TRUCK CRASHES OVER BANK

Southland Times, Issue 25796, 6 October 1945, Page 4

TRUCK CRASHES OVER BANK

Army Personnel In Tragic Accident TWO KILLED: EIGHT INJURED (P.A.) WELLINGTON,. October 5. An Army truck, conveying a party of 20 men from the Trentham Army Ordnance Depot going on daily duty to a post in the Belmont area, west of the Hutt Valley, crashed down a 400-foot hillside this morning. The truck, with the driver and another man in the cab, was proceeding up a hill. When passing a taxi drawn up on the inner bank, the truck left the road and crashed through thick undergrowth and bush to the bed of a stream 400 feet below. The soldiers, who received only minor injuries, had miraculous escapes, the canvas canopy on the rear of the truck being crushed and broken in the headlong descent, but the vehicle’s high sides largely protected the men in the rear. Ambulances, both civilian and Army, were summoned immediately by the taxi driver, and rescue work was started.

The casualty list- is as follows:— KILLED Private R. Cameron, Wellington. DIED OF INJURIES, IN HOSPITAL Lance-Corporal T. R. Beach, Nelson. SERIOUSLY INJURED Corporal N. A. Prier, driver of the truck, Shannon; back injuries. INJURED Sergeant T. A. B. Calbridge, Levin; shock and head injuries. Corporal W. M. Hugh, Kilbirnie, Wellington; broken ribs. Corporal J. R. Parker, Hawera. Private N. F. Bond, Dunedin. Private V. F. T. Nicholas, Hastings. Private R. J. Willis, Patea. Private C. C. Rankin, address unknown. The following were taken to the Trentham Military Hospital for observation: Sergeant J. A. Pinkam, Christchurch; Sergeant E. C. S. Ellery, Wellington; Corporal H. W. Dillon, Hunterville; Corporal A. R. Mansfeld, Wellington; Lance-Corporal T. George, Ohau; Private R. A. Ellis, Lower Hutt; Private G. H. Clough, New Plymouth; Private J. A. Hockley, Ashhurst. It is expected that all these men ought to be discharged by tomorrow.