I can’t even imagine having been one of the people actually there in the disaster. I’m really glad they covered this (albeit, dramatically, of course) because so many of us born after this happened, weren’t taught about this in history class. What a horrific thing that whole community went through. Despite all of their fights to remove the mines. My hearts are with all of them.
This full episode was soo sad, i was not familiar with the real story of the tragedy and after watching it i had to take a little break for the next one
My dad went over to help, over 2000 people went to help, so many, some had to turn back. Just think of this fact , lots got killed in the industry, but if it was not for the coal industry most of us valley people would not have existed. How ironic !
I grew up in Aberfan, so this episode hit hard. My primary school was visited by the Queen during her diamond jubilee. I now realise the significance of her visit.
Can I ask how the subject was approached and explained to you as a child? What was it like for you growing up somewhere where such a tragedy took place? I'm Scottish, born in 2004 and I first remember having the Dunblane massacre explained to me in my P2 (Year 1?) class. I'm from Edinburgh so it's obviously very different to growing up where it occurred, but we all knew and were taught that it happened from a very young age.
@@gnome5051 I can't explain for Lola as it seems she experienced the aftermath of the tragedy. But during my time in school the lesson bell was changed every year, to signal a minute silence to remember those who perished. I do not live in Aberfan but living so close our school, and others, occasionally organised trips to visit the Aberfan memorial. It's a big deal here in South Wales, especially the valleys, and the students are always reminded, I learnt the subject in year 4 but my dull mind probably missed the hints of the disaster years before.
@@gnome5051 hi, of course :) I'll be honest, I can't remember exactly how we were taught, I just feel like it's something I always knew about. The play park is next to the site of the old school which is now a memorial, and the graves of the deceased are large and white. It's just has a sort of presence in the village, all of the elderly were around when it happened, most would have lost someone. And my grandad helped with the digging efforts following the disaster. I'm sure we were probably taught about it, but that's not the part I remember.
@@ivandinsmore6217 Respectfully disagree. This smacks of the worse examples of what pure greed will get you. That is a capitalist made and perpetuated problem of the worse kind and outcome. The working-class people of the world do not get a free pass in their daily labors for the same people of wealth and privilege that created this mess, covered it up, refused to take responsibility, attacked the victims and their families for wanting fair and just treatment, and they all kept their jobs. And all of those warnings went unanswered or acknowledged? Sorry, son of an old rock miner... ☮☯💖😎🙌
@@kevink.7597 "Lord" Alf Robens was a Labour politician & minister prior to becoming chairman of the NCB. This happened in 1966, when a Labour government were in power - can't blame them for them tip collapsing, but they were also in charge when that £150k was pilfered from the appeal fund. You;re kidding yourself if you believe a Labour (socialist) government is really any different from a tory (capitalist ) government, ultimately they always prioritise looking after themselves.
Thank you for the link. The fact that the parents in their grief could be so generous to give clothing and toys of their children to others in need speaks volumes of their kindness.
Yes , I was in school just one mile away on that morning. School day.. was morning assembly then head back to your respective class rooms for lessons. The tip slide hit a 0913 am . Our teachers found out at around 0940, we were sent home around 1100. My father came home at 1200 and headed to Aberfan with friends and shovels. The last day before term was usually a short day .Home by 1200. So just three hours later and the death toll would have been drastically reduced. My question, why did God let this happen ?
Every UA-cam video about this tragedy now has its comments section filled with people just learning about the incident for the first time. As an American, thank you of educating me!
I was 12 when this happened, even at that age I was so shocked and numbed , I remember my mum crying her eyes out. It is certainly remembered in the coal mining areas of England and Scotland as well as Wales. To those pushing their ideologies, it could happen in a capitalist or socialist country, corporate neglect occurs in all kinds of regimes. And though those at the top deserved to be prosecuted, the blame permeates further down to local managers as well who connive in doing nothing to save money for their organisation. Respect to those who died, those who lost their loved ones.
As a Welshman I have to say this episode was superb. It is not often we get to see Wales portrayed in any film or television and this was dealt with such care and attention that brought me and my family to tears. My work colleague lost family in this disaster and she watched the episode and she said it was dealt with very well
I am from Macedonia. And I am 30 years old never heard of this tragedy until I saw this episode. When I saw it I had to pause it at some point it was just too hard. It was the hardest thing I have watched on television so far. 116 children. Precious children died. As a father it killed me. I will go and pay my respect to those that died one day.
I think I remember reading an article about when they were filming the scenes in the town, they had therapists on site to talk to the locals who were there as extras. There was a lot of underlying trauma in the locals and they finally had a chance to talk with a professional about it. It's kinda scary how long they held this tragedy over themselves.
I was in school a mile away when it happened. looking back we were all effected and just had to get on with it in those days. It still hurts 53 years later. Its burned in my memory till the day I die
Acidents and death are the cost of coal. My Farther lost his elder brother to a mining 'Acident' at Tredgar. Eighteen months later, my Grandmother was dead, probably of a brocken heart. The community knew how it felt, and coped within themslves , no need of proffesionals. Life was, what it was.
Steffan Hoffmann No you’re right. The majority of children who perished were between ages 7-10, making them being born from 1956-1959, making them in 2020 61-64. I think it was a mistake by the original comment, however it could be applied to the teachers that died.
Most of them at least would’ve lived full lives by now, probably still living, enjoying their grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren. Sad and not fair. ):
I’m from NZ and had never heard of the Aberfan disaster. As soon as I saw this episode of the Crown I vowed I would go to Aberfan one day to pay my respects. I visited the Memorial Garden today. It’s such a beautiful and tranquil place now, with trees, flowers, butterflies and a little playground. You would never know that such an awful tragedy had occurred there. It was a sobering experience walking around the garden. RIP xxx
This comment was posted so long ago but it really moved me. I'm a Welshman and to hear that you came from so far to pay your respects has put a tear in my eye. Diolch yn fawr iawn, Kayla. Thank you.
I grew up in South Wales and have known about the Aberfan disaster for as long as I can remember, as has everyone else I've known. I was shocked to read so many comments from people saying they had no idea about Aberfan. The rest of the world may have forgotten, but Wales never will.
I don't think its a matter of the rest of the world forgetting but the rest of the world not knowing. In this age of technology yes any tragedy is easily shared. I never knew of this tragedy admittedly it was before my time. I am sorry for the families and the people of Wales that this took place. And its even more sad that after all these years Health and Safety still isn't totally practice all for greed.
I'm sure if I asked you about Kaprun (150 people dead) or Parndorf (70 people dead) you'd be able to tell me all about it. Should be much easier than Aberfan anyway since they are much more recent tragedies. Every country has its tagedies. It's impossible to keep up with every other country's tragedies as well. British tragedies arn't worse than any others either.
Ellis ,I remember years and years ago I used to be a fan of BBC’s rock and roll years where the music and news events of any given year were featured. 1966 issue brought that tragedy to my attention. Very sad and shameful.
I am from Merthyr Tydfil. Those poor children. I sobbed from the beginning of this episode. Health and Safety was simply not being followed and none of those at the top paid for it. Disgusting.
@Kandy Kandy So you're telling someone who lives near Aberfan that they should "get a grip"? You're also discounting the strikes that coal miners had since the 1920s with safety being a primary issue. There were guidelines. The OP is correct in that they weren't followed - that's why the inquest could come to the conclusion they did.
Top brass passing the buck for their own selfish benefit. Treating the workers and their families with derision. Often non one takes responsibility, its happening with Grenfell.
My Dad's side of the family emigrated from Merthyr to Australia in the 19th century. I wonder if some of those in Aberfan might have been (admittedly distant) relatives? Mum and Dad visited Britain in 1978, and drove up to Merthyr from Cardiff - which meant going through Aberfan. Even then, she said the place 'gave me the creeps.' I went through there myself in 1989 - by then the hills behind had been cleaned up, and you wouldn't know such a terrible disaster had happened.
I grew up in Ireland, one of my history teachers touched on this and then never again. She said she couldn't because it brought her to tears. I never understood why. I was a kid after all. Years later, I watched this and I was in tears. I finally understood why. I am a parent myself so I can only image and maybe not imagine good enough the pain these families went through.
I Live in Cardiff, the capital of South Wales just 1 Hour drive from Aberfan. Couple of months back I visited PantGlas Primary school and all I could say is that the experience was spine-chilling to see all of the graves of the children and teachers, god bless to those who lost their lives that day.
@@crystalawen No, not sick, just compassionate. Netflix isn't responsible for the lack of support offered to the parents of Aberfan in 1966, that's on the British government of the time. Shouldn't we just appreciate that today PTSD is recognised and help is available?
So many parallels with Grenfell - ignoring the warnings, passing the blame, the insensitivity and broken promises in the aftermath, delay in official response and presence.
And no one is being punished for that. Plus there are at least 200 other buildings in England covered in that same material as well as in Australia. Check it out. Disasters waiting to happen. And known about by the people in charge.
You could be talking about Summerland, Princess Victoria, Moorgate, Harrow & Wealdstone, Kings Cross, Ibrox, Burnden Park....I bet most people born after 1980 have never heard of most of these.
...and that has been the way the English upper class has always treated the working class of the British Isles. The working class do all the work & the toffs get the profits while the workers get a pittance & suffer all the consequences. What they (the rich) can't take in legally, they'll steal.
@Kandy Kandy what MackerelCat means is today, people winge about OSHA and H&S but without them, workers and communities are exposed to situations like Aberfan
Well said, MackrelCat. It is easy to mock H&S, but the fact that industrial accident rates have plummeted (per 100k of workers) ever since H&S legislation was introduced, proves that it works.
