Bullcroft Colliery Explosion, 1941

Six men were killed outright by an ignition of gas at Bullcroft Colliery just after three in the morning on 19 October 1941. They were about 430 feet from the shaft bottom, and all but one were members of the mine rescue team, at work on problems within the mine.

Date	19 October 1941
Mine	Bullcroft Colliery
Region	South Yorkshire
Primary type	Explosion
Associated types	Gas / Asphyxiation, Rescue
Fatalities	6 (All but one of the six were members of the colliery's mine rescue team.)
Context	During active mining

Bullcroft Colliery at Carcroft, where six men — five of them mine rescue team members — were killed by an ignition of gas in October 1941 — Bullcroft Colliery, 1967 National Coal Board, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cause

An ignition of gas underground.

What happened

The men had gone in to deal with problems within the mine. Just after 3 a.m. gas ignited and the explosion killed all six outright, about 430 feet from the shaft bottom.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

Six men died outright in the explosion; all but one were members of the mine rescue team. ¹
The men were dealing with problems within the mine when gas ignited just after 3 a.m.; they were about 430 feet from the shaft bottom. ¹

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s summary: “Six men were killed outright by an ignition of gas at Bullcroft Colliery just after three in the morning on 19 October 1941. They were about…”
Rescue Brigade (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s summary: “…feet from the shaft bottom, and all but one were members of the mine rescue team, at work on problems within the mine.”
Shaft (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…in the morning on 19 October 1941. They were about 430 feet from the shaft bottom, and all but one were members of the mine rescue team, at…”

Sources

(secondary) Bullcroft Colliery — Wikipedia
(primary) Bullcroft Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026