This is where time stopped at 10:21pm on Thursday, 24th December 1953. This is Tangiwai, New Zealand, a place that means a ‘river of tears’ or ‘weeping waters’ in Māori. And it truly became a place of weeping, a place of sorrow and tears, when a heart-breaking tragedy happened here that shocked the small nation of New Zealand.
Late on Christmas Eve, 1953, the country’s festive joy turned to sorrow. The Wellington to Auckland night express train, packed with excited passengers eager to get home in time for Christmas, was travelling through the dark night on its way north when tragedy struck.
Part of the Tangiwai Rail bridge was washed away and the train plunged over a ravine and into the swirling waters of the Whangaehu River, bringing death and destruction.
The nation was stunned. It was unbelievable and heartbreaking. It was one of the country’s darkest hours. At the time, it was the world’s eighth-deadliest rail disaster, and made headlines around the globe.
With New Zealand’s population just over two million at the time, many people had a direct relationship with someone involved in the disaster. And the timing of the rail accident on Christmas Eve added to the sense of tragedy. It was, and is to this day, more than just a railway disaster.
Join me, Gary Kent as we investigate this train disaster that shook a nation, and its life-changing impact on those involved and affected by the tragedy. And perhaps, through it all, we’ll seek and find guidance as we consider how we personally can cope with sorrow, grief, and difficult circumstances in our own lives.
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A HIGH YEAR
1953 had been a high year for the people of New Zealand. In May, New Zealand’s most admired person, mountaineer Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the summit of Mt Everest and conquer the tallest mountain in the world.
And then just two weeks later in June 1953, the young Queen Elizabeth II was crowned the monarch of the British Commonwealth.
Then, to the people of New Zealand’s delight, six months later on the 23rd December 1953, Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip arrived in Auckland on their royal yacht, the Gothic, for a visit to New Zealand.
Excitement ran high as QEII was the first reigning monarch ever to visit New Zealand. It is estimated that almost 75% of New Zealanders had made plans to catch a glimpse of their new young Queen during her visit to New Zealand.
One of these was 19-year-old Nerissa Love. She worked as a typist at Lambton Quay in Wellington and felt lucky to get a seat on the train to Auckland, as the demand for tickets was great. You see, there was an airline strike in New Zealand at that time, and tickets on the express train were difficult to buy.
One of Nerissa’s friends offered her a train ticket and she gladly accepted it so she could travel to Auckland to join the cheering crowds to see the Queen. At 3pm on Christmas Eve, 1953, the Wellington to Auckland train departed for its regular overnight trip. Many of the people on the train were excited, as they were heading home for Christmas, armed with presents for family and friends.
Now, Nerissa made sure she had letter writing paper, an envelope, stamps and a fountain pen in her handbag, and before the train had reached Taihape, a small town about 144 miles, or 200kms on the way north, she would have another letter written to Bob, her beloved fiancé.
Now Bob Blair was a young up-and-coming cricket star. He was a right-handed batsman and a medium fast bowler, who had been selected for the New Zealand national cricket team on a tour to South Africa in the summer 1953/54.
Nerissa wrote to him of her excitement of going to Auckland to see the Queen, and how she planned to meet him at the port when the boat bringing the New Zealand cricketers back home from South Africa, docked in early March.
And then they would be married! A bright and wonderful future lay ahead of them. But first, she wrote, Bob needed to concentrate on performing well for the national cricket team and hitting a six for his country.
She posted the letter when the train stopped at the Taihape train station. But by the time Bob received the letter in South Africa, Nerissa was a victim of a terrible and devastating tragedy. It was the final chapter in their tragic love story.
DISASTER UNFOLDS
Now, New Zealand is a beautiful land of volcanos, snow-capped mountains, green rolling hills, lakes and rivers. But on this night at 8:02pm, an unexpected disaster happened. One of the volcanic ash rims of the crater lake of Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano in the North Island, broke away sending a huge wave of water, silt, boulders and debris down the Whangaehu [fung-ae-hu] river.
Just an hour earlier that evening, around 7pm, a goods train had crossed the Tangiwai Bridge and the river was its normal quiet stream.
