Memories of Aberfan tragedy preserved 60 years on

Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, a former officer of The Salvation Army who supported families in the immediate aftermath recalled a grieving father asking, ‘Where is your God now?’ 

To mark the anniversary on 21 October, two members of The Salvation Army who witnessed the tragedy first hand, Sheila Davies (94) and David Tribble (75), met in September at Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon, south Wales, to record their memories. Their valuable oral testimony will be preserved by the museum and in The Salvation Army's International Heritage Centre in London. 

On 21 October 1966, a huge colliery spoil tip rising 500 ft. above the mining town of Aberfan collapsed after heavy rainfall, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and a row of houses killing 116 children and 28 adults. 

Members of The Salvation Army were among the first on the scene. Officers worked alongside emergency services, community and voluntary organisations providing practical and pastoral support during the recovery operation and in the weeks and months that followed. 

Sheila Davies was among The Salvation Army’s personnel serving at Aberfan in the days following the disaster. She recalled two conversations with bereaved parents that have stayed with her for six decades. 

“One mother answered the door in obvious agony and said, ‘We knew no happiness until she came to live here, and now that's been taken away from us.’ Those words have stayed with me ever since,” said Sheila. “On another visit, a man opened the door and simply asked, 'Where is your God now?' Even with faith, there are moments when tragedy challenges us. I'm grateful that my faith has sustained me to this day.” 

David Tribble was just a teenager when his father, Major Derrik Tribble, was the first officer from The Salvation Army at the scene. 

“I was 15 when Aberfan happened and I simply had no way of understanding the enormity of what I was seeing,” said David. “I was just a lad. It was only years later that I fully grasped the scale of the tragedy. Our dad returned from working in the chapel and the mortuary. When he saw my two younger sisters, what he had witnessed suddenly hit him. He looked at them and burst into tears.” 

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Roberts, leader of The Salvation Army in Wales, said: 

“We remember those who lost their lives in the Aberfan disaster and the families who were changed forever. We pay tribute to the emergency services, voluntary organisations and local people who responded with such compassion and dedication. We also remember with gratitude The Salvation Army officers and members who served the community in its darkest hours.” 

The recordings made at The Big Pit will help preserve priceless first-hand accounts of Aberfan for future generations. Steven Spencer, Director of The Salvation Army's International Heritage Centre, said: 

“It was an honour to meet Sheila and David and hear them speak so movingly about their experiences. Recording memories such as theirs is vital to ensure that future generations understand the human impact of one of the worst disasters in Welsh history and that lessons from it continue to be learned.” 

Ceri Thompson, Curator of Coal Mining at The Big Pit, said: 

“Aberfan is an important moment in modern Welsh history. It was especially moving to hear from someone who attended the scene at just 15-years-of-age, not that much older than some of those children who so tragically died in the disaster.”