Routine Incident – Kilo 30
Picture and story supplied by the East Sussex Police
It was a glorious spring day and we were patrolling in the Police car, thankful for a quiet spell.
The radio crackled and came to life. “Kilo 30 go to Wellers Wood, traffic accident, ambulance sent.” We sped towards the scene, other traffic giving way to our persistent two-tone. The ambulance was just ahead of us, the blue lamp flashing the urgency of its mission. Three minutes later I was kneeling on the front bench seat of a Vauxhall Victor supporting a female passenger. She was semi-conscious and gripped my hand tightly as if hanging on to life. Her face was streaked with blood and in her more lucid moments she murmured her husband’s name.
The Ambulance personnel were trying to extricate the driver whose ankles were trapped beneath the seat. His chest was crushed and he was beyond aid. My colleague was directing traffic. A second Police car arrived to assist and within a few minutes the causalities were on their way to the hospital and mortuary.
We surveyed the situation; a tree near the bend on the offside was embedded in the car’s radiator. We both spoke together “Too damn fast on the bend”. “Another one run out of road.”
My colleague and I eyed each other keenly. Who should knock on the door? How can you tell a 15 year old daughter that her father would not be returning home and her mother was seriously injured ?
Rye’s Own April 1967
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