A roadworker’s cry for help was followed by horror on a Niton hillside when he was crushed beneath an 8-ton steam roller on 30th July 1926 – 100 years ago today.
William Henry Humby, 40, of Commercial Road, Newport, was working with a road gang on the steep hill between Niton Post Office and the Rectory when the tragic accident occurred.
Employed by Tar Surfacing Ltd, Mr Humby and his fellow labourers had been preparing the road surface for tar spraying on what appeared to be a routine summer morning.
One colleague later told an inquest that Mr Humby had been in “extraordinary good spirits” before work began and seemed happier than usual that day.
Shortly after 10:30, the men were sweeping the roadway ahead of a steam roller as it slowly made its way uphill. Then came a shout.
Fellow worker Stanley Vaughan turned to see Mr Humby lying sideways on the road with his right leg trapped beneath the heavy roller.
The driver immediately stopped the machine and reversed it, while workmates rushed to assist the injured man.
Mr Humby was carried to the nearby Rectory and a doctor was summoned, but the injuries proved fatal.
An inquest later heard that the steam roller weighed around 8 tons, with its front roller weighing approximately a ton. Although the machine had been travelling at little more than walking pace, the sheer weight of the vehicle caused devastating injuries.
Exactly how the accident happened was never fully established.
One witness believed the roller may have caught Mr Humby’s heel and thrown him beneath the machine. Another said he had not seen him near the front of the roller moments earlier.
The driver, who had years of experience operating steam rollers, told the hearing that he had glanced behind him to check clearance around a projecting wall and only became aware of the accident when he heard the cry for help.
Evidence suggested the men had been working closer to the machine than usual after delays involving the tar-spraying equipment, while witnesses also explained that labourers sometimes swept the road while walking backwards.
After hearing the evidence, the coroner concluded that no blame could fairly be attached to anyone involved, describing the incident as a tragic accident.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death and expressed sympathy to Mr Humby’s widow and grown-up children.
