Biggest scandal is when the coal board demanded money to clear slag heap from monies donated by a naive kid like me.

My father was a junior doctor in Cardiff Royal infirmary, wards were cleared in anticipation of the injured victims being treated there. None came, it was so sad….

The parents of the children dead in Aberfan sent their clothes to the children of Florence 🇮🇹 hit by the Arno flood on 4th November 1966

Blair in 1997 finally got the Government to pay all the monies owed back to the families. It had been withheld by the Coal Board on the understanding that thick miners and their families couldn't be trusted to spend the money wisely. However, what Blair did not do was also pay the families the interest on the money raised in 1966. That's 31 years of interest that the Government just craftily pocketed and spent on some old shit or other. The whole event and its history is just horrific. Those poor children.

My father in law was a policeman who’s first language was welsh . He was on a course that day and was sent there instead, with no equipment, just the clothes he was wearing. He was there for days and found the last school register, which gave the final count of the children. He’s 96 and not something he talks about. He had a school aged son and daughter. The National Coal Board knew the spoil heaps were unstable, underestimating the potential damage they could do I was a child, but I remember Aberan.

'Please get under the desks, now!' Has to have hit me harder than anything else. That please hits harder than anything else

If it had happened 24 hours later the school would have been closed for half term.

I knew nothing of Aberfan before watching this episode of "The Crown", so it frightened me and really hurt my heart when the disaster happened on the show out of nowhere.

On 28 Febuary 1958, a school bus in Floyd Co. Kentucky went into a creek on the way to school. Like Aberfan, there had been heavy rains days before. And Eastern Kentucky like Wales is a coal mining region. Of 48 children, only 22 survived. The others and the bus driver were swept away and would only be recovered days later. You can imagine the fathers who were working the mines that day and accepted the dangers of their profession only to learn of their childrens deaths when they came off the shift. Much sympathy for the people of Wales and Aberfan. The wealth of coal was and is rarely passed on to those stoic souls who mine it.

They dug and dug for days, but nobody came out alive after the first hour or so. Horrendous incompetence by the Coal Board.

As a parent, it's heart breaking, the thought of losing children who should have been safe at school.

Many of the teachers were found shielding the children Their last thought was to protect the kids

My dad was in the navy when this happened and was sent in to help. He won't speak in detail on it, but his eyes take on a heartbreaking faraway look when he tells briefly of what they were tasked to do. He shares details of some pretty horrid things that happened in his life, but not about Aberfan. It must have been simply unspeakable. Even now in his mid 70's it still impacts him deeply.

The teacher wasn't just standing there, he was found with his arms around the children protecting them.

The slag tip was started in 1958. Despite the fact that there were underground springs emerging on that part of the hillside. 5 teachers and 109 children died that morning. The aftermath was to prove as unbelievable as the horrrifying event. At the subsequent enquiry the National Coalboard was criticized but nobody was prosecuted and the NBC was not even fined.!!! A fund for a memorial park on the site was set up by public and private donations. The government refused to pay for clearing the site on the grounds of the costs involved. The villagers did not give up and in the end the government insisted on a forced payment of 150,000 pounds from the Memorial Fund for the purpose. ( So much for Labour being the workers party!) The money was eventually returned..... 30 years later. I was a schoolboy at the time and remember we had one minute silence in morning assembly, for the children who lost their lives.

Probably the best episode of The Crown. That funeral scene is one of the most devastating scenes I've ever watched in a movie or TV show.

I recall the tragic story of little Eryl Mai Jones, who told her parents he dream about this incident a day or so before it happened, and said she wasn't afraid to die. She was sent to school that day anyway, and is now buried with her classmates.

Both my grandfathers were miners from surrounding pits who left work to help with the rescue effort. I remember one saying, that he served in WW2 from start to finish and Aberfan was still the worst experience of his life.

Heartbreaking........I remember when the news broke on TV. during Cliff Michelmore's programme and this consummate presenter just stopped and teared up, and was speechless....

I’ve read about the Aberfan disaster. My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones that horrible day..

