Personal info
- Name: John McCABE
- D.O.B: 6th Dec, 1901
- D.O.A: 9th Jul, 1918
- D.O.D: 29th Jan, 1974
- Award: Edward Medal translated to George Cross
- Occupation at time of action: Drawer, Stanrigg Colliery (McCracken Bros), Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland
- Book: The Complete History - Volume 2
Stanrigg Colliery, Airdrie, Scotland 9 July 1918
9 July 1918
Stanrigg Colliery was on the moors north of Plains, just east of Airdrie, which is itself twelve miles east of Glasgow. After weeks of heavy rain the surface of moss and soil had turned to bog. On 9 July 1918 part of the ground above the pit subsided allowing moss and water to flood into the workings. John McCabe stayed underground to warn other miners of their peril. Nineteen miners working in the Humph section of the pit perished.
Citation
On the 9th July, 1918, there was an inrush of moss into the workings. McCabe, with two other drawers and three miners, was at the bottom of number 3 shaft when they were told that the moss had broken in. The two other boys and the three men at once ascended the shaft and escaped. McCabe, however, knowing that there were men at the face who might be cut off, returned for a quarter of a mile and warned the men. He and the men he had warned were ultimately collected and raised by another shaft. When he returned to the face, McCabe did not know where the break had occurred, or whether the moss might not at any moment fill the workings through which he returned, as in fact it soon afterwards did. He faced a grave and unknown danger, which might have been fatal, in order to enable others to escape.
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