The aftermath of the disaster
Elaine Buss looks at the impact of the crash on the Somerset villages many of the dead came from.
THE aftermath of the disaster was grim. Especially shocking would have been the sight of over 100 coffins being transferred from an aircraft at Lulsgate to a convoy of RAF vehicles before they were driven, under police escort, to the RAF station at Locking where they were placed in the gymnasium.
They remained there until removed for the funerals.
Each bereaved family chose its own way to mourn. Many attended a communal service in St John the Baptist Church, Axbridge where 13 victims were buried in a mass grave. A row of identical gravestones still stand on that spot to mark the sad event.
Two other victims from the town were cremated in private ceremonies. A similar communal service and burial was held in Cheddar but the families in Congresbury chose to hold individual funerals.
There are many tragic stories among the 48 bereaved school children. Most were left without mothers but a few children lost both mother and father. Immediate help was needed because many husbands of the dead and injured flew to Basle on the day after the crash. Primary schools responded magnificently by staying open all day to provide food and shelter for the children who needed it.
It wasn’t long after the disaster that Mr Reginald Dennis, Somerset’s Chief Inspector of schools spelt out the practical implications of the disaster. He announced that additional nursery places would have to be provided in the Axbridge School to look after the young children while fathers were at work. Similar arrangements had to be made in Cheddar.
Money was desperately needed to provide financial help to victim’s families so an appeal for funds was set up following a specially convened meeting of Congresbury Parish Council.
As a result, a memorial service held at the village church on the Sunday after the tragedy was able to raise and donate £263 to the fund. Other local people responded equally generously. A central fund raised £12,620 in six days.
The people of Basle, close to where the crash had happened, were also deeply affected. In order to show their sympathy they set up the Swiss Air Disaster Fund. Within less than a week more than £5,625 was raised from street collections and a special appeal at the Basle Trade Fair that was being held at the time.
Many individuals and organisations expressed their grief in letters of condolence. These included a letter from the Minister of Civil Aviation and one from the Swiss Department of Transport. A telegram was received from Axbridge’s French twin town, Houlgate.
Most poignant of all must have been a letter from the Aberfan community. The contents of these communications will remain sealed along with many other personal details at the Bristol Archives until 100 years after the date of the disaster.
After the immediate shock and grief began to pass the Swiss people erected a memorial near the site of the crash. It consisted of a block of yellow Swiss limestone with a bronze plaque.
The inscription in English and German said, ‘To the 108 British victims of the aircraft disaster’. Alongside the monument was a pillar surmounted by a bronze sculpture of wings. One wing, pointing upwards, represented the living and children of the victims, and the horizontal wing represented the victims.
It was here that a service of remembrance was held one year after the tragedy. It was reported to have been a beautiful spring day – so very different from the same time exactly one year before.