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Full Details

Surname
DAVIDSON
Forename
Birrel Jnr
Day
21
Month
05
Year
1918
Age
Occupation
Mine/Quarry Name
Glencraig
Mineral Worked
Coal
Owner
Wilson's & Clyde Coal Co. Ltd
Location
Lochgelly
County
Fifeshire
Details of Event
21 May 1918: Entombed Miners at Glencraig - Early on Tuesday morning, two men, Birrel Davidson Jnr and Peter Hay, North Glencraig, were engaged along with a lad named James Cameron were engaged at repair work, when they were caught by a sudden burst from the roof, Davidson being caught between the heavy material and a hutch and killed. When James Simpson, the fireman, belonging to Cowdenbeath, arrived on the scene, he found Hay and Cameron being gradually entombed by the still falling material. No other men were at hand, but, ignoring the danger to himself, Simpson worked heroically for several hours to prevent the suffocation of the two men, who were subsequently extricated. Simpson's work was most heroic, and it is felt by those who know the full circumstances that his action is deserving of recognition. Davidson was a member of a well known Lochore family and only began work in the pit recently after serving 3 1/2 years in the army and doing duty in Salonika and France. He leaves a widow and eight of a family. [Dunfermline Journal 25 May 1918]