So glad, amidst this horror, that the money of Netflix went to something that was so sorely needed. Sometimes, when someone with money and power in Hollywood decides to tell a story, it can actually benefit something real, like this. All thoughts to the people of Aberfan and the nation of Wales.
Credit to Netflix but also credit to the British. It was written by a Brit and the main producer, Robert Fox, comes from a long line of Thespians. Left Bank Pictures is British too.
@@celiabarker Oh 100%, was trying to evade crediting the company but moreso the fact that when someone decides to tell a story that a company supports monetarily, sometimes it ends up affecting something real.
I am from aberfan, my nan still lives opposite the memorial garden. My grandfather never spoke much of the disaster but was nan told me it haunted him for years. He was helping and dealt with many children who had died...many he knew due to being friends of their parents. My nan could not watch this episode bringing back a lot of memories. The disaster has however brought Aberfan an even closer knit community as most families have been affected.
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
@@bradhartliep879 thank you. Your experiences must have been terrible. Still you have the compassion for the suffering of others so far away. That episode brought it all back to me. I was a child at the time living in a mining town with a coal mining father and several uncles the same. It brought the danger to myself and my many cousins that our dads faced every shift they went down.
I’m from NZ and had never heard of the Aberfan disaster. As soon as I saw this episode of the Crown I vowed I would go to Aberfan one day to pay my respects. I visited the Memorial Garden today. It’s such a beautiful and tranquil place now, with trees, flowers, butterflies and a little playground. You would never know that such an awful tragedy had occurred there. It was a sobering experience walking around the garden. RIP xxx
If you found this really interesting. Check out the Cheenobyl Podcast. Which had an episode released following the TV episode coming out. It’s really interesting.
My grandfather was one of the survivors pulled out of the school. He wasn’t a child, he was a passerby heading home from his mining shift to his wife. He was a lovely, gentle man but even when I was small I knew something wasn’t right with him. He was anxious all the time and if any of us were late coming home, we would walk up the garden path to see him on the doorstep, waiting for us, wringing his hands. I didn’t know why he was like this under after his death, he was just Granda. Now, as an adult, I can recognise that he was carrying guilt and trauma with him all of his life. The fact nobody was prosecuted or even sacked for this is an insult to my family, their community and my grandfather Idris. I understand the Queen feels she should have visited earlier and yes, she probably should have, but my Grandad would never hear a bad word about her until the day he died.
I can understand why the Queen didn't go straightaway. She didn't want to get in the way of the search and rescue and eventual recovery efforts which everyone was involved with.
My great grandfather worked for the st John's ambulance. He went to Aberfan not to rescue the children, but to clean and dress the bodies of the children and teachers who were killed by the sludge. He never once spoke about it and although I never met him, I have so much respect for him
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
I remember the horror of that day so clearly and 'The Crown' replicated that sense of utter catastrophe and appalling heartbreak so perfectly I cried most of the way through it. I grew up in a mining community and felt an affinity with those poor families. Their loss and grief was still unimaginable - how they survived is beyond me. It stands as testament to the strength and determination of the Welsh people. Their loss just cannot be calculated, the sadness is beyond comprehension. Everyone involved in the making of the episode is to be congratulated, but I have to admit, I would not wish to watch it again.
@Black Sun To be fair to her majesty, I don't think there's a lot she can actually do. If she did, at best government might simply take away any remaining legal power she might have, and at worst it may cause another Civil War.
Black Sun Though I wouldn’t put it as strongly as you do, yes, we do have to put up with it. However, if the monarchy was abolished, as private citizens they would still have a huge amount of wealth and property. To some degree they might even enjoy living the high life but without the public’s sense of ownership and the unwelcome attention that goes with it. I feel sorry for Elizabeth, it must be so hard having children who go off the rails in spectacular fashion.
@Black Sun Oh fuck off, brainless brat. Way to turn this around just to shit all over 94-year-old woman and whine... I am from Ukraine but even I know that it's NOT the job of the monarchy and the Queen, they cover diplomatic and ceremonial missions!
my mom called me after she watched this episode just sobbing and she said to me that she finally understood and realized why my grandfather (her dad) cried when this hit the news, she was about 13 years old and didn't understand why. My grandfather left Scotland after a terrible mining accident that left most of his friends dead, he had that day off and wasn't near the mine after that incident his parents sent him to Canada to live a better life then a coal miner and this just brought back all the memories of that day for him.
As Prince Phillip said, when the village sang their hymn in unison, everyone wept. When the Queen listened to the recording and shed a single tear, it couldn't have been more powerful. That could be the episode that wins Olivia Colman an Emmy.
One of my earliest memories was being little and my mum ironing watching the TV, seeing the black heap and rescuers with stretchers, she was sobbing and I went to hold her hand and ask what's wrong, mummy, she knelt down and said, "it's just sad, sweetheart, it's very sad for some mummies." I remember she had a handkerchief with orange around the edge, wiping her tears. Even at that very young age I knew something very big and very horrible had happened. I watched this episode, both my partner and I sobbed throughout. An unimaginable horror. Impossible to get my head around, I know some parents have gone to be with them and they all will be together again, but it must have been the longest life without them.
I have a very similar memory but I was 6 on September 11th 2001 here in the UK. Remember my parents just stood watching the tv and I peered around the corner into the living room and seeing the second plane hit and my parents just shouting in shock and then seeing me and picking me up . Weird to have the memory of a plane flying into a building as a proper significant moment. Must be the reactions of our parents that made it stick
My grandfather, Dadci, was one of those miners who travelled to help. He had been badly injured in a coal mining accident 10 years previously, he had helped clear buildings & recoveries in London during the Blitz, but this he said was the worst incident he had encountered. It was heartbreaking & soul destroying. The NCB had never been well thought of but after Aberfan... fury doesn't come close...
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
I was 15 and along with my family we watched the live broadcast. I doubt if there was one mother in all of the the UK who did not weep that night. I recall my mother sobbing and saying "oh those poor mothers".
uhhh that scene where the queen goes to one of the survivor's houses and the guy tells her Mr whatever his name was lost 7 family members. 3 children and 4 nephews was it? can you even imagine? losing 3 children and then also your brother (maybe) losing 4 children. i can't imagine how those families kept going.
Kandy Kandy It is expected that people will die during War therefore it is easier to cope with. People do not expect their children to die at school in Britain and therefore it was a unimaginable shock. Some villagers did fear that the tip would land on the school but no one could have possibly expected that so many children would die.
I remember reading an article about Aberfan a few years ago. Then I saw the opening scene with the rain pouring and the classroom, and felt sick as I realised what was going to happen and that the episode was about this disaster. It took me a week before I could bring myself to continue watching. Watching, I felt as though I’d been kicked in the guts. It was horrific just as a viewer - I can’t even imagine the horror of being there at the time and experiencing it. My heart goes out so deeply to the children, their parents, their families and the villagers of Aberfan who were affected then and now.
I saw the title "Aberfan" and thought how familiar the word sounded. I was told about this terrible loss of life by an English friend, many, many years ago. As the camera pulled out to show the small country town beneath a mountainous coal tip, I knew exactly why the town name rang a bell in my mind. I had to stop watching at that moment, the events of that day just too horrible to contemplate. It took me days to resume watching. So very sad - and worse - need never have happened.
Same, I remember hearing about it although the name kept alluding me. When I was watching this with my then girlfriend (now wife), she didn’t know about the disaster but I knew what was going to happen. Such a sad but fantastic episode.
I'm German, I don't watch the show, and heart from that tragedy for the first time. I can't describe how deeply shook I am. I can't Express how deeply sorry I am for the loss. I don't know how to feel for learning about this tragedy this way. But thank you so much for that video nonetheless, for I know now finally!
Easily the most haunting episode of any television show I've ever seen. The fact that counseling was offered to the survivors and their relatives during the making of this episode makes it also one of the best episodes.
The disaster is horrendous, it breaks my heart. But, God, the aftermath! The way families were treated, no one being hold accountable, the NCB not taking responsibility...the second disaster.
Wonderful episode, fantastic video. Episode 3 is among the best hours of television I've ever watched. The callow, unfeeling response by the government, their refusal to take responsibility, is infuriating, even decades later. The poor people of that town. What a staggering, heartbreaking, and entirely preventable loss of young life.
And nothing been done about Grenfell in Britain's richest council containing the uber rich the Duke of Westminster. But then it was all the Liverpool supporters fault in 1989. No one punished.
8 members of my husband's family died in mining accidents in the 19th century in Cumberland , Our family nrver got compensation . Instead the Government of the day paid compensation to the mine owners-- the Lonsdale, Lowther, Senhouse and Christian families for loss of income after the disasters/accidents . Miners were indentured workers , and could not leave the mines . It took Lord Shaftesbury several Acts of Parliament to get the practice changed . This country stopped Slavery in 1813,but the Americans carried on importing slaves until 1865. Instead of payingJamaica etc. The Aristocracy in Britain , should be paying compensation to the families of the Indentured labour schemes in the coal mines , and the descendants of people who worked in cotton and woollen mills , who were injured or went deaf because of the noise. Indentured Labour / Slavery started at 5 years old, was increased to 8 years old in 1840. Until 1902 children aged 10 to 13 could work in the mines 6 hours per day and then went to school. They were too tired to learn.
