8 die in bus crash, Knottingley 07 Feb 1943

Finally managed to narrow down the exact wall and location these poor servicemen met their fate.

It was indeed the wall that I thought, which is to the left of the town hall and pictured in the above posts with render and a step now built into it.

From the Yorkshire evening post:



The britain from above picture in 1930 shows this exact house the left of the town hall.

There is also a picture of Sgt Tremaine, who is on the plaque in the first post, in the same news paper.

 

Such are the scenes of death, which happened in so many places over the years in this country . Very well done in your persistence.

 

Congratulations... that evidence proves it was a left hand turn into Aire Street where the collision with wall occurred. (Reviewing the posts, Capt Bill through his source mentions the vicarage wall in Post #1 but the photographic evidence is clear.

I was thinking that it was a right hand turn along with the evidence of repairs to the wall just beyond the right hand turn.

As regards the history of the roadworks in the area, the OS Map, York, 1960, shows the right hand turn as the main road,the A 645.

 

One wonders about the accident history of the location in the past 100 years.

These days, at least in Australia, the bus driver - Jones, would probably be convicted of 'Dangerous Driving - Cause Death.' (Overloaded and not driving conducive to the road conditions.) Alcohol could also have been a factor. Tragic event.

 

Jones would have been doing 5 to 10 in the pen I'd have thought.
He would have been over today's limit, by his own admission of 3 pints +.
The widow (a distant relative of mine) even wrote to him, saying she didn't think he caused the deaths wilfully. Can't say that would happen in today's society? But who knows.

The news papers have subtitles such as 'Hansons job' in relation to cpl Hanson (husband of my distant relative) who shouldn't have let that many people on the bus in the first place. There was even a note, that there was one person near the drivers cab , who had nothing to do with the lads! Either just a drinking friend or someone catching a lift! The process was to count the occupants 'in' when they got to Snaith, but unfortunately they didn't make it that far.

Not sure if the leading bus turned round and/or stopped. Or if they just carried on. Still trying to get more info and will update this thread if I find anything.

 

sri-130 It is an interesting story, albeit tragic as many are. Having been a serious crash investigator for a few years during my previous life of 36 yrs in NSW Police. I still like to delve into these matters. Yes today, a similar incident on conviction would bring 7 to 10 years penal servitude, here anyway and probably in UK too.

 

Hi I’m new to the site. We are setting up a museum in the former WAAF site of RAF Snaith. Would it be possible to use some of this information in a display at all please? Many thanks

 

I managed to find a photo of Herbert Hanson (Corporal) and distant relative of mine, who died in the crash.
From a newspaper article in Huddersfield, where he was from.



RIP