But sometime between 10.10 and 10.15 p.m. as the passenger express train from Wellington headed towards the bridge, the lahar continued its raging path down the river towards the Tangiwai railway bridge.
The river had now risen 8m, or 25 feet and the flood waters and debris crashed into the 60m, or 66 yard bridge and washed away one of the six huge concrete piers, that had been weakened by a previous lahar in 1925.
A road bridge adjoining the rail bridge, and three other bridges further upstream on the same river had already been swept away by the flood waters.
The 9-carriage, overnight express, was carrying 285 passengers and crew. In the dark, at 10:20 pm, it passed through nearby Tangiwai Station and then approached the bridge, travelling at full speed.
Cyril Ellis, a postal clerk, was travelling by road from the nearby Waiouru army camp just seven kms away from the bridge, when he screeched to a halt as he came upon the yawning gap where the road bridge across the river had once been.
Realising that the train bridge had also been affected, Ellis turned to look along the railway tracks. To his absolute horror, he saw the light of the approaching express train. He ran towards it desperately waving a torch in an attempt to warn the train driver of the impending danger.
Suddenly Charles Parker, a First-Class Locomotive Engineer who was driving the train, saw something ahead. He saw a man frantically waving a torch by the track. Then to his shock and horror in the dark ahead, he saw that the rail bridge had collapsed into the river.
Charles Parker immediately slammed on the emergency brake. He had the fireman apply a sand box lever, which sanded the track in an emergency stop, desperately trying to slow down and stop the train.
TRAIN WRECK
But that weakened bridge was just too close. When the train reached the bridge at 10:21pm, the remaining girders sagged, buckled and collapsed beneath the train’s weight. The 145-ton locomotive engine plunged into the river followed by the coal car, and then all five second-class carriages crashed down into the river, tumbling and turning as they slammed into the swirling mass of water, debris and rocks.
The force of the impact splintered the coachwork and threw many of the passengers out into the icy cold waters. Others were trapped in the sunken carriages and were smothered in minutes by thick silt.
The force of the impact and the swirling torrent immediately destroyed four of the carriages, and those inside had little chance of survival.
The emergency brake and the sand box had managed to slow the train down somewhat. Although the first five second class carriages had crashed into the river, the next carriage, the leading first-class carriage, Car Z or Carriage 6, was on the brink and it began teetering on the edge of the ruined bridge.
After Cyril Ellis witnessed those five carriages tumbling down through the broken bridge, he ran over to the train’s guard at the back of the train, and told the guard, William Inglis, what had just happened.
RESCUE EFFORTS
These two men then rushed up to Carriage 6 that was leaning, just balancing precariously on the bridge’s edge, just 2 meters above the flood waters. But they didn’t step away.
They jumped into the carriage to help the terrorized people out. But suddenly the coupling to the remaining three carriages snapped, and their carriage also toppled down into the river below.
The carriage crashed and rolled downstream, before coming to rest just as the water level was starting to fall. Miraculously, Ellis and Inglis, with the help of a passenger, John Holman, quickly smashed a window open and they helped to lift the other passengers out. Thanks to their courage and bravery, 21 of the 22 passengers in this carriage survived.
Passengers who had managed to free themselves were swept further downstream. Sixty bodies were found over 20km, or 15 miles away from the shattered bridge. Others were swept further down river and out to sea. Their bodies [were] never recovered.
Car lights, torches and lanterns threw an inadequate light on the grisly scene in the riverbed, as rescue gangs working from both sides of the river at Tangiwai tried to free trapped passengers from the almost submerged carriages.
In 1953 there was no national rescue organisation in the country. But members of the New Zealand Forest Service, Ministry of Works, police, navy personnel, groups of farmers and other local volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the night to rescue the surviving passengers.
The nearby Waiouru Military Camp provided much-needed manpower, as well as transport and shelter for survivors and those involved in the rescue mission.