I'm studying to be a primary school teacher - seeing this whole episode left me sobbing and crying throughout the whole episode. It is so hard to watch and deal with, I can't imagine how it must be for the people affected
I am just now learning and binge watching this series for the first time. This episode from Season 3 is why I’m even here... This episode was so heart wrenching and impactful that it made viewers like me want to learn more about the tragedy and look up clips like this one on UA-cam. Thank you all so much for sharing.
Same and to be honest I’d never heard of this tragedy before that episode. I have suffered 2 miscarriages and I’m soo sensitive to this my kids were also in the room and I was thinking image being in that position! Horrifying! 😭😭😭😭
@@Sab.86 So sorry for your losses 💔 It was my first time learning about it too, as well as the Great Smog of 1952. Such awful tragedies caused by human negligence 😞
I was at school in England when this happened. We all prayed for the lost children and I remember so clearly being really disturbed by the tragedy. It was on the news a lot, and the images of crying miners sitting helplessly when nothing more could be done will haunt me forever.
A dark day in our history. My family were miners at Llay Main in North Wales. They, with many from their shift, immediately stopped production and drove to Aberfan in the South to help dig. Miners responded from all over Wales and made their way to Aberfan by any means necessary: car, lorry, bus, barge and walking.
My mum taught me about Aberfan when I was a child. She was 12yo at the time, and remembers it clearly. We are from Scotland. My mother's family were from Ayrshire, in particular, a mining villiage called Muirkirk. My mum's family lost a few people to colliery accidents, and the graveyard is full of graves marked "death in colliery accident". I guess that's why Aberfan always stood out for her.
Thought-provoking. Aberfan in 1966 - somewhat similarly to Lockerbie over twenty years later in 1988 - is one of those scars on British society that has never quite healed. An unexpected and sudden event that took many lives, and affected many others. There is a well-known press photo from the Queen’s visit to Aberfan eight days after the event - interestingly, not shown here - with a deeply pained expression on her face. It is one of the very few times when Her Majesty has shown this degree of emotion in public. If Aberfan is indeed is one of the Queen’s biggest regrets of her reign, then that it is entirely believable.
Eoghann P. It’s hardly surprising that this tragedy hit her hard, as the children who died were the same ages as her own children. She was well able to put herself in the parents’ places and empathise with them.
Thus was a tradegy that affected the whole country and is possibly one of the most well known along with Lovkerbie and Dunblane.The Stockport plane crash is another disaster rarely mentioned so not as well known, or the Bradford football ground fire.
She might be a queen but British royals don't have that kind of power, I think she did her very best (and still does) showing the people of Aberfan that she remembers them and their pain
Makeda Phillips as for me who didn’t live in UK also unaware of this until i watch the series. I cried most of the time, especially when Peter call princess Margaret telling a story of what happen. It is unfair those bloody money sucker get away with murder
@@firstnamett4656 Ask India and other colonies how well they were treated under the British East India Company and later the British Raj. And if India was the only example but the colonies were stripped clean. Do you honestly think which government was in power had anything to do with this disaster or how it was handled. Hundreds of thousands lost their jobs and ability to sustain themselves economically during the Thatcher years but you don't call *that* a disaster which made hundreds of thousands suffer for decades??
I visited the memorial garden for the children of Aberfan with my mum and my sister. The gravestones were in their own way, quite beautiful as I recall. I think I was too young to really understand where I was but I remember looking back to see my mum crying. She was a young girl when it happened and remembers watching the people trying to did the children out.
The Welsh remember and it will never never been forgotten. The coal broad knew it was not safe but money talk...every year on 21 October we stop and think of the village and wonder what dreams the children never fulfilled.
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
You know, Brazil recently went through two of this kind of disaster (both in my state, Minas Gerais; Mariana and Brumadinho cities). And watching this episode I could understand how corporations, since always, don't care about civilians who died in these tragedies. Tragedies provoked, inducted by their greed, irresponsibility, imprudence or just lack of humanity. It doesn't matter where you are: May people from Aberfan, Mariana and Brumadinho find one day some justice.
As a Welshman watching The Crown - and knowing the Aberfan episode was there - I was so shocked at the number of my friends/ work colleagues who also watched it that had never even heard of the tragedy. As a child growing up in South Wales - in Barry, which isn’t all that far away - I always knew what it was. Just the word ‘Aberfan’ alone was enough to know what someone was referring to. I couldn’t believe that some people I knew, aged in their twenties and thirties, just didn’t know about it at all.
I only just watched this episode and as a Welsh girl, what really hit home with me is the sense of community in South Wales towns that is incomparable to anywhere else. Through anything, we always pull together and look after one another. ♥️🏴
This is fantastic, thank you for explaining this awful tragedy, like most of the younger generation I didn't know about this before I saw it in the crown. These kind of videos are great as they explain the full accurate story without the drama of the show.
I'm a American and was only six when this happened, but for some reason I knew the story, so when this episode of The Crown started I knew what was to come, but it was still a gut wrenching thing to watch.
Possibly my favourite episode from S3 - told with such poignancy, but without any cheap emotional indulgences. Was worth the price of the Netflix subscription alone.
The coal miners& Government should've at least paid for the funerals& compensation to families, Its DISCUSTING! 🌹🕊R.I.P to all the precious children🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
For anyone interested, please listen to the heart-breaking and beautiful song 'The Price Of Coal' By David Alexander, which is a tribute to Aberfan and all lives lost through the history of coal mining. One lyric in that song gets the tears flowing every time: 'Aberfan in '66, when the whole world cried, on a mountainside, a generation died'.
This episode was so well filmed, the views of the tip above the village increased the tension, the characters reactions were written perfectly, what a great series.
Sadly,one of my relatives sadly died in the attack,she was only 9 and I have never met her before. My great aunt (her sister) is an MBE and she’s done interviews about the loss of her sister,she was only 11..
It hasn’t been forgotten. Every Welsh and English person over the age of 60 will know of it and many much younger. It was one of those events that will be remembered by many for years to come. Hopefully this episode of the Crown has taught many more about it.
I live kind of near Aberfan and it is horrible to think of how so many innocent children and adults were killed after the coal board had already been warned.
I spoke to a miner freind of my parents who was one of first on scene he told me i did not ask He said he dug and handed cold limp little bodies out of the school As he spoke i started to cry i was 36 at time im 56 now im crying as i write im very emotional He said adrian its ok lad to cry Worst part he said was knowing it shouldnt have happened When hed finished speaking i gave him a hug and as he sat there i could see the empty haunted look in his face He said memories of that day never go away
I knew the history of Aberfan so I was prepared, at least in theory, when I saw the episode title. But it was still like being clubbed in the gut. Those poor parents.
As a 21 year old I visited Britain in 1971. Someone in Wales told me the story of Aberfan and I visited there. I took photos and gave my respects becoming overcome with grief at the high loss of life of so many mostly children. I titled my photo essay “Aberfan Revisited”. I also wrote a song about the event. I simply cannot fathom the depth of the loss those people withstood.
I’m an American, but my ancestor were coal miners from Pennsylvania. My grandfather’s father died in a mine collapse. With the help of my grandmother who’s grandfather was also a coal miner and was born in Wrexham, he wrote a letter to the people of Aberfan.
I had never heard of Aberfan either. However, there was a similar tragedy in Denmark that I guess no one outside Denmark have heard of either. In 1945 the British Royal Air Force accidentally bombed the Institute Jeanne d'Arc (The French School) in Copenhagen, causing the death of 86 children and 18 adults. And wounding 102. There were similar scenes with parents in disbelief and distress - crying, screaming, panicking and digging with their bare hands. Sadly, we live in a non-perfect world, where accidents and tragedies like these do happen. Edit: This disaster was called Operation Carthage, google it.
Sometimes liberating countries from fascism erupts in innocents being caught in the crossfire. I imagine the pilots were traumatised when they realised what they'd done. But it was a war, I'm sure most Danes understand that.
I read about Aberfan some time ago and was amazed as to the insensitivity shown, by the NCB, towards the mourning. They tried to lie their way out of taking responsibility. Reminds me of so many tragedies that have happened in my 61 years of life. As a mom, I know the feeling of losing your child suddenly and tragically. I'm glad they have a memorial garden honoring the victims.
10 friends and family we knew died. I only live nearby and it hits so hard. I can't imagine what its like for those living there. Tragedies really do hit differently when they're local.
I’ve never heard about this tragedy until watching the crown, but it amazes me that the ncb refused to take blame when the tip was over 5 times higher then it should’ve been... So many warning signs were there, not to mention the people of Aberfan sending warnings... And for the ncb to take money from the fund that was raised, disgusting
When i first saw the children practicing their singing, I had an ominous feeling. I just couldn't help but feel the suspense... Once I saw the slurry hit the classroom, I just yelled "NOOOO!!!!"..... I always shut up when the whistle blows. The silence is heartbreaking. When the town sang the hymn....i cried 😞💔
This was the saddest thing I’ve seen in the history of British royal family. I do agree when the queen said “the last thing they want at this time is a queen to be there” can you imagine so much work force would get diverted just to take care of the royal protocols
I was 21 driving a Drott BT6 (loading shovel) and working on the foreshore outside Newport when we got the call to load the diggers onto low loaders. We stood by all day & night listening to the radio waiting for the call that never came. We were eventually stood down. I am now 75 and I still weep and pray for all the little ones when ever I am reminded. I have constantly thought about visiting Aberfan but cannot bring myself to make the journey its too heart breaking. RIP little ones and grown ups you and your families never received justice.
