Cadeby Main Colliery steam tank explosion, 1943

A steam receiving tank burst in the yard of Cadeby Main Colliery, Conisbrough, in March 1943, scalding four men who had stayed on for maintenance work; all four died.

Cause

A steam receiving tank at the surface burst.

What happened

The four men would normally have finished at noon, but on Saturday 27 March 1943 they had stayed on at Cadeby Main Colliery for special maintenance work near a steam receiving tank in the colliery yard. The tank, twenty feet high and ten feet across, burst; it was thrown over a twelve-foot gantry and the men were caught in the steam.

All four were taken to the Fullerton Hospital at Denaby. William Haynes Sturgess, 52, and Joseph Laxton Lunn, 56, surface workers, died soon after admission; Joseph Pearson, a fitter, and Ernest Senior, 41, a surface worker, died late that night. All four were married men from Denaby and Conisbrough.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The tank burst on the Saturday afternoon, 27 March 1943. (disputed) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum dates the accident 29 March 1943. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Four men were killed by the explosion of a steam tank at the surface of Cadeby Main Colliery in March 1943. ^1,2
• The tank burst on the Saturday afternoon, 27 March 1943. (disputed) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum dates the accident 29 March 1943. (disputed) ¹
• The men had stayed on after their usual noon finish for special maintenance work. ²
• The tank, 20 feet high and 10 feet in diameter, was hurled over a 12-foot gantry. ²

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “A steam receiving tank burst in the yard of Cadeby Main Colliery, Conisbrough, in March 1943, scalding four men who had stayed on for…”

Sources

1. (primary) Colliery Disaster 1943: Cadeby Main — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Conisbrough Tank Burst Kills Four Workmen (Liverpool Daily Post and Bradford Observer, 29 March 1943) — Conisbrough and Denaby Main Local History

Record created: 7 October 2026 · Last researched: 7 October 2026