Letter reveals the Kray twins’ big donation in aftermath of Aberfan
06/10/10 updated 28/03/13
NOTORIOUS gangsters the Kray twins were the biggest donors to an Aberfan disaster appeal, according to a previously unpublished letter going under the hammer this month.
Kray twins
NOTORIOUS gangsters the Kray twins were the biggest donors to an Aberfan disaster appeal, according to a previously unpublished letter going under the hammer this month.
Reggie Kray handed over “the largest single amount given by any individual” when he donated £100 from himself and brother Ronnie at a gala evening in Cardiff. The donation – worth nearly £3,000 today – came to light after the twins’ biographer John Pearson put more than 160 letters and photographs up for auction.
The letter is expected to fetch hundreds of pounds when it goes on sale on Tuesday, October 19.
One of the bereaved said the donation reflected how widely the impact of the disaster – which killed 116 children and 28 adults – was felt.
Mr Pearson, who has written three books about the Krays and knew both of them personally, said the money would have come from their life of organised crime.
“The money came from where all their money came from – protection rackets and long-term frauds,” he said. “They could easily afford this.”
The letter – dated January 2, 1967 – was sent to Reggie Kray by Bill Meilen, organising secretary of the Cardiff Committee for Aid to Aberfan.
He wrote: “May I, on behalf of the above Committee, thank you for all the kind help you gave us during the period of our Aberfan appeal. Thank you also for the kind gift of £100 given by you and your brother at the evening show. This was the largest single amount given by any individual to our appeal.”
Mr Pearson said the brothers, who were both jailed for life for murder, were generous donors to charity.
He said: “How much of it was done for cynical reasons I don’t know, frankly. They certainly realised it generated a lot of sympathy and support for them and would explain why they were so popular right up until the end.”
But he said he did not think charities would have realised where the twins were making their money.
“In Wales they wouldn’t have known who the Krays were from one lot of East Enders to the other,” he said.
Cliff Minett, who lost children Carl and Marylyn in the 1966 disaster and is chairman of the Aberfan and Merthyr Vale Cemetery Memorial Fund, said money had come in from all over the world.
He said: “It took quite a lot of funds. That money was sent in for those in need, for those that suffered.” He added: “It was heartbreaking. Aberfan is still suffering to this day.”
Aaron Dean, auctioneer and valuer at Gorringes, in East Sussex, said he hoped the letter would end up back in South Wales.
And he said the brothers, who went to prison the year after the letter was sent, made grand gestures to try to keep themselves in the news.
He said: “They were obsessed with celebrity and their presence and how they were perceived in the public eye.”
Merthyr council leader Jeff Edwards, who was the last child to be rescued in the aftermath of the tragedy, said the gift by the Krays showed how widely the impact of the disaster was felt.
He said: “The donation demonstrates how the disaster and its aftermath affected people across the nation and their willingness to contribute to the regeneration of the community through their contributions.”
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Assembly Member Huw Lewis, who was brought up in Aberfan, said:
“I had no idea that such infamous figures had made a contribution to and I’m sure that people in Aberfan will be as surprised as I am by this news.”
Kray twins’ Aberfan gift revealed
The Queen visits Aberfan days after the 1966 disaster 31 May 2012
Just a week after the Aberfan disaster, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the disaster area.
This was the most infamous coal disaster of the second half of the 20th century.
The disaster did not kill workers at the coalface, but instead, their children.
On 21 October 1966, waste from the Merthyr Vale colliery slid down the mountainside in Aberfan, swamping local Pantglas Junior school and killing 144 people, 116 of whom were children.
The Queen has returned to the village at times during her reign.
To celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we look back into the BBC Wales archives for some moments from the last 60 years and visits to Wales. source
As you can see from the videos below, Lizzy visited Aberfan in 1966, 1973 & 2012
Queen’s Visit to Aberfan – 1973
HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Tour – Wales – Day 2 – April 2012
Pictures: Jimmy Savile’s visit to disaster-hit Aberfan 11 NOV 2012 updated 26 MAR 2013
The images from our archives show youngsters jostling and smiling with excitement when they were introduced to the DJ. They lost brothers, sisters, friends and teachers in the rubble of the Aberfan disaster. But the excited youngsters jostled and smiled with excitement when they were introduced to Jimmy Savile.
No-one knew the sick truth about the paedophile DJ when he visited the temporary buildings put up to replace Pantglas Junior School.