I never knew about this tragedy until I saw it dramatized on The Crown. I assumed that those responsible had been punished, or at least removed. This is a text book case of incompetence leading to tragedy. As we (humans) never seem to remember such things, I am glad that even a service dedicated to entertainment is around to remind all of us where stupidity, plus arrogance, plus power can lead us.
I remember this happening, I was four, I asked my mother why they just couldn’t dig them out, she was crying. This was a hard episode to watch but I’m glad it was made. We need to remember. When I picked my five year old son up from school the day of the Dunblane shooting, Aberfan came into my mind. The suffering of innocents.
No one will ever forget Aberfan. I will not. I was 10 years old visiting my blind aunt and my deaf uncle. We were listening on the radio, There was no tv. A generation was lost forever. The Crown dealt with what happened in a very sensitive manner. Respect to those poor children and their families.
Yes.... consider the billion dollar fines handed down to BP, SCB, BNP Paribas, UBS, BAE.... the list is endless... Doubtless more could be done but compare this with the public sector where noone has ever lost a job...
@@johngalt2880 What about Boeing?? Listen. I don't know what world you live in but most American corporations have some serious government protection even though they're private companies. Fact is they dictate much of the government politics - especially foreign politics - than the government dictates theirs. You have the roles of master and slave mixed up. And what about the GM government bailout? The Detroit auto industry enjoyed government protection for decades which is why they kept producing their models as if it was still the 1960's. And the Army? Who holds them responsible? As long as they win they can shoot up whoever they want provided the war doesn't drag on for too long. The army is a "state company" paid by tax dollars. But thanks to them you even have your "wealth" because without the state you'd find it a good deal more difficult to privately finance "protection". Your false dichotomy view of reality and world politics is unfit for anybody above the age of 14. State = evil Free market = good The world is more gray than you think.
@@yewisemountaingoat528 you seem to miss the point, or seem to agree with me. The closer you get to the state, the less accountable you are. The ineptitude at the national coal board caused this disaster. And noone was held to account. Had this been a privately owned company, directors would have been slaughtered. But because they were bureaucrats looking after their own, nothing happened.... See the NHS staffs trust where 300-odd patients died of negligence. What happened to the boss? Prison? Disgrace? No, sideways move to a similar job... As a standalone private job, 300 negligent homocides means prison...
These brave people; there are Welsh people that still talk about it. This was corporate manslaughter on a massive scale yet the powers that be got away with it. Tragic.
I was 14 at the time & living in Staffordshire (Central England) Heard the news on radio, still remember the details of the event, & the shock & horror that even I felt about 100 miles way. Even I felt anger that numerous warnings of the mountain spring had been ignored. Even I cry to see this video, & feel a resurgence of anger. I cannot imagine what the residents, especially what the parents of the children who died experienced. Good grief - digging for your own child, only to find a body when they'd maybe waved goodbye only 15 mins previously My heart goes out to the survivors of the Aberfan disaster. It was more than a generation lost, it was the devastation of a whole community. I have no recollection that confiscation of the disaster fund to move the tip was revealed to the general public at the time. I feel total disgust at the protection of those at the top of "big industry" whether nationalised, or private from taking responsibility for their own actions or inaction I have only a small point. PTSD was not known about, let alone any therapy available at that time. PTSD after disaster was only recognised, & therapy available after the disaster at the Hillsborough football stadium in approx 1989. I was to be involved in the Hungerford shootings of 1987. Again we were hit by PTSD but had no idea what had happened to us. PM Margaret Thatcher visited the next day & TBH we just wanted to be left alone, for 2 days until support could be appreciated - not have the additional stress of an immediate official visit when in shock. IMO The Queen left it far too late at 8 days.
I used to live here in the former Mackintosh hotel/pub, as a kid. I remember the BBC or whoever, making a 40th anniversary documentary, in which they filmed a short snippet inside our house. The area surrounding this village is actually quite pretty, apart from the frequent mountain fires we used to get which scorched part of the landscape. I really enjoyed the cycle rides and walks. It's sad to see that such a terrible tragedy once happened here and still haunts the neighborhood.
In 2015, I went to Cardiff to see one of my favourite singers (Judy Collins, if you must know). I took advantage of the fact that I was there to visit the Bay (and the Doctor Who Experience), and along the way, I went to the Pierhead building. In a room on the first floor was exposed a book featuring the names of the victims. It reaped my heart from my chest. Poor kids. There are simply no words. BTW, In 2019, when I went back to Cardiff, that book was no longer there.
Miners who dug for a living dug to find their children. Man, that scene was so hard
I can’t even imagine having been one of the people actually there in the disaster. I’m really glad they covered this (albeit, dramatically, of course) because so many of us born after this happened, weren’t taught about this in history class. What a horrific thing that whole community went through. Despite all of their fights to remove the mines. My hearts are with all of them.
This full episode was soo sad, i was not familiar with the real story of the tragedy and after watching it i had to take a little break for the next one
Mihindu S. OMFG it took me 3 tries to get through that part. I was a mess
My grandfather was a firefighter helping at the incident, and he never could speak about what happened as it was so horrific.
My dad went over to help, over 2000 people went to help, so many, some had to turn back. Just think of this fact , lots got killed in the industry, but if it was not for the coal industry most of us valley people would not have existed. How ironic !
I grew up in Aberfan, so this episode hit hard. My primary school was visited by the Queen during her diamond jubilee. I now realise the significance of her visit.
Can I ask how the subject was approached and explained to you as a child? What was it like for you growing up somewhere where such a tragedy took place? I'm Scottish, born in 2004 and I first remember having the Dunblane massacre explained to me in my P2 (Year 1?) class. I'm from Edinburgh so it's obviously very different to growing up where it occurred, but we all knew and were taught that it happened from a very young age.
@@gnome5051 I can't explain for Lola as it seems she experienced the aftermath of the tragedy. But during my time in school the lesson bell was changed every year, to signal a minute silence to remember those who perished. I do not live in Aberfan but living so close our school, and others, occasionally organised trips to visit the Aberfan memorial. It's a big deal here in South Wales, especially the valleys, and the students are always reminded, I learnt the subject in year 4 but my dull mind probably missed the hints of the disaster years before.
@@gnome5051 hi, of course :) I'll be honest, I can't remember exactly how we were taught, I just feel like it's something I always knew about. The play park is next to the site of the old school which is now a memorial, and the graves of the deceased are large and white. It's just has a sort of presence in the village, all of the elderly were around when it happened, most would have lost someone. And my grandad helped with the digging efforts following the disaster. I'm sure we were probably taught about it, but that's not the part I remember.
@@LittleAngel5ooekcme Thank you.
I was crying when I learned more about it. I didn't know why...I am not even british...
It was filmed in my village Cwmaman I have to say the whole Netflix team and cast did it with total respect
This being such a sensitive topic to the whole country not just the valleys, they would have to be respectful
@Sam Bacon exactly
The chapel scene was filmed at Groeswen chapel, just outside Caerphilly.
Glad to hear it.
Sad to see a film crew and production company showed more respect and dignity to this than the stinking British government ever did.
it was also the last day before the holidays, one day later and the school would have been empty.
And even 20 minutes before the school wouldnt have started...
They literally say this
@@juanmanuelcastrillon3585 Don't be mean, smartass
@@yevgeniyaleshchenko849 Calm down
@@juanmanuelcastrillon3585 fuck of
It is shameful that all those members of the NCB kept their jobs
Socialism at it's best.
@@ivandinsmore6217 Respectfully disagree. This smacks of the worse examples of what pure greed will get you. That is a capitalist made and perpetuated problem of the worse kind and outcome.
The working-class people of the world do not get a free pass in their daily labors for the same people of wealth and privilege that created this mess, covered it up, refused to take responsibility, attacked the victims and their families for wanting fair and just treatment, and they all kept their jobs. And all of those warnings went unanswered or acknowledged?
Sorry, son of an old rock miner... ☮☯💖😎🙌
@ yes trolls are everywhere.
uofc57 typical though.
@@kevink.7597 "Lord" Alf Robens was a Labour politician & minister prior to becoming chairman of the NCB. This happened in 1966, when a Labour government were in power - can't blame them for them tip collapsing, but they were also in charge when that £150k was pilfered from the appeal fund. You;re kidding yourself if you believe a Labour (socialist) government is really any different from a tory (capitalist ) government, ultimately they always prioritise looking after themselves.
I had never heard of this disaster before watching S3, so I had no idea what was coming at the beginning of the episode. How heartbreaking 💔
Same i was like "WTF"
Same...damn.
I never knew about it either and was totally unprepared. I sobbed.
@@cailtegreen7764 Yeah whatever🤞🏾
Same. Truly heartbreaking 💔
The parents of the children dead in Aberfan sent their clothes to the children of Florence hit by the flood on 4th November 1966
Is it true? Wow, thinking about that finally brings me to tears. I don't know a thing about that flood, but I will try to find out.
Thank you!
Thank you for the link. The fact that the parents in their grief could be so generous to give clothing and toys of their children to others in need speaks volumes of their kindness.
That’s fascinating, and very moving.
Amazing.
When you add the small details like the time events, when school started etc. It makes it even more painful
Yes , I was in school just one mile away on that morning. School day.. was morning assembly then head back to your respective class rooms for lessons. The tip slide hit a 0913 am . Our teachers found out at around 0940, we were sent home around 1100. My father came home at 1200 and headed to Aberfan with friends and shovels. The last day before term was usually a short day .Home by 1200. So just three hours later and the death toll would have been drastically reduced. My question, why did God let this happen ?
