A tragic anniversary falls on 2 July 2009.
Exactly
100 years to the day there occurred a dreadful accident, the Newport Docks Disaster.
A trench gave way during
the building of the extension work to the Alexandra Docks, in Newport, Monmouthshire. It was being carried out in the
area of the South Docks by Messrs Easton Gibbs and Son.
The structure of timbers collapsed without warning and swept
away huge cranes and machinery.
39 men and boys died in the disaster. Some died immediately on Friday 2nd July 1909,
some clung onto life for a few hours into the night and the small hours of Saturday morning.
This site compiled by
Monty Dart and William Cross is a tribute to those who died, to those brave men and women who played a part in the rescue
and to one small boy who was the hero of the day - Tom Toya Lewis.
Using contemporaneous accounts and unique photographs,
Monty and Will have written a play entitled His Wonderful Escape, the title derived from the telegram from the King and Queen
which read
.........Their Majesties are anxious that you should express
also to the boy Lewis their admiration of the heroism which he displayed and their congratulations on his wonderful escape.