My late father in law was a member of the local mines rescue team & one of the first to arrive at the scene. He didn't come home for 5 days & never once spoke of what he saw & had to do there. He was never the same after I was born just a few weeks after the disaster & even the mention of the name Aberfan always instilled fear, sadness & disgust at the injustice & malpractice that allowed it to happen. Throughout my childhood, whenever my dad took us to the Beacons for a day out, we would always stop the car on what was the old A470 & pay our respects. The new A470 has in some way "hidden" the graveyard from view to most that pass the site below but we can never forget. If there's one place you need to visit once in your life, it's Aberfan. It will guarantee to move anyone to tears & make you appreciate the fragility of life & the power of greed to do such unspeakable damage.

My father attended as a young policeman, he speaks of other mining disasters he attended where miners died but never this one...... this film brings it home to me the reason why.

There is a memorial garden where Pantglas School once stood and a row of White graves in Bryntaf Cemetery, Aberfan

I remember my father coming home early from work at the brewery on the day of the disaster, we had been sent home from school early that day too, though we didn't know why. I was four at the time, and we lived in the Rhymney valley.

"The remaining children of Aberfan". 😞

My grandad owned a haulage business quite a way off in Carmarthenshire at this time. When he heard about the landslide he contacted the authorities to offer every truck and lorry he had. They took him up on it, and he and all his employees were there for days transporting the muck and rubble away from the disaster site.

Throughout my schooling in the 70s and 80s, in Pennsylvania, USA, there was very little 20th century history covered in Social Studies, History, or World Cultures. By the end of each school year, we might reach the mid-to-late 19th century and the Industrial Revolution. I knew nothing of the horrific disaster at Aberfan- I hadn't heard of it before watching The Crown. Knew nothing of the Great Smog of the early 50s until watching The Crown, and it was interesting to me that the small town of Donora, Pennsylvania was mentioned; it's about 25 miles north of where I grew up. I never watched The Crown thinking it was a documentary, but I did learn of these and other events of which I hadn't previously known, and that led me to seeking out to learn more. Aberfan isn't easy to read about, but it _should_ be read about, to prevent similar tragedies from _ever_ happening _anywhere_ in the world. May all who lost loved ones, forever cherish and have some comfort from their memories.

“Buried alive by the National coal board, that’s what I want to see on my child’s death certificate”

Went primary in England in the earky 90s. Aberfan and Armistice Day were 2 important somber days every year. Had good teachers reminding us how lucky we were.

My god the poor parents...Even if it happened decades ago, my heart goes out to them.

I remember this as if it was yesterday, I was 10 at the time. Those poor children with their whole lives before them.

One of the best hours of television ever made. I had no knowledge of the tragedy before watching this episode. It wrecked me and has stayed with me ever since.

Just horrific... I was at uni in South Wales on the 20th anniversary, and as you can imagine it was plastered all over the news. So many stories, so many tiny lives lost.... It was absolutely horrific.

I recall my mum watching the news crying

When the mountain slid into the area of Oso, Washington, I thought of Aberfan and its people. I went back last year to Oso and stood on the side of the road where the wall of mud and trees had crossed. The mountain was so far away- so hard to believe the destruction. The coal slag heaps were so close to Aberfan.

I was a kid the same age and living in Wales when this happened. My father became an atheist - "if there is a god, how could he let this happen?"

I remember hearing this, on the News, when I was a small boy, it was REALLY UPSETTING for me, can never forget this HORRIBLE EVENT.

Thank you to the producers of 'The Crown' for bringing this story of a lost generation to a whole new generation. R.I.P sweet, innocent angels and all who lost their lives that heart-breaking day.

I was in Junior infants class in Murroe, Co. Limerick, Ireland when the Aberfan tragedy occurred. I was so very young then but remember vividly how horror stricken our teacher was. Our parents too. We remembered the Aberfan victims in our prayers at school every day for weeks. Never forgot this. God Bless them all and their families....