@@DOCTORDROTT I'm so sorry to hear that
Had it been a day later the school would've been empty... Gut wrenching
@@MoejiiOsmanTV
If it has been 20 minutes early the school would have been empty.
Every UA-cam video about this tragedy now has its comments section filled with people just learning about the incident for the first time. As an American, thank you of educating me!
Missy Barbour agreed!
Ukrainian here, completely agree!
Look at the Johnstown Flood, similar situation in Pennsylvania in the 1800s.
I was 12 when this happened, even at that age I was so shocked and numbed , I remember my mum crying her eyes out. It is certainly remembered in the coal mining areas of England and Scotland as well as Wales. To those pushing their ideologies, it could happen in a capitalist or socialist country, corporate neglect occurs in all kinds of regimes. And though those at the top deserved to be prosecuted, the blame permeates further down to local managers as well who connive in doing nothing to save money for their organisation. Respect to those who died, those who lost their loved ones.
I heard of Aberfan from a history magazine. I could not remember the name.
As a Welshman I have to say this episode was superb. It is not often we get to see Wales portrayed in any film or television and this was dealt with such care and attention that brought me and my family to tears. My work colleague lost family in this disaster and she watched the episode and she said it was dealt with very well
I am from Macedonia. And I am 30 years old never heard of this tragedy until I saw this episode.
When I saw it I had to pause it at some point it was just too hard. It was the hardest thing I have watched on television so far. 116 children. Precious children died. As a father it killed me. I will go and pay my respect to those that died one day.
I think I remember reading an article about when they were filming the scenes in the town, they had therapists on site to talk to the locals who were there as extras. There was a lot of underlying trauma in the locals and they finally had a chance to talk with a professional about it. It's kinda scary how long they held this tragedy over themselves.
Yes. I was a child when it happened and it still haunts me and i don't even live in wales. It was a major tragedy.
I was in school a mile away when it happened. looking back we were all effected and just had to get on with it in those days. It still hurts 53 years later. Its burned in my memory till the day I die
@@DOCTORDROTT so true.
Grief waits.
Acidents and death are the cost of coal. My Farther lost his elder brother to a mining 'Acident' at Tredgar. Eighteen months later, my Grandmother was dead, probably of a brocken heart. The community knew how it felt, and coped within themslves , no need of proffesionals. Life was, what it was.
Those children would’ve been between 60 and 74 years old now, if they had lived
RIP children
Some would be late 50s also.
How 74 please? That would make them 20 in 1966.
Steffan Hoffmann No you’re right. The majority of children who perished were between ages 7-10, making them being born from 1956-1959, making them in 2020 61-64. I think it was a mistake by the original comment, however it could be applied to the teachers that died.
This shatters me
Most of them at least would’ve lived full lives by now, probably still living, enjoying their grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren. Sad and not fair. ):
I can still remeber the look on my Mother's face when she told me what had happned. I lost 2 cousins.
So sorry to hear that..
I am so sorry , it's so close to you .
@@racheldemain1940 it was many years ago. But I will never forget the look on my Mother's face when she told me.
51WCDodge how old are you now
i’m so sorry to hear that.
"the miners found themselves digging for their own children." God, that's just horrible.
I’m from NZ and had never heard of the Aberfan disaster. As soon as I saw this episode of the Crown I vowed I would go to Aberfan one day to pay my respects. I visited the Memorial Garden today. It’s such a beautiful and tranquil place now, with trees, flowers, butterflies and a little playground. You would never know that such an awful tragedy had occurred there. It was a sobering experience walking around the garden. RIP xxx
That’s awesome what a nice thing to do. The Welsh are very fond of Kiwis.
This comment was posted so long ago but it really moved me. I'm a Welshman and to hear that you came from so far to pay your respects has put a tear in my eye. Diolch yn fawr iawn, Kayla. Thank you.
Bless you.
@@Bertiesghost Who's not?
Thank you
I grew up in South Wales and have known about the Aberfan disaster for as long as I can remember, as has everyone else I've known. I was shocked to read so many comments from people saying they had no idea about Aberfan. The rest of the world may have forgotten, but Wales never will.
I don't think its a matter of the rest of the world forgetting but the rest of the world not knowing. In this age of technology yes any tragedy is easily shared. I never knew of this tragedy admittedly it was before my time. I am sorry for the families and the people of Wales that this took place. And its even more sad that after all these years Health and Safety still isn't totally practice all for greed.
I am also from South Wales. People haven't forgotten, a lot or people just don't know. South Walea have never forgotten and neither has our Queen.
I'm sure if I asked you about Kaprun (150 people dead) or Parndorf (70 people dead) you'd be able to tell me all about it. Should be much easier than Aberfan anyway since they are much more recent tragedies.
Every country has its tagedies. It's impossible to keep up with every other country's tragedies as well. British tragedies arn't worse than any others either.
I'm Irish and I remember my parents talking about it - they remembered it as teens
Ellis ,I remember years and years ago I used to be a fan of BBC’s rock and roll years where the music and news events of any given year were featured.
1966 issue brought that tragedy to my attention.
Very sad and shameful.
I am from Merthyr Tydfil. Those poor children. I sobbed from the beginning of this episode. Health and Safety was simply not being followed and none of those at the top paid for it. Disgusting.
@Kandy Kandy So you're telling someone who lives near Aberfan that they should "get a grip"? You're also discounting the strikes that coal miners had since the 1920s with safety being a primary issue. There were guidelines. The OP is correct in that they weren't followed - that's why the inquest could come to the conclusion they did.
Top brass passing the buck for their own selfish benefit. Treating the workers and their families with derision. Often non one takes responsibility, its happening with Grenfell.
Usually the case!☘🐾
My Dad's side of the family emigrated from Merthyr to Australia in the 19th century. I wonder if some of those in Aberfan might have been (admittedly distant) relatives? Mum and Dad visited Britain in 1978, and drove up to Merthyr from Cardiff - which meant going through Aberfan. Even then, she said the place 'gave me the creeps.' I went through there myself in 1989 - by then the hills behind had been cleaned up, and you wouldn't know such a terrible disaster had happened.
They never do. It's the same with mine disasters here in the States, and in Mexico.
I grew up in Ireland, one of my history teachers touched on this and then never again. She said she couldn't because it brought her to tears. I never understood why. I was a kid after all. Years later, I watched this and I was in tears. I finally understood why. I am a parent myself so I can only image and maybe not imagine good enough the pain these families went through.
I Live in Cardiff, the capital of South Wales just 1 Hour drive from Aberfan. Couple of months back I visited PantGlas Primary school and all I could say is that the experience was spine-chilling to see all of the graves of the children and teachers, god bless to those who lost their lives that day.
I wasn't born until 1970 so learnt about this Tragedy later. The Cemetery with the white Arches is haunting isn't it?
Everyone on set and at the screening was offered trauma counseling. Wow. Powerful.
Shame the same wasn’t available to the local community at the time.
Netflix is better then the British government...aint that a kick in the head
Busted Fender Therapy unfortunately was not common as it is now
? What ? people at the ‘screening’ were offered trauma counselling ? The world is indeed sick.
@@crystalawen No, not sick, just compassionate. Netflix isn't responsible for the lack of support offered to the parents of Aberfan in 1966, that's on the British government of the time. Shouldn't we just appreciate that today PTSD is recognised and help is available?
So many parallels with Grenfell - ignoring the warnings, passing the blame, the insensitivity and broken promises in the aftermath, delay in official response and presence.
And no one is being punished for that. Plus there are at least 200 other buildings in England covered in that same material as well as in Australia. Check it out. Disasters waiting to happen. And known about by the people in charge.
And the Hillsborough disaster.
You could be talking about Summerland, Princess Victoria, Moorgate, Harrow & Wealdstone, Kings Cross, Ibrox, Burnden Park....I bet most people born after 1980 have never heard of most of these.
...and that has been the way the English upper class has always treated the working class of the British Isles. The working class do all the work & the toffs get the profits while the workers get a pittance & suffer all the consequences. What they (the rich) can't take in legally, they'll steal.
Ray Davison I suggest think b4 u type, maybe read a bit...
I live in the USA and was not aware such a thing had happened. I applaud The Crown for bringing to light to a wider audience such tragic events.
Worth remembering Aberfan every time someone says “it’s health and safety gone mad”.
@Kandy Kandy what MackerelCat means is today, people winge about OSHA and H&S but without them, workers and communities are exposed to situations like Aberfan
Well said, MackrelCat. It is easy to mock H&S, but the fact that industrial accident rates have plummeted (per 100k of workers) ever since H&S legislation was introduced, proves that it works.
Every OSHA regulation was bought with blood.
@@MsKathleenb yes and some hospital procedures..
So glad, amidst this horror, that the money of Netflix went to something that was so sorely needed. Sometimes, when someone with money and power in Hollywood decides to tell a story, it can actually benefit something real, like this. All thoughts to the people of Aberfan and the nation of Wales.
Credit to Netflix but also credit to the British. It was written by a Brit and the main producer, Robert Fox, comes from a long line of Thespians. Left Bank Pictures is British too.
@@celiabarker Oh 100%, was trying to evade crediting the company but moreso the fact that when someone decides to tell a story that a company supports monetarily, sometimes it ends up affecting something real.
What a wonderful comment, well done and thank you.
I am from aberfan, my nan still lives opposite the memorial garden. My grandfather never spoke much of the disaster but was nan told me it haunted him for years. He was helping and dealt with many children who had died...many he knew due to being friends of their parents. My nan could not watch this episode bringing back a lot of memories. The disaster has however brought Aberfan an even closer knit community as most families have been affected.
