Road naming marks docks disaster

Tom Lewis won the Albert Medal, a forerunner of the George Cross, for his rescue effort, which noted he was 'in imminent peril of losing his life'

A docks disaster 100 years ago that killed 39 men but saw the heroism of a teenage boy has been marked.

A minute's silence at the port in Newport was held to remember the moment when a new entrance lock to its North Dock collapsed on 2 July, 1909.

Tom Lewis, a 16-year-old newspaper boy, risked his life to enter the wreckage and to save a man trapped by timbers.

Associated British Ports has renamed a road that leads to the site of the current lock in the teenager's honour.

Tom's gallantry was recognised at the time of the tragedy. He was awarded the Albert Medal, a forerunner of today's George Cross.

The London Gazette, on 21 December that year, reported that soon after 5pm on Friday, 2 July 1909, the sides of the trench being excavated collapsed.

It noted that "praiseworthy and determined" rescue efforts went on, then at 2am the following morning, a workman was found alive but trapped by his arm.

However, he could be reached only through a hole that was too small for a man to go through.

It said: "The boy Lewis volunteered to try and effect his rescue.

'Crushed'

"He succeeded in getting underneath the man, and worked there for about one and a half to two hours, being eventually successful in releasing the man's arm."

It continued: "There is no doubt that, but for the work which Lewis performed, the man could not have been rescued from his perilous position."

The citation reported Tom was "in imminent peril of losing his life" as the ground and the debris around him were still moving.

It noted that it "appeared as if at any moment he might have been crushed by a further subsidence."

The start and finish of the minute's silence in the port on Thursday was marked by the sounding of a ship's horn.

Port director Matthew Kennerley said: "A century on from the tragic Newport Dock disaster, we remember those 39 men who lost their lives while they constructed the port facilities that we still use to this day.

"We also dedicate Tom Lewis Way to the memory of the young man who risked his own life to save others in the aftermath of the accident."