Well edited emotional summary of the best Crown episode. The writing, directing, acting, special effects. I'm a Yank, never heard of this horrible disaster and travesty of justice. I hope the episode got awards. One of the best individual "TV" episodes ever made. Next time I'm across the pond, I would truly like to get to Aberfan and pay my respects to the families. May all those innocent children's beloved memories be a blessing to their families forever.

No parent is designed to lose a child, my time as a South African Marine was trivial in comparison to losing my 3 year old daughter 20 years ago , I stand as a testimony that it is only and only by the Grace of Jesus that I carry on the race before me.... I remember this tragedy in Wales 😢😢😢

there needs to be a film or series made about this there is so much that needs telling

My dad, a welder from St Helens was working close by when the disaster happened. He and his mates downed tools and went to help with the recovery.. it deeply affected him for the rest of his life 😢

I am 68 on December 22nd and I well the Aberfan disaster and although I was too young to Understand and I didn't watch the old film till 50 years later, I was Shocked beyond words and this sort of thing must never be allowed to happen again

File that under “ How to get away with MURDER” corporation 101

The late queen visited aberfan than any other royal member

it's weird....if you go look at pics of the disaster and then go look at google maps you can see the area that the slurry cut thru the neighborhood by what buildings are still standing today.

Hello friends from the UK. My father, Aleksey, was a foreman at a coal mining company here in Slovenia. At the time, he was sent to the United Kingdom to help rebuild everything with safety protocols after the disaster. He watched the scene and thought it was very realistic.

I'm 63 years old. I am utterly astounded and embarrassed that I first heard about this tragedy a week ago.

Here in Italy we had a similar disaster in de sixties, read about : the Vajont disaster, an entire little town was blown away from a wave that came out over a damm, because the autorities would'nt believe that a sidepart of a hill could slide down in the artificial lake belowe, after havy rain in the days before...

I recall this as if it were only yesterday, although I was only 5 when it happened. About the same age as all those children. A black and white horror. Its impact never left me. RIP everyone who left us that day in Aberfan.

I was born 2 years after this disaster but knew about it well even before the age of 10. Don't know how, maybe at school, maybe just from reading, but the horror of it has lasted.

Unamaginable horror and sadness the heart of Aberfan was ripped out that day, God Bless their sweet soul's.🙏

I remember this and seeing it on TV. Very sad.

I never heard of this tragedy until now, and it breaks my heart to know so many were lost. But what disgusts me is that no one, no company, no agency, was held to account for this. Those poor kids and the adults too.

Chilling, seeing those scenes from the disaster, I was the same age as the children who died in the disaster, going to school just as the children in Wales were on that terrible day when the slag heap swept down the hill side burying the school and near by house's.

Feels weird seeing my old primary school used as a stand-in for Aberfan.

I learn something from British history watching that episode. So sad😢😢

I was 8 when this disaster struck. My mother,who was from a Durham mining family,and i went through my toy box and took out nearly all my toys and posted them off to the surviving children in Aberfan. Maybe in an attic somewhere in a house in Aberfan is one my old "Action Man"... i'd like to think so.

THOSE POOR SOULS THEY DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE ! ! !😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

This was so well done. I had never heard about this tragedy before!

I remember my mother crying about this and she never cried. We lived in Hertfordshire. It affected people all over the country. Rest in peace, little darlings.

In Australia ehen this happened as schoolchildren of the same age we all donated money to be sent to the community of Aberfan. I visited the town and cemetery in 2018, it was so sad to see the graves of the young people.

I remember this as a six year child. It affected me badly as most of the children killed were about my age. We also used to practice hiding under our desks in case of a nuclear strike from the Soviets. What good that would do I have no idea. God bless all the young lives taken that day and the teachers

It was a disaster that everyone old enough to appreciate the tragic mistakes made will always remember,it’s still very upsetting. Did anyone at the Coal Board ever get done for negligence ?

It hurt my heart when I saw this part from The Crown, The Queen did say, she wished she Visited it sooner. Those children and adults, I cried for all the children and adults. My love always from The USA, This scares me because i send my children to school and ypu think your children are safe, and them a horrible disaster like this happens, USA.🇬🇧❤️😭🙏🏾

Tragic and heartbreaking

The Beatles got flack for refusing to perform a concert to benefit the village (the group had decided to stop performing live in front of audiences a couple of months earlier)🎩

The establishment in the UK have never cared for anyone at all.