RECOVERY OPERATION
Though the river subsided markedly within 45 minutes of the accident, overnight rescue efforts were still extremely dangerous. The fast-flowing water was full of debris brought down in the lahar, and there was also the wreckage of the train. In fact, the wreckage of one carriage finished up 4km, or 2½ miles below the collapsed bridge.
Oil and silt covered passengers and rescuers alike. Daybreak revealed a scene of utter devastation. Battered, mud-soaked Christmas presents, toys and teddy bears lay on the banks of the Whangaehu River. The remains of twisted and splintered carriages lay everywhere.
The rescue operation soon became a body recovery operation. In the following days, bodies were recovered as far away as the river mouth. Twenty of the bodies were never found; it was presumed they were carried 120 kms downriver to the ocean.
Sadly, 151 people died that night. Almost all were the second-class passengers, in addition to the engine driver and fireman. Charles Parker, the engine driver, had tried desperately to save the passengers by applying the emergency brakes and that action saved many lives in the last few carriages.
Those waiting for their loved ones and friends at the many railway stations between Tangiwai and Auckland had no idea of the tragedy.
NATION IN MOURNING
There were no newspapers published on Christmas Day, and so the first time many New Zealanders heard of the tragic events of the previous evening was when the Prime Minister, Sidney Holland announced it on a radio broadcast from the military camp at Waioura.
Christmas Day services gave New Zealanders the opportunity to express their collective grief. Many messages of sympathy were received from overseas. Queen Elizabeth made her Christmas Day message from Auckland, finishing with a message of sympathy for the people of New Zealand’
“Last night a most grievous railway accident took place at Tangiwai, which will have brought tragedy into many homes, and sorrow to all upon this Christmas Day. I pray that they, and all who have been injured, may be comforted and strengthened.”
Then on 26 December 1953, The Age newspaper published the news of New Zealand’s Worst Train Disaster and how the holiday-packed passenger train plunged into the flooded Whangaehu River near Tangiwai.
The nation was in mourning as families grieved for those who had been lost. It was one of the nation’s darkest hours.
LOVE’S HOPES DASHED
Nerissa Love’s body was found in the river and identified by her fiance’s brother, Jim Blair. Nerissa was buried near her home, in Taita Cemetery north of Wellington on 29 December 1953.
Her fiancé, Bob Blair, a popular young New Zealand cricket star, was playing cricket in South Africa nearly 12,000km, or over 7000 miles away from New Zealand, when the accident happened.
Bob was told of Nerissa’s death by the New Zealand cricket team manager, Jack Kerr, who received a telegram with the sad news on Christmas Day in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Christmas Day was a rest day for the Second Test match being played between South Africa and New Zealand at Ellis Park, Johannesburg. The match resumed on Boxing Day but Blair remained in his room at the team’s hotel, too devastated to continue playing.
In his room, Blair listened to the cricket game on the radio. He was not expected to bat when his turn came on Boxing Day, and an announcement was made that he would take no further part in the game due to the bereavement.
It was a lively pitch at Ellis Park, on that Boxing Day and New Zealand’s champion batsman, Bert Sutcliffe, was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital after being hit on the side of the head by a bouncer from South Africa’s fiery fast bowler Neil Adcock. In hospital, Sutcliffe collapsed twice more.
BRAVERY AT THE CREASE
Bravely, and determined to keep playing, Sutcliffe returned to the crease, his forehead swathed in bandages and his face “looking like parchment”. When the ninth wicket fell at 154, the players began to leave the field, thinking that, with Blair absent, New Zealand’s first innings was prematurely over.
Then in one of the defining chapters of New Zealand sport, at the fall of the ninth wicket, Blair emerged from the tunnel and started to walk to the batting crease to partner Bert Sutcliffe, who had already started to walk off the field.
The crowd stood in silence to honour Blair and watched as he was greeted by Sutcliffe, who placed a comforting arm around his shoulder. ”C’mon son,” said Sutcliffe, “This is no place for you. Let’s swing the bat … and get out of here.”
But Blair had been sitting in the team’s hotel listening to a radio broadcast of the match and had decided to hail a taxi and go to his teammates’ aid at Ellis Park.