There is no suggestion the dead DJ abused anyone in our pictures.
But those who were there have been left horrified by the access he was granted.
‘Like a fairy grandfather’: Jimmy Savile in Aberfan in 1967 with survivors including Gaynor Madgwick, circled lower left & Christine Williams (R)
Savile visited in April 1967, just four months after their school was destroyed on October 21, 1966, when a colliery spoil heap collapsed on the village, killing 116 classmates and 28 adults.
Gaynor Madgwick lost her 10-year-old sister Maralyn Minett, and seven-year-old brother Carl. She was rescued from the wreckage of the school with two broken legs and spent months in hospital before Savile’s visit.
The Aberfan tragedy left 144 people dead
She said: “The girl that looks like she is reaching out to give him a notepad, that’s me. In fact the arm belongs to someone else in the picture. But that girl is definitely me, One hundred per cent.”
The 54-year-old, nine at the time the picture was taken for The Western Mail, was able to identify friends from the school also present during the visit.
“When I saw the pictures I told my sister, ‘You’re not going to believe this.’ She said, ‘Oh my God.’”
The revelations Jimmy Savile may have been one of the most prolific paedophiles of all time have left Gaynor disgusted.
Jimmy Savile in Aberfan in 1967 with survivors including Christine Williams, circled. There is no suggestion the dead DJ abused anyone in our pictures.
Police believe Savile, who died last year aged 84, may have abused up to 300 people over a six-decade period and have described him as a “predatory paedophile”.
“When you look at the picture now, knowing what he has done, it makes your stomach turn,” Gaynor said. “He is like a fairy grandfather with all these children around him. And the expression on his face! It makes you sick. But at that time everyone was unaware.”
Solicitors confirmed this month they are planning to take legal action on behalf of 43 victims of Savile.
Lawyers Slater and Gordon is acting for 36 people who were aged from eight to 23 when they were abused.
Gaynor Madgwick today
It has sent letters before action to the BBC, Leeds General Infirmary, Stoke Mandeville and Broadmoor hospitals and the executors of Savile’s estate.
Pannone is acting on behalf of seven people. It has written to the presenter’s estate and the BBC.
One complaint was made to Gwent Police against Leeds-born Savile.
Gaynor, who still lives in Aberfan, said.
“He’s like someone in a sweet shop and he has got all these sweets, The only good thing is that we were in a place where we were protected.”
Christine Williams recalled being sat at her desk during registration on the day of the disaster. The next minute she was pushed “up against the wall” by tonnes of rubble as the school was crushed.
Seeing the pictures of herself with Jimmy Savile was a shock.
The mum-of-two and grandmother-of-four said:
“I do not remember that – bloody hell. Nothing happened there, I would have remembered that. This is a bit of a shock really, quite a shock.”
The landlady laughed off suggestions from a customer at her Gordon Lenox Club that she was one of Savile’s “conquests” dubbing the drinker “a cow.”
But she felt terrible for those who were victims of the pervert Jim’ll Fix It presenter.
“It’s disgusting really,” the 56-year-old said. Who would ever have thought it? That was in the pre-fab school but I have no memory of it at all. The access he had was too easy, much too easy. But we just didn’t know then.”
After the disaster a lot of celebrities came to Wales.
Christine said: “Friends said about him and I said, ‘I never saw him’ but obviously I did. I just don’t remember it at all.”
It was reported at the time how hundreds turned out to see Savile fulfil a promise “to entertain the kids”.
Bereaved parents braved “a steady drizzle” to see the DJ when he arrived in Aberfan Park.
He was accompanied by brother Vincent – a fellow DJ who lived in Cardiff – and local politicians.
“Jimmy had to force his way through packs of autograph hunters to get to the temporary classrooms for the surviving youngsters,”
the Western Mail said on Tuesday, April 11, 1967.
“Laughter is rarely heard in Aberfan as efforts are made to adjust to normality. But Mr Savile, throwing formality to the winds, soon had the children laughing uncontrollably and the officials and teachers who were present obviously had difficulty in covering up their mirth. Judging by the shrieks of laughter at Aberfan Park yesterday, his visit had obviously been worthwhile.”
There is no suggestion the dead DJ abused anyone in these pictures source
Move along folks, nothing to see here!
That’s one hellavalot of VIPaedo & murderers. It is also ahellavalot of dead children.
It kinda reminds me of Dunblane… Wonder why?
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