I can only imagine the terror those poor kids felt before they died, so messed up.

Whenever someone asks why the Welsh hate the English so much. Well, this is one of the reasons.

I was 11 at the time of this incident and had just started my first term at grammar school, so those children of Aberfan would be the same age or a couple of years younger than I am. I remember hearing about this incident at the time and now adays, thinking about it, it has the same effect on my mind as watching the Twin Towers fall on 9/11 live on the BBC News as it happened.

My great grandfather was a coal miner. When this happened he rushed there with the rest of his work friends to help. He never spoke about it

I was only 4 years old at the time, so I wouldn't remember this but my mom had told me when she heard the news, later that afternoon she called my dad who was at work to tell him. She told me they cried so much. The heartless government didn't do a damn thing about it.

"Uh... under the desks!" - I mean, I guess its the only alternative, but I feel like I would just stand there going "Dont mind that, itl be fine..." knowing full well its the end.

I was 7 when this happened, it was (understandably) all over the tv & radio news, newspapers...I didnt fully understand what had happened but I remember my mum and grandmother deeply upset hearing about it. The name "Aberfan" still sends a chill down my spine, as I suspect it does most of my generation. The Coal Board's attitude and actions were utterly despicable.

Je me souviens de cette catastrophe. À l'époque j'étais âgée de huit ans . Ma mère achetait Paris Match et je me souviens de sa couverture , ce jeune garçon ,le visage couvert de suie et son casque blanc sur la tête . RIP nous vous oublierons pas.

I was living in Germany at the time. I would have been the age of these children. It was the first time I was aware children could die. I never forgot the news coverage and how awful it was for the children, the parents and community. Unfortunately we've not learned much from it.

I was the same age as the children who died and remember it happening. I remember the shock, distress and disbelief of my parents and teachers and as a child I think it was the first national tragedy I experienced. It's hard to convey how the word Aberfan affects me to this day.

I was 11 when this happened. I was a similar age in school in NZ.

A very good clip about a terrible disaster. Pity about the 1972 Rover at 0:50. (P6 facelift)

Can remember my mum telling me about it when I was a young boy. Even as a little, naive boy it chilled me to the bone.

I never heard of that until THE CROWN. Then I GOGGLED it. Technology IS good when you want quick history.

One little child woke up in the morning and said they had a nightmare about their school being covered by a big black blanket . Mum sent them off to school . That child was one of the victims .

This scene broke my heart

This broke my mams heart, she cried for weeks . Rip sngels

Very moving. I remember well as an 11 year old seeing it on the news.

We said a special prayer in 1966 at Motcombe Infants School.

October 21 1966 was the only time I ever saw my late mother cry the anguish of the rescuers on that tragic nights news really upset her rip little ones (and you mum)

And nobody is guilty... typical...

We never learn

Why did this god guy let it happen?

not seen this series but heard podcasts about this tragedy, these people were treated like dogs, absolutely fucking shameful - NCB lied, cheated hid and cajoled, then the victims were hit to spend money they were supposed to be given to try in some way, god knows how, to heal their losses...

I've read the horrific tragedy And two years before the disaster there was a substantial slip of coal waste from that monster that eventually killed all those poor children Despite the huge slip the coal board did nothing to secure or remove the tip RIP little ones 😪

2:51 oh no, AVALANCHE, and there's no time to warn the children, if only the school was closed for the day, if only the children were dismissed early, if only...

I was 6 when this happened. I remember the news bulletins and our prayers at school assembly next days.rip to all that died. Coal board were a disgrace,should have been prison sentences for some.

Corruption at the highest level.

I am Heartbroken at the Lose of Lives ,this was a Horrible Tragedy that could have been prevented .🕊️🌹rest in Peace .

0:42 something about this perspective makes it look like its a videogame cutscene. Maybe its the lighting. Idk, found this interesting.

my mum told me about this years ago horrific