colliery, had been blown into an unrecognisable mass. The entrance to the main shaft was a complete wreck. Gangs of men were set to work to clear away the debris for the twofold purpose of enabling the rescue parties to get into the mine, and to also ascertain if anyone lay killed or injured under the mass of timber and rocks strewn about. In a very short time the body of the lad Nelson was found in a badly mutilated condition. A few minutes later a gruesome discovery was made in the shape of a human leg lying under a heap of timber. As the body of Nelson was not minus one leg the limb belonged to some other unfortunate youth, as the doctors noted that it was the leg of a youth of 17 or 18 years of age.

Rescue Work

As the work of clearing away the debris at the entrance tunnel progressed the rescue parties were taken to the travelling road, which is a small tunnel 200 yards to the south of the main tunnel and is used for the purpose of enabling the miners to proceed to the different workings in the mine. Fortunately this travelling road was not damaged by the explosion and after several attempts the willing hands were able to go into the mine. Safety lamps were carried. That was insisted on by the manager though the mine had been worked with naked lights. It was heartbreaking to witness the grief of the women and children. "Here they come" shouted someone who was peering in at the mouth of the tunnel, and in a moment several more were helped out staggering and in a dazed condition. The crowd of women and children pressed round to see if amongst the number was their father, husband, or brother as the case might be. Some of the men, on reaching the open air became delirious, and showed the terrible ordeal through which they passed. Some of them could not walk even when supported by the rescuers. Hence they had to be bought out by stretcher.

The men in the mine

At the time of the catastrophe there were over 250 men in the mine, the front shift was just coming out at the time of the explosion, in fact they did not know that anything out of the common had occurred until they emerged from the travelling road and saw a great crowd of men, women and children gathering there. It is a singular circumstance that an explosion heard nine miles away was not even heard or felt by the miners who were leaving off work. In a conversation with some of the men who were rescued it was learned that their first sensation was a sense of deafness and a feeling of suffocation. Some stated that they were knocked down as if by a blow their lights were blown out by the fierce rush of wind. In each case the miner stated that he felt almost choked to death with smoke. The only way they escaped suffocation was by lying flat on the ground and crawled along on their hands and knees towards a place called the "air reserve" and waited there until the smoke had cleared away. One of the great dangers which confronted the men was the manner in which the skips were hurled about in the workings by a mighty rush of air caused by the explosion. In some cases the skips were smashed to pieces, and the horses that draw them were killed instantly.

Cause of the explosion

The general impression is that the explosion was due to gas. The remarkable thing is that gas never been known to exist in the mine before. The fireman and tester whose duty it is to make an inspection of all the tunnels in search of gas. One of the men was missing and was supposed to have been left in the mine.