A Salute to the Men o’ the Deep

Last week marked another Workers’ Memorial Day when we honour the too many 1000s of men and women killed or injured on the job. 

Coincidentally, while researching my newest book about the coal mines of the South Wellington area, I found myself checking the Department of Mines’ Annual Reports for 1959 and 1960.

I was looking for something else altogether, but my attention was drawn by the workplace accident reports for both those years. Pages of them—more than 16,000 words in total—the equivalent of six weekly BC Chronicles!

What struck me most, besides the seemingly never-ending list of accidents and their multitude of causes, many of them fatal, was that 1959 and 1960 are within the lifetimes of many BCChronicles readers.

We’re not talking ancient history but within our own or our parents’ lifetimes. Somehow, that makes it more immediate and personal, at least for me. 

Mining was, always has been, and still is a dangerous job. This week, the Chronicles will salute some of these mostly unsung men o’ the deep.

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PHOTO: Does no one remember the men who daily risked their lives underground? Did they have to get themselves killed or maimed to get their names in the provincial mining reports? —BC Archives