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
@@bradhartliep879 thank you. Your experiences must have been terrible. Still you have the compassion for the suffering of others so far away. That episode brought it all back to me. I was a child at the time living in a mining town with a coal mining father and several uncles the same. It brought the danger to myself and my many cousins that our dads faced every shift they went down.
I’m from NZ and had never heard of the Aberfan disaster. As soon as I saw this episode of the Crown I vowed I would go to Aberfan one day to pay my respects. I visited the Memorial Garden today. It’s such a beautiful and tranquil place now, with trees, flowers, butterflies and a little playground. You would never know that such an awful tragedy had occurred there. It was a sobering experience walking around the garden. RIP xxx
Tragedy. Negligence. Incompetence. Lies.
HBO needs to do a mini-series about this. From the same creators of Chernobyl.
Infelizmente faz parte de muitos governos, em todas as épocas ......so sorry....
What a shame....
Well said
If you found this really interesting. Check out the Cheenobyl Podcast. Which had an episode released following the TV episode coming out. It’s really interesting.
I think netflix should do it. We can’t get HBO here in the UK
Absolutely. Stuff like what happened in Chernobyl and Aberfan can’t happen again
My grandfather was one of the survivors pulled out of the school. He wasn’t a child, he was a passerby heading home from his mining shift to his wife. He was a lovely, gentle man but even when I was small I knew something wasn’t right with him. He was anxious all the time and if any of us were late coming home, we would walk up the garden path to see him on the doorstep, waiting for us, wringing his hands. I didn’t know why he was like this under after his death, he was just Granda. Now, as an adult, I can recognise that he was carrying guilt and trauma with him all of his life. The fact nobody was prosecuted or even sacked for this is an insult to my family, their community and my grandfather Idris. I understand the Queen feels she should have visited earlier and yes, she probably should have, but my Grandad would never hear a bad word about her until the day he died.
I can understand why the Queen didn't go straightaway. She didn't want to get in the way of the search and rescue and eventual recovery efforts which everyone was involved with.
My great grandfather worked for the st John's ambulance. He went to Aberfan not to rescue the children, but to clean and dress the bodies of the children and teachers who were killed by the sludge. He never once spoke about it and although I never met him, I have so much respect for him
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
@@bradhartliep879 kinda weird
My best friends dad was in the police. He had the unenviable task of matching fingerprints and body parts.
I remember the horror of that day so clearly and 'The Crown' replicated that sense of utter catastrophe and appalling heartbreak so perfectly I cried most of the way through it.
I grew up in a mining community and felt an affinity with those poor families. Their loss and grief was still unimaginable - how they survived is beyond me. It stands as testament to the strength and determination of the Welsh people. Their loss just cannot be calculated, the sadness is beyond comprehension.
Everyone involved in the making of the episode is to be congratulated, but I have to admit, I would not wish to watch it again.
It’s just staggering. The sheer dishonesty, incompetence and lack of care of the government.
Sounds familiar
As it is today. History hasn't taught govt anything
@Black Sun To be fair to her majesty, I don't think there's a lot she can actually do. If she did, at best government might simply take away any remaining legal power she might have, and at worst it may cause another Civil War.
Black Sun Though I wouldn’t put it as strongly as you do, yes, we do have to put up with it.
However, if the monarchy was abolished, as private citizens they would still have a huge amount of wealth and property. To some degree they might even enjoy living the high life but without the public’s sense of ownership and the unwelcome attention that goes with it.
I feel sorry for Elizabeth, it must be so hard having children who go off the rails in spectacular fashion.
@Black Sun Oh fuck off, brainless brat. Way to turn this around just to shit all over 94-year-old woman and whine... I am from Ukraine but even I know that it's NOT the job of the monarchy and the Queen, they cover diplomatic and ceremonial missions!
my mom called me after she watched this episode just sobbing and she said to me that she finally understood and realized why my grandfather (her dad) cried when this hit the news, she was about 13 years old and didn't understand why. My grandfather left Scotland after a terrible mining accident that left most of his friends dead, he had that day off and wasn't near the mine after that incident his parents sent him to Canada to live a better life then a coal miner and this just brought back all the memories of that day for him.
I learned about this in a British history class. The second I saw the title of Aberfan I got a chill
This was by far the best episode of the season. I was in tears.
As Prince Phillip said, when the village sang their hymn in unison, everyone wept. When the Queen listened to the recording and shed a single tear, it couldn't have been more powerful. That could be the episode that wins Olivia Colman an Emmy.
I wouldn't wish this hell on anyone.
I would. Especially republicans and Trump supporters, Neo Nazis etc. Republicans don't believe in climate change and would put profits over safety.
@@starsfalldown1234567 So you wish their kids to suffer for their parents' lives? You are worse than all those people you mentioned, scumbag...💩💩💩
FlowerPower123 what a waste of blood and organs you are
@@yevgeniyaleshchenko849 lol ok incel be ignorant 👏
@@harrison1430 honey ... Just JUMP
One of my earliest memories was being little and my mum ironing watching the TV, seeing the black heap and rescuers with stretchers, she was sobbing and I went to hold her hand and ask what's wrong, mummy, she knelt down and said, "it's just sad, sweetheart, it's very sad for some mummies." I remember she had a handkerchief with orange around the edge, wiping her tears.
Even at that very young age I knew something very big and very horrible had happened.
I watched this episode, both my partner and I sobbed throughout.
An unimaginable horror. Impossible to get my head around, I know some parents have gone to be with them and they all will be together again, but it must have been the longest life without them.
I have a very similar memory but I was 6 on September 11th 2001 here in the UK. Remember my parents just stood watching the tv and I peered around the corner into the living room and seeing the second plane hit and my parents just shouting in shock and then seeing me and picking me up . Weird to have the memory of a plane flying into a building as a proper significant moment. Must be the reactions of our parents that made it stick
My grandfather, Dadci, was one of those miners who travelled to help. He had been badly injured in a coal mining accident 10 years previously, he had helped clear buildings & recoveries in London during the Blitz, but this he said was the worst incident he had encountered. It was heartbreaking & soul destroying. The NCB had never been well thought of but after Aberfan... fury doesn't come close...
As a Welsh man I been living in America for 5 years. I watched this episode the other day and it broke my heart and hit home for me.
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
I was 15 and along with my family we watched the live broadcast. I doubt if there was one mother in all of the the UK who did not weep that night. I recall my mother sobbing and saying "oh those poor mothers".
And parents are still devastated 54 years later.
uhhh that scene where the queen goes to one of the survivor's houses and the guy tells her Mr whatever his name was lost 7 family members. 3 children and 4 nephews was it? can you even imagine? losing 3 children and then also your brother (maybe) losing 4 children. i can't imagine how those families kept going.
Georgia Papadopoulou Some relatives did commit suicide
Kandy Kandy It is expected that people will die during War therefore it is easier to cope with. People do not expect their children to die at school in Britain and therefore it was a unimaginable shock. Some villagers did fear that the tip would land on the school but no one could have possibly expected that so many children would die.
Gina Jones kandy sounds like the type that men are more important that everyone else.
Anger and resentment is terrific fuel under those circumstanses
Kandy Kandy stop yelling
I remember reading an article about Aberfan a few years ago. Then I saw the opening scene with the rain pouring and the classroom, and felt sick as I realised what was going to happen and that the episode was about this disaster. It took me a week before I could bring myself to continue watching.
Watching, I felt as though I’d been kicked in the guts. It was horrific just as a viewer - I can’t even imagine the horror of being there at the time and experiencing it.
My heart goes out so deeply to the children, their parents, their families and the villagers of Aberfan who were affected then and now.
Ya those guys on the hill? Seeing it happen is the worst thing imaginable
I saw the title "Aberfan" and thought how familiar the word sounded. I was told about this terrible loss of life by an English friend, many, many years ago. As the camera pulled out to show the small country town beneath a mountainous coal tip, I knew exactly why the town name rang a bell in my mind. I had to stop watching at that moment, the events of that day just too horrible to contemplate. It took me days to resume watching. So very sad - and worse - need never have happened.
Same, I remember hearing about it although the name kept alluding me. When I was watching this with my then girlfriend (now wife), she didn’t know about the disaster but I knew what was going to happen. Such a sad but fantastic episode.
Thanks for this Netflix! Such an important issue to raise. The disaster isn’t recognised as much as it should..
I'm German, I don't watch the show, and heart from that tragedy for the first time. I can't describe how deeply shook I am. I can't Express how deeply sorry I am for the loss.
I don't know how to feel for learning about this tragedy this way. But thank you so much for that video nonetheless, for I know now finally!
Those are lovely expressions. Thank you.
Easily the most haunting episode of any television show I've ever seen. The fact that counseling was offered to the survivors and their relatives during the making of this episode makes it also one of the best episodes.
I think in many ways this documentary was even more moving than the episode in The Crown. Very well done.
I can’t imagine the pain of those parents digging for their children’s body.. so hard for me to watch that episode. Can’t imagine it really happened.
The disaster is horrendous, it breaks my heart. But, God, the aftermath! The way families were treated, no one being hold accountable, the NCB not taking responsibility...the second disaster.
The NCB not taking responsibility for the Aberfan disaster is insult to injury to the families of the children and adults killed.
Wonderful episode, fantastic video. Episode 3 is among the best hours of television I've ever watched. The callow, unfeeling response by the government, their refusal to take responsibility, is infuriating, even decades later. The poor people of that town. What a staggering, heartbreaking, and entirely preventable loss of young life.
