Walking to the hotel, I would have never known what happened along this stretch of road without this memorial sign. It was the highest loss of life from any road accident at the time and it’s still one of the worst coach catastrophes. What became known as the Gillingham bus disaster took place on the evening of 4 December 1951, outside Chatham Dockyard in Kent. A group of 52 young Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps members, marching from Melville Barracks to the Royal Naval Barracks to attend a boxing tournament, was struck from behind by a double-decker bus on Dock Road. The cadets were children, mostly aged between nine and thirteen, and 24 were killed, with 18 more injured.
It was a dark winter evening, the street lighting was poor and the boys were marching in dark uniforms along this stretch of road. The bus driver, John Samson, said he had not seen the cadets before the collision. The disaster led to an inquest, a criminal case and searching questions about road safety, visibility and the responsibilities of those in charge of young people moving along public roads after dark. Samson was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £20 and banned from driving for three years, but avoided prison after the court accepted that other factors had played a part. The inquest had returned a verdict of accidental death, but regardless of this, Samson’s life was destroyed by what had happened and he never drove a vehicle again. A military funeral for 20 of the boys was held at Rochester Cathedral on 12 December 1951, with thousands of people standing along the route to Gillingham Cemetery. The Chatham Royal Marine Cadet Unit still holds an annual memorial parade, preserving the memory of the boys whose lives were lost on an ordinary journey that became one of the saddest moments in the area’s modern history.
Reading through the national newspapers at the time, this was a major event in the country. The King sent a message of sympathy and there were reports of the bravery of individual boys, including Alan Brazier who pulled cadets to safety. The Admiralty sent a message saying that he had done well, but it wasn’t enough to justify a special distinction of an honours recommendation. Then, in 1958, Brazier was involved in another act of heroism when he saved a man who was in distress in the water.
The plaque at the site was unveiled by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on 2 December 2001, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy.