Harold got the job of righting stricken car 19

THE man tasked with driving a tram home which killed two and injured dozens more when it overturned in Burton returned it to Swadlincote 24 hours later thanks to his “electrical expertise”.

Harold Goodman said “someone had to drive it back and it had to be him,” a friend has revealed of the Burton tragedy of October 1919.

Mr Goodman was employed as an electrical engineer at the time and was given the unenviable job of “righting” tram car 19 and driving it back to its depot in Swadlincote.

His friend John Outram, from Woodville, said Mr Goodman told him around 40 years ago that he drove the vehicle because he would have been able to fix anything that may have gone wrong on the journey back.

Despite the severe damage to the top deck and lower saloon, the tram was driven by Mr Goodman to Swadlincote from Burton under its own power and was later repaired and eventually returned to service.

Mr Outram has answered the Burton Mail’s ongoing appeal to trace families and friends of victims of tram car 19, which slid down Bearwood Hill Road and overturned, killing passenger Caroline Hughes and conductress

Lilian Parker.

The wheels slipped on leaves on the tracks and the tram lost its grip.

The appeal has been launched ahead of the 100th anniversary of the tragedy which occurred on October 8, 1919.

The upcoming commemoration has sparked proposals to erect a memorial to remember the day.

Mr Outram said: “The tram was righted on its wheels by electrical engineer Harold Goodman. He told me himself. I have been down to his house in the past and he had a lot of tramway memorabilia.

“The accident broke a pane of glass in the middle of the car but it didn’t suffer much damage and was used again.

“If it had happened to a car or bus of that year [it wouldn’t have fared as well]. The tram did remarkably well.”

Asked how Mr Goodman felt when he drove the tram, Mr Outram said: “I think it was just another job to him. Someone had to drive it back and it had to be him. He had the electrical expertise in case anything went wrong.”

Repairs were carried out at the Midland Railway Carriage Works at Derby and the tram was returned into service. However, it was later reported that the cleaners at the depot were very reluctant to work on car 19.

Mr Goodman was head of electrical contractors Harold Goodman Contractors until the Clemson Brothers took over.

Ian Siddalls has started the wheels in motion for a memorial by suggesting using some of the original tram tracks recently pulled up from Burton Bridge to feature in the memorial close to the scene of the accident.

The time of the accident was 11.35am on October 8, 1919, and it would change Burton forever – the whole area was later redesigned to provide trams with straighter access to the Burton Bridge.

Lilian Parker and Caroline Hughes became the women forever linked with the tragedy which claimed their lives. Lilian was the heroic conductress who, along with driver Mr Insley, tried to stop the tram from racing back down the hill.

Of the 27 people on the tram at the time, 25 were injured, with 16 taken to hospital. Six were detained and of those six two died.

Mrs Hughes died en route to hospital while Miss Parker died six days later from her injuries. Her leg had been amputated.

Families of mother-of-two Rose Chandler and landlady Elizabeth Lees, who were both injured, have come forward to tell the ladies’ tales. John Outram

Someone had to drive it back and it had to be him. He had the electrical expertise.