It’s sad this reminds me of Grenfell (government insensitivity, ignoring years of complaints and the culpable evading responsibility).
oh gosh, i completely forgot about that happening. I remember it was all anyone in america could talk about for some time
And nothing been done about Grenfell in Britain's richest council containing the uber rich the Duke of Westminster. But then it was all the Liverpool supporters fault in 1989. No one punished.
8 members of my husband's family died in mining accidents in the 19th century in Cumberland , Our family nrver got compensation . Instead the Government of the day paid compensation to the mine owners-- the Lonsdale, Lowther, Senhouse and Christian families for loss of income after the disasters/accidents . Miners were indentured workers , and could not leave the mines . It took Lord Shaftesbury several Acts of Parliament to get the practice changed .
This country stopped Slavery in 1813,but the Americans carried on importing slaves until 1865. Instead of payingJamaica etc. The Aristocracy in Britain , should be paying compensation to the families of the Indentured labour schemes in the coal mines , and the descendants of people who worked in cotton and woollen mills , who were injured or went deaf because of the noise. Indentured Labour / Slavery started at 5 years old, was increased to 8 years old in 1840. Until 1902 children aged 10 to 13 could work in the mines 6 hours per day and then went to school. They were too tired to learn.
I'm studying to be a primary school teacher - seeing this whole episode left me sobbing and crying throughout the whole episode. It is so hard to watch and deal with, I can't imagine how it must be for the people affected
I am just now learning and binge watching this series for the first time. This episode from Season 3 is why I’m even here...
This episode was so heart wrenching and impactful that it made viewers like me want to learn more about the tragedy and look up clips like this one on UA-cam. Thank you all so much for sharing.
I couldn't finish this episode in one sitting. I was crying so bad I had to turn it off and wait to finish it when I was in a better frame of mind.
Same and to be honest I’d never heard of this tragedy before that episode. I have suffered 2 miscarriages and I’m soo sensitive to this my kids were also in the room and I was thinking image being in that position! Horrifying! 😭😭😭😭
@@Sab.86 So sorry for your losses 💔 It was my first time learning about it too, as well as the Great Smog of 1952. Such awful tragedies caused by human negligence 😞
Same. I’m crying from beginning to the end. So sad 😭 I need to to visit Aberfan
I was at school in England when this happened. We all prayed for the lost children and I remember so clearly being really disturbed by the tragedy. It was on the news a lot, and the images of crying miners sitting helplessly when nothing more could be done will haunt me forever.
A dark day in our history. My family were miners at Llay Main in North Wales. They, with many from their shift, immediately stopped production and drove to Aberfan in the South to help dig. Miners responded from all over Wales and made their way to Aberfan by any means necessary: car, lorry, bus, barge and walking.
My mum taught me about Aberfan when I was a child. She was 12yo at the time, and remembers it clearly. We are from Scotland. My mother's family were from Ayrshire, in particular, a mining villiage called Muirkirk. My mum's family lost a few people to colliery accidents, and the graveyard is full of graves marked "death in colliery accident". I guess that's why Aberfan always stood out for her.
Thought-provoking. Aberfan in 1966 - somewhat similarly to Lockerbie over twenty years later in 1988 - is one of those scars on British society that has never quite healed. An unexpected and sudden event that took many lives, and affected many others. There is a well-known press photo from the Queen’s visit to Aberfan eight days after the event - interestingly, not shown here - with a deeply pained expression on her face. It is one of the very few times when Her Majesty has shown this degree of emotion in public. If Aberfan is indeed is one of the Queen’s biggest regrets of her reign, then that it is entirely believable.
Eoghann P. It’s hardly surprising that this tragedy hit her hard, as the children who died were the same ages as her own children. She was well able to put herself in the parents’ places and empathise with them.
I’m amazed that she didn’t use her influence to give some peace to those people and ask for responsibilities 🤬
Thus was a tradegy that affected the whole country and is possibly one of the most well known along with Lovkerbie and Dunblane.The Stockport plane crash is another disaster rarely mentioned so not as well known, or the Bradford football ground fire.
I remember Lockerbie. It was so close to Christmas. Such a horrendous Tragedy for you all.
She might be a queen but British royals don't have that kind of power, I think she did her very best (and still does) showing the people of Aberfan that she remembers them and their pain
I'm American so I'd never heard of this and dsmn did it make me cry. Austerity kills. I can't believe the board basically got away with it.
Makeda Phillips as for me who didn’t live in UK also unaware of this until i watch the series. I cried most of the time, especially when Peter call princess Margaret telling a story of what happen. It is unfair those bloody money sucker get away with murder
@@halimboy9130 yes that part with Margaret and lord Snowden made me so sad.
Makeda Phillips Why? US corporations get away with worse all the time!
@@firstnamett4656 Ask India and other colonies how well they were treated under the British East India Company and later the British Raj. And if India was the only example but the colonies were stripped clean. Do you honestly think which government was in power had anything to do with this disaster or how it was handled. Hundreds of thousands lost their jobs and ability to sustain themselves economically during the Thatcher years but you don't call *that* a disaster which made hundreds of thousands suffer for decades??
I cried during the episode, but watching this and knowing the details make me cry even harder. So heartbreaking.
I visited the memorial garden for the children of Aberfan with my mum and my sister. The gravestones were in their own way, quite beautiful as I recall. I think I was too young to really understand where I was but I remember looking back to see my mum crying. She was a young girl when it happened and remembers watching the people trying to did the children out.
The Welsh remember and it will never never been forgotten. The coal broad knew it was not safe but money talk...every year on 21 October we stop and think of the village and wonder what dreams the children never fulfilled.
So unbelievably sad.
My mother is half Welsh and half Scot/Irish and Pict but from America [her family has been here in America for 350 years] and my dad is half Swede, 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 German. I experienced a similar incident with fire and hot metal and 70 dead and 500 injured at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany on 28 August 1988, where one of planes fell into the crowd and the other two crashed at the end of the runway - we spent, I don't know, 7 or 8 hours trying to help the victims that were burned but still alive, until the last one was carried off to the hospital, and moving the dead to a building where they could be identified and put into body bags and prepped for burial .. then we spent I don't know how many days walking the disaster area looking for and marking body parts .. I - some of the people had lost hands, fingers and toes - body parts that were unidentifiable .. I found out about Aberfan 20 years ago .. and every year on or near 21st October I spend a few hours watching the Documentaries about Aberfan and reading news stories about it and remembering all the children that died .. and as long as I'm alive it will never be forgotten by me either .. as long as I'm alive America will remember Aberfan and we will stand in solidarity with the People of Wales and the Families of Aberfan .. ~ Brad
You know, Brazil recently went through two of this kind of disaster (both in my state, Minas Gerais; Mariana and Brumadinho cities). And watching this episode I could understand how corporations, since always, don't care about civilians who died in these tragedies. Tragedies provoked, inducted by their greed, irresponsibility, imprudence or just lack of humanity. It doesn't matter where you are: May people from Aberfan, Mariana and Brumadinho find one day some justice.
This was really well made, I love these videos
thank you, that's very nice to hear :)
As a Welshman watching The Crown - and knowing the Aberfan episode was there - I was so shocked at the number of my friends/ work colleagues who also watched it that had never even heard of the tragedy.
As a child growing up in South Wales - in Barry, which isn’t all that far away - I always knew what it was. Just the word ‘Aberfan’ alone was enough to know what someone was referring to.
I couldn’t believe that some people I knew, aged in their twenties and thirties, just didn’t know about it at all.
I only just watched this episode and as a Welsh girl, what really hit home with me is the sense of community in South Wales towns that is incomparable to anywhere else. Through anything, we always pull together and look after one another. ♥️🏴
This is fantastic, thank you for explaining this awful tragedy, like most of the younger generation I didn't know about this before I saw it in the crown. These kind of videos are great as they explain the full accurate story without the drama of the show.
I'm a American and was only six when this happened, but for some reason I knew the story, so when this episode of The Crown started I knew what was to come, but it was still a gut wrenching thing to watch.
Possibly my favourite episode from S3 - told with such poignancy, but without any cheap emotional indulgences. Was worth the price of the Netflix subscription alone.
As someone from South Wales I’m very grateful more people are learning about this tragedy ❤️
it’s not the “rains fault or the ppls fault” it’s the governments fault for not listening to the public’s!!!
Exactly - it was that bastard Robens fault. It was his responsibility ; he should have been charged with manslaughter.
The coal miners& Government should've at least paid for the funerals& compensation to families, Its DISCUSTING! 🌹🕊R.I.P to all the precious children🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
For anyone interested, please listen to the heart-breaking and beautiful song 'The Price Of Coal' By David Alexander, which is a tribute to Aberfan and all lives lost through the history of coal mining. One lyric in that song gets the tears flowing every time: 'Aberfan in '66, when the whole world cried, on a mountainside, a generation died'.
This episode was so well filmed, the views of the tip above the village increased the tension, the characters reactions were written perfectly, what a great series.
I cried so bad, I didn't know something like that happened (I'm from Mexico) that part of the series was so sad.
Same. I'm Brazilian.
Sadly,one of my relatives sadly died in the attack,she was only 9 and I have never met her before.
My great aunt (her sister) is an MBE and she’s done interviews about the loss of her sister,she was only 11..
This was an excellent piece. I had never heard of Aberfan before and it is amazing that this could have been forgotten.
It hasn’t been forgotten. Every Welsh and English person over the age of 60 will know of it and many much younger. It was one of those events that will be remembered by many for years to come. Hopefully this episode of the Crown has taught many more about it.
