Duneaton Bridge pictured 1971 near Abington
Two High Blantyre men and a third from outwith Blantyre lost their lives on the evening of Monday 29th August 1938.
The Three men were trapped in the cabin of a heavy transport lorry which crashed over Duneaton Bridge (pictured), about a mile south of Abington, Lanarkshire and lay dead in the darkness from 2 a.m. to 7a.m. the next day before being discovered. The upturned lorry was then found the bed of the river, surrounded by many rolls of linoleum, part of the load. Two of the victims were unemployed men in search of work. The victims were: Gordon M’Millan, the driver, of Earl Street, Glasgow. Edward M’Murray, unemployed labourer, of 59 Nursery Place, High Blantyre. William M’Millan, unemployed labourer, of 219 Main Street, High Blantyre. The M’Millans were not related.
Heard Crash.
The occupants of a cottage beside the river heard a crash at 2 a.m. and went out to investigate, but saw nothing in the pitch darkness. It was not until morning that they saw the upturned lorry the bed of the River at Duneaton. There was fog during the night and the lorry had crashed through a fence on its off side, tearing down 50 yards of fence and carrying the broken part of a large tree down to the river bed with it. The lorry must have overturned on the way down the steep 50-feet slope to the water. It lay with wheels in the air, and the cabin where the men were trapped was under the surface of the water. When the lorry was discovered a passing motorist took word to Abington Police. A breakdown van was brought and a crane used to ease up the front of the lorry release the bodies, which were taken to the Douglas Mortuary. The lorry, which belonged to Young’s Express Deliveries, Ltd., 175 Scotland Street, Glasgow, left Glasgow last night for Manchester. Looking For Work. William M’Millan and Edward M’Murray, who were both about 21 years of age, left their homes and intended going to England in search of work. Apparently they had got lift on the random lorry.