On This Day in Wembury — 23 September 1948
Tragedy struck the Royal Naval Gunnery Range at Wembury when a 4.5-inch gun exploded during routine practice, killing two men and injuring seven others. The blast occurred as a gun’s crew was undergoing training, and the injured were rushed to the Royal Naval Hospital.
At the inquest, it was revealed that the explosion was caused by a jammed cartridge during loading. Petty Officer Victor Cross, aged 28, of Bristol, was the instructor in charge of the gun, while Able Seaman Francis Melville Edworthy, aged 20, of Filleigh Lodge, North Devon, was serving as a member of the crew. Both men died from shock and multiple injuries after the cartridge detonated unexpectedly.
Chief Petty Officer Edwin Norman Hazeel, the supervising gunnery instructor, described how Cross was blown 20 feet from the weapon, while Edworthy was found lying nearby. Crew member A.B. David Hughes testified that he had tried to free the jammed cartridge with a hand rammer, following normal practice used on previous occasions. After repeated attempts, the round suddenly exploded.
The City Coroner, Mr. W. E. J. Major, recorded a verdict of accidental death but remarked that it was up to the naval authorities “to put their own house in order” to prevent a repetition of such an incident.
Source: Western Morning News, 24 September 1948; inquest report, later coverage
The accident was a grim reminder to the people of Wembury that the thunder of gunnery practice at the Point was not without risk. Even in peacetime, naval training carried dangers as sharp and sudden as war itself.