DONATE

Memories of a Red Cross volunteer at Aberfan

In 1966 tragedy hit the small Welsh village of Aberfan when an 800-foot, water-logged coal-tip slipped and fell 500 yards down a mountainside. It engulfed a local school, killing 116 children and 28 adults. 

John Cole was one of hundreds of British Red Cross volunteers who helped the local community in Aberfan. Now, his daughter Anna shares his story

 

Last updated 19 April 2023

My Mum would say how Dad changed after Aberfan. I recall her saying how he came home after his time there and just sat, staring, dazed and haunted by what he had experienced.

Dad was on the scene following the Aberfan disaster in 1966. He was a long standing and proud British Red Cross volunteer, and at just 21, he was one of the youngest to attend.

To see the events of that day and the aftermath depicted in The Crown [a recent Netflix series] was harrowing and it gave me a sense of what my Dad would have seen and experienced, at such a young age.

Two police officers and two other men lift cardboard boxes into the back of a van at the time of the mining disaster in Aberfan.

Relief supplies for Aberfan © Media Wales

Dad drove across the country to help

After receiving special permission from his employer at the time, Alvis Cars, where he was carrying out his apprenticeship, Dad was one of the volunteers who drove one of the two ambulances sent from Coventry to Aberfan to assist with the response.

When Dad arrived, he was assisting the local volunteers already at the scene, who were tasked with digging out the dead and working in the mortuary, which I think was sensitively approached in the programme.

 

DAD ALSO HELPED WITH THE CASUALTIES AND WAS THERE TO SUPPORT FAMILIES WHO HAD LOST CHILDREN.

From what memories Dad shared of his work in the mortuary, the scenes featuring Anthony Armstrong-Jones walking through the room lined with the bodies of children who had tragically lost their lives, were particularly powerful. I can’t begin to imagine what that must have felt like to witness.

Dad also helped with the casualties and was there to support the families who had lost children and for those who had been made homeless due to the destruction. I felt the episode poignantly reflected the grief of the families and when I consider how young my Dad was at the time, I can start to understand how the events of that day had such a lasting impact on him.

John Cole sits in a garden years after his time as a British Red Cross volunteer in Aberfan.

John Cole more recently

The British Red Cross volunteer uniform worn by John Cole at Aberfan.

John Cole's British Red Cross volunteer uniform

Working through the night to sort supplies

Years after, on a family trip to Wales, Dad was unable to face the idea of going back to Aberfan and even certain references to the disaster on television would trigger Dad’s memories.

Although this wasn’t featured in The Crown, a British Red Cross report written after the disaster mentions that there was a national appeal on radio and TV for ‘waterproof clothing and gumboots’. Red Cross volunteers stayed up all night sorting through the ‘vast supplies’ that arrived the day after the disaster.

The list of equipment the Red Cross used over the next few days gives an idea of the scale of the work – and the era they and my Dad were working in. It included 1,000 blankets, 200 cooking pans, 30 cutlery sets, ‘an uncountable quantity of fruit drinks’ and 10,000 cigarettes.

I know Dad was proud to volunteer with the Red Cross and we, as a family, are very proud of him.

 

A helping hand

We’ve been there for people in vulnerable situations across the country for 150 years, no matter who or where they are. Click below to make sure we’ll always be there for people.

Donate