Heroic uncle’s call for the lost leg

Life and adventures of railway steam locomotives:

H U Thibbotumunuwe

Year 1946

Working through my course of training, I entered the 4th year and was scheduled to train under the guidance of senior Emil Ranasinghe.

He was tall, strong, brawny, hardworking and hard to satisfy type of personality workwise. However, I got on well with him amiably. This was in No. 3 link where all trains were to Galle, Chilaw and one goods train to Maho. One Monday we worked a passenger train from Maradana to Galle. Everything went off well up to an area known as Ratgama between Dodanduwa and Boosa where the train we worked knocked down a young cyclist at an unprotected level crossing. The boy may have been about 16 years of age. Both his legs were run over at the shin bone. The body was in three parts. This young lad got up from where he was run over and walked about on his broken shin bones a few steps before succumbed to his injuries.

According to the regulation that prevailed then, a run over victim was removed only if he had to be dispatched to hospital. If dead body was left in charge of a railway worker till the Police took over and it became the duty of the police to guard the corpse. We were able to locate a railway worker of the way and Works Department and the body was placed in his charge before the train was worked forward. Unlike today during this period Boosa was a ticket agency hence we had to proceed to Gintota to give the telegraphic messages to all concerned and the Police of the area with regards the fatal accident.

On our arrival at Galle, driver, headguard and my self were advised to attend inquest the following morning at the location of the accident at 10 am When the railway message reached the Police on Monday it was usual of them to arrange a PC to guard the corpse through the night, and a P.C. had arrived and kept watch. In a situation of like nature P.C. would be at the mercy of the neighbouring village folk who might see to the needs of the P.C. in the form of a supply of a chair and a lantern after dark to light up the place. Even if such hospitality was not offered the P.C. was duty bound to hold on to his post of duty.

I leave it to the reader to guess to what extent a duty of like nature could be performed at a God-forsaken joint with a corpse in sight. There was the possibility of the P.C. dozing off even in the seated position. In the morning of Tuesday when the sun was up and throwing bright rays all round someone informed the P.C. that one of the severed legs was missing. One can imagine the plight of the P.C. He would have seen stars in broad day light. However, there was no option but to hold on to his post and pretend that nothing unusual had taken place.

In the meantime, the train crew arrived by hrail-car and detrained at the level crossing at 9.30 am Coroner was expected at 10 am. By about 10 am a person dressed in cloth, tunic shirt and coat arrived in a buggy-cart, judging by the looks he appeared to be someone well-off since in those days a buggy-cart was in par with a motor vehicle of today. He was a relative of the deceased boy. The stranger cast a solemn look at the corpse as if to pay last respect and that time noted one leg missing.

Immediately he questioned the P.C. who was silent. The man who looked sober and reserved suddenly flew into a rage, and started talking loud making the onlooking crowd his audience. He went on saying “my” nephew was a rascal who did not know to avoid a running train. Such a person was destined to die. That is a different matter. We who are living have to give him a decent burial. Are we going to bury him without a leg. What a shame. He was born with two legs. Can we bury him with one only. All you fools give the leg.

Who is responsible for this leg. The loss of my nephew is not the problem, The problem is the one leg. I will take all of you to courts. We cannot bury this boy with one leg. Can we? I am asking all you fools to give the leg.”

Uncle had a genuine grievance. The fault was in his presentation. He should not have come out in filth and slang. At about this time the Coroner arrived with some Police Officers. From the time the coroner arrived the heroic uncle became silent clearly proclaiming that he was a worm and a card-board hero.

He had other plans also. However, the inquest proceeding continued and finally finished by about 6 pm. It was dusk.

We were released. When we were getting ready to leave the place, the uncle hero called out loud to his aide and told him to be heard by everyone present, "Take these masters to the Railway Station". How nice these people were, I thought, even in time of their grief they displayed their hospitality to strangers. So thinking the three of us crammed ourselves into the buggy-cart. In front sat the carter and next to him sat Emil, Headguard and self at the rear end.

The ox faced the sea. On the word 'go' the buggy cart took a flying start and went only a few yards and took a right turn and again to the right which meant we were going away from the Galle Road.

carter beat the bull and immediately it responded by galloping. Emil asked the carter "Where are we taken". The carter replied "to the Railway Station". Emil would not take that for an answer. It did not need a degree in geography to realize that the direction of travel was in error. Emil might have thought now or never and he held the carter by the neck in a strangling lock.

Which brought the buggy to a halt. The moment the buggy-cart stopped carter jumped out and ran way for life. We in turn, got off the cart and walked hurriedly to Galle Road, and started trudging along Galle Road and hopped into the first bus to Ambalangoda from where we entrained to Colombo.

The rest of the crowd and onlookers were innocent peace loving people of the area who did not display any hostile behaviour. After all the heroic display and play-acting amongst the village folk the deceased's uncle would have been a party to the burial of the poor victim minus the leg. The real culprit was a spotted iguana which gave the P.C. a headache of a lifetime.

(The Writer was a District Inspector who served 35 years in the operation field in the railway. He had undergone a 5 year course of training on theory and practicals on coal fired steam locomotives during the days of the British Government. When promoted as driver he had worked in all important trains hauled by steam locomotives. He served in the panel of Inquiry Officers in the Department of Public Administration and now is in retirement. He is an old boy of Ananda College, Colombo.)