@@celiabarker Yes, it certainly has. I live in the US and had never heard of it. I've been watching UA-cam videos on it.
GiftSparks It was probably never known about in the USA but it has not been forgotten in the country in which it happened or in the rest of the UK.
I live kind of near Aberfan and it is horrible to think of how so many innocent children and adults were killed after the coal board had already been warned.
I spoke to a miner freind of my parents who was one of first on scene he told me i did not ask
He said he dug and handed cold limp little bodies out of the school
As he spoke i started to cry i was 36 at time im 56 now im crying as i write im very emotional
He said adrian its ok lad to cry
Worst part he said was knowing it shouldnt have happened
When hed finished speaking i gave him a hug and as he sat there i could see the empty haunted look in his face
He said memories of that day never go away
I knew the history of Aberfan so I was prepared, at least in theory, when I saw the episode title. But it was still like being clubbed in the gut. Those poor parents.
I didn't know about it til I watched it, but as soon as I saw working class I knew it was something terrible about to happen.
As a 21 year old I visited Britain in 1971. Someone in Wales told me the story of Aberfan and I visited there. I took photos and gave my respects becoming overcome with grief at the high loss of life of so many mostly children. I titled my photo essay “Aberfan Revisited”. I also wrote a song about the event. I simply cannot fathom the depth of the loss those people withstood.
I’m an American, but my ancestor were coal miners from Pennsylvania. My grandfather’s father died in a mine collapse. With the help of my grandmother who’s grandfather was also a coal miner and was born in Wrexham, he wrote a letter to the people of Aberfan.
Of all the episodes throughout "The Crown", the Aberfan episode ranks up there as both the most heartfelt and best recreated event.
I had never heard of Aberfan either. However, there was a similar tragedy in Denmark that I guess no one outside Denmark have heard of either. In 1945 the British Royal Air Force accidentally bombed the Institute Jeanne d'Arc (The French School) in Copenhagen, causing the death of 86 children and 18 adults. And wounding 102. There were similar scenes with parents in disbelief and distress - crying, screaming, panicking and digging with their bare hands.
Sadly, we live in a non-perfect world, where accidents and tragedies like these do happen.
Edit: This disaster was called Operation Carthage, google it.
Ettibridget oh gosh that’s a hideous thought. Those poor parents. How very sad. 😢
I'm from Denmark, and lived 8 km from Copenhagen
Even I haven't heard about it, that is so awful!
Sometimes liberating countries from fascism erupts in innocents being caught in the crossfire. I imagine the pilots were traumatised when they realised what they'd done. But it was a war, I'm sure most Danes understand that.
That is so sad, I did not know about this
How horrible! I wonder how many other such cover ups exist. Thank you for sharing
I read about Aberfan some time ago and was amazed as to the insensitivity shown, by the NCB, towards the mourning. They tried to lie their way out of taking responsibility. Reminds me of so many tragedies that have happened in my 61 years of life. As a mom, I know the feeling of losing your child suddenly and tragically. I'm glad they have a memorial garden honoring the victims.
10 friends and family we knew died. I only live nearby and it hits so hard. I can't imagine what its like for those living there. Tragedies really do hit differently when they're local.
I was seven years old, living in the north-east of England (coal mine country) and have never forgotten
I’ve never heard about this tragedy until watching the crown, but it amazes me that the ncb refused to take blame when the tip was over 5 times higher then it should’ve been... So many warning signs were there, not to mention the people of Aberfan sending warnings... And for the ncb to take money from the fund that was raised, disgusting
When i first saw the children practicing their singing, I had an ominous feeling. I just couldn't help but feel the suspense...
Once I saw the slurry hit the classroom, I just yelled "NOOOO!!!!".....
I always shut up when the whistle blows. The silence is heartbreaking. When the town sang the hymn....i cried 😞💔
This was the saddest thing I’ve seen in the history of British royal family. I do agree when the queen said “the last thing they want at this time is a queen to be there” can you imagine so much work force would get diverted just to take care of the royal protocols
I was 21 driving a Drott BT6 (loading shovel) and working on the foreshore outside Newport when we got the call to load the diggers onto low loaders. We stood by all day & night listening to the radio waiting for the call that never came. We were eventually stood down. I am now 75 and I still weep and pray for all the little ones when ever I am reminded. I have constantly thought about visiting Aberfan but cannot bring myself to make the journey its too heart breaking. RIP little ones and grown ups you and your families never received justice.
I never knew about this tragedy until I saw it dramatized on The Crown. I assumed that those responsible had been punished, or at least removed. This is a text book case of incompetence leading to tragedy. As we (humans) never seem to remember such things, I am glad that even a service dedicated to entertainment is around to remind all of us where stupidity, plus arrogance, plus power can lead us.
No nothing what done to the people in charged stayed in their jobs. After all only working class children were killed and Welsh at that too.
I was 10 when this happened, but it still remains vivid in my memory. The whole country was in mourning for those children and their families.
My jaw dropped when it said it happened on the last day of term. One more day and the children might of been safe. That's the definition of tragic!
I cried so much during this episode because I just cant imagine the pain of those parents
I rewatched this episode last night and teared up again. Those poor people... 😭
I remember this happening, I was four, I asked my mother why they just couldn’t dig them out, she was crying. This was a hard episode to watch but I’m glad it was made. We need to remember. When I picked my five year old son up from school the day of the Dunblane shooting, Aberfan came into my mind. The suffering of innocents.
No one will ever forget Aberfan. I will not. I was 10 years old visiting my blind aunt and my deaf uncle. We were listening on the radio, There was no tv. A generation was lost forever. The Crown dealt with what happened in a very sensitive manner. Respect to those poor children and their families.
This is heartbreaking , it’s amazing how these companies get away with negligence.....Grenfell comes to mind
Yes. State-owned companies never get held to account. ...
Yes.... consider the billion dollar fines handed down to BP, SCB, BNP Paribas, UBS, BAE.... the list is endless...
Doubtless more could be done but compare this with the public sector where noone has ever lost a job...
@@johngalt2880 What about Boeing?? Listen. I don't know what world you live in but most American corporations have some serious government protection even though they're private companies. Fact is they dictate much of the government politics - especially foreign politics - than the government dictates theirs. You have the roles of master and slave mixed up.
And what about the GM government bailout? The Detroit auto industry enjoyed government protection for decades which is why they kept producing their models as if it was still the 1960's.
And the Army? Who holds them responsible? As long as they win they can shoot up whoever they want provided the war doesn't drag on for too long. The army is a "state company" paid by tax dollars. But thanks to them you even have your "wealth" because without the state you'd find it a good deal more difficult to privately finance "protection".
Your false dichotomy view of reality and world politics is unfit for anybody above the age of 14.
State = evil
Free market = good
The world is more gray than you think.
@@yewisemountaingoat528 you seem to miss the point, or seem to agree with me. The closer you get to the state, the less accountable you are.
The ineptitude at the national coal board caused this disaster. And noone was held to account. Had this been a privately owned company, directors would have been slaughtered. But because they were bureaucrats looking after their own, nothing happened....
See the NHS staffs trust where 300-odd patients died of negligence. What happened to the boss? Prison? Disgrace? No, sideways move to a similar job...
As a standalone private job, 300 negligent homocides means prison...
These brave people; there are Welsh people that still talk about it. This was corporate manslaughter on a massive scale yet the powers that be got away with it. Tragic.
I was 14 at the time & living in Staffordshire (Central England) Heard the news on radio, still remember the details of the event, & the shock & horror that even I felt about 100 miles way.
Even I felt anger that numerous warnings of the mountain spring had been ignored. Even I cry to see this video, & feel a resurgence of anger.
I cannot imagine what the residents, especially what the parents of the children who died experienced. Good grief - digging for your own child, only to find a body when they'd maybe waved goodbye only 15 mins previously
My heart goes out to the survivors of the Aberfan disaster. It was more than a generation lost, it was the devastation of a whole community.
I have no recollection that confiscation of the disaster fund to move the tip was revealed to the general public at the time.
I feel total disgust at the protection of those at the top of "big industry" whether nationalised, or private from taking responsibility for their own actions or inaction
I have only a small point. PTSD was not known about, let alone any therapy available at that time.
PTSD after disaster was only recognised, & therapy available after the disaster at the Hillsborough football stadium in approx 1989.
I was to be involved in the Hungerford shootings of 1987. Again we were hit by PTSD but had no idea what had happened to us. PM Margaret Thatcher visited the next day & TBH we just wanted to be left alone, for 2 days until support could be appreciated - not have the additional stress of an immediate official visit when in shock. IMO The Queen left it far too late at 8 days.
I used to live here in the former Mackintosh hotel/pub, as a kid. I remember the BBC or whoever, making a 40th anniversary documentary, in which they filmed a short snippet inside our house.
The area surrounding this village is actually quite pretty, apart from the frequent mountain fires we used to get which scorched part of the landscape. I really enjoyed the cycle rides and walks. It's sad to see that such a terrible tragedy once happened here and still haunts the neighborhood.
In 2015, I went to Cardiff to see one of my favourite singers (Judy Collins, if you must know). I took advantage of the fact that I was there to visit the Bay (and the Doctor Who Experience), and along the way, I went to the Pierhead building. In a room on the first floor was exposed a book featuring the names of the victims. It reaped my heart from my chest. Poor kids. There are simply no words. BTW, In 2019, when I went back to Cardiff, that book was no longer there.
We had a home in Wales when I was a child. I was only young at the time but remember that tragedy.