b. ? d. ?
DATE OF EM ACTION: 27/04/1913 Llewellyn Sinking Pit, Gilfach Goch, Wales.
Little is known about the life of mechanic Thomas Thomas other than his actions on the 27th April 1913 at the Llewellyn Sinking Pit, in Gilfach Goch, Glamorganshire.
EM CITATION:
On the 27th April, 1913, walling was in progress in a shaft, over 500 yards deep and 20 feet wide, in the Llewelyn Sinking Pit, belonging to the Britannic Merthyr Coal Company Limited, Gilfach Goch, Glamorganshire. Seven men were working on a stage suspended by ropes, about 10 yards from the bottom of the shaft, when a heavy fall occurred, smashing the stage and precipitating the seven men to the bottom of the shaft. As the winding rope had become entangled in the debris it was impossible to descend the shaft direct from the surface. Thomas, a mechanic employed at the colliery, and others accordingly descended another shaft to a seam where there was an inset from the Llewelyn shaft, about 70 yards from the bottom. Thomas volunteered to go down the shaft, and was let down by a rope with a loop at the end, although small falls were occurring at intervals and there was a risk of a larger fall at any moment. Successfully reaching the bottom, he found three men alive and tied them to the rope and they were drawn up separately, after which he himself was drawn up. He ran considerable risk to his own life by his plucky conduct in descending to the rescue of his comrades.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
