Leeds Mercury – Saturday 06 August 1938

Mineworker Killed

Dislodged Girders Fatality at Hickleton Main

When they arrived at the Hickleton Main Colliery, Thurnscoe, yesterday morning, workmen learned that an underground worker had been killed during the night shift and that the pit would stand idle for 24 hours, according to custom.

The accident occurred in the East district of the Barnsley seam. John Baxter Short (54) was going to his work when a runaway of tubs became derailed at a place where he was standing. The tubs dislodged some girders, allowing a portion of the roof to fall.

Short was caught by the debris. He had sustained a fracture of the skull and Injuries to the legs and back. He was dead when extricated.

Short, a single man, lived at 130, Houghton Road, Thurnscoe.