16th April 1935

A crane falls into St Helier Harbour

A 25-year-old crane operator drowned when his crane fell from Victoria Pier into St Helier harbour. Ambrose Glendawar was trapped in the wreckage and his body could not be recovered for five days.

The crane had been built to lift 45-ton loads but toppled when loaded with just over 37 tons of girders and stone. Engineers had been conducting tests on the crane to see how much it could carry when the accident occured. An inquest ruled that Glendawar had died by drowning and would have still been alive when the crane was submerged.