New Zealand cricket writer Dick Brittenden said,
“Looking down on the scene from the glass windows of the pavilion, the New Zealanders wept openly and without shame; the South Africans were in little better state, and Sutcliffe was just as obviously distressed.”
Before he faced his first ball, Blair passed his glove across his eyes in the heart-wringing gesture of any boy anywhere in trouble, but defiant.”
By the time Blair was dismissed, the team’s total had climbed to 187, with Sutcliffe 80 not out. Brittenden wrote later,
“They went, arms about each other, into the darkness of the tunnel, but behind them they left a light and an inspiration …”
South Africa won the match by 132 runs, but The Rand Daily Mail summed it up,
“It is not the result of the match that will be best remembered when men come together to talk about cricket. They will speak of a match that was as much worth watching as it was worth playing, a match the New Zealanders decided must go on.”
The Cape Times added, “‘All the glory was for the vanquished. Memories of the match will not be of the runs made or of the wickets taken, but of the courage displayed.”
FACING GRIEF AND LOSS
Blair himself commented later that,
“It hurt at the time, it hurt a lot. Time moves on. But I can tell you I haven’t enjoyed a Christmas since. I have a thought every Christmas … It always comes up, it will never go away. It’s something you just have to live with.”
Bob Blair continued playing Test cricket for another 11 years, and later coached in Australia, England, Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe. He now lives in Cheshire, England. But every time he returns to New Zealand, he visits Nerissa’s grave at plot 292, Taita cemetery.
The inquiry into the train tragedy recommended the installation of an early warning system upstream on the river to avoid such a tragedy ever happening again.
But what of those who faced grief and loss. At some point in all of our lives, we will all be acquainted with grief. Whether it is the loss of a loved one, the end of a marriage, the loss of a friendship, the loss of a job, the loss of your normal life through illness or trauma – or even just the loss of an opportunity – every person, each one of us, will experience times of grief.
So how do you cope when you feel overwhelmed by grief and sorrow? Well, grief is the reaction to sorrow, pain and sadness and it’s the grieving process that affects our physical, mental and emotional health.
During times of sadness, loss and suffering, we sometimes look for someone to blame. And it seems that all too often it’s easy to blame God for the troubles in our lives. We don’t realise that God isn’t the author of all the pain and suffering in the world. Rather, He is the one we can turn to in times of need.
Those who have a belief in God, have experienced His great love, and so no matter how deep the pain, they can experience grief but without despair, sorrow without defeat, and sadness without hopelessness.
But how is it that we can have hope? Well, we can turn to God. He never fails. His love will comfort and surround us in times of grief and sorrow. So, does the Bible have any words about coping with grief?
WISDOM FROM ABOVE
It certainly does! Yes, in God’s Word, the Bible, we can find promises that will bring healing to our hurting souls. In Psalms 34:18, it says,
“The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
God stays close to the broken-hearted. He doesn’t make the broken-hearted feel guilty for being sad or make the broken-hearted feel bad for their state. He just comforts them with His presence.
There are many stories in the Bible that demonstrate how God comforts people in times of sorrow and loss. The wealthy landowner, Job, clung desperately to God, despite the catastrophic loss of his family, his property and unhelpful friends who wanted him to blame God for all his troubles.
Then there’s David, the shepherd boy who became king, a man who followed God and yet made some very poor decisions that had disastrous consequences. One was the death of his beloved son, Absalom.
Then in John 11:1-45, when Jesus was visiting Mary and Martha, He saw their anguish over the death of their brother Lazarus. Even though Jesus knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He felt their sorrow and comforted them.
As we travel along the journey of life, we will all experience pain, suffering and loss. But we can take comfort in knowing that Jesus has experienced all of our pain; including loss, rejection, betrayal and dying. As our Good Shepherd, He will safely lead us through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalms 23:4).
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Be sure to join us again next week, when we will share another of life’s journeys together. Until then, let’s pray to the God who can heal our broken hearts.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the love, support and comfort you provide when we are experiencing challenging times of pain, suffering and loss. We want to turn to you and trust in you. Please heal our wounded hearts and give us courage and hope. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
