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THE FLOWERS OF MANCHESTER
THE MUNICH AIR DISASTER - FEBRUARY 6TH 1958
On 6th February 1958, seven Manchester United footballers were among 21 people who died after an air crash in Munich, Germany, which shook the world and in particular the City of Manchester to the core. The British European Airways (BEA) Elizabethan class plane, flight 609 Zulu Uniform caught fire shortly after take off with 38 passengers and six crew on board. The footballing world reeled from the loss of some of its most talented young players - known as the Busby Babes.
Their average age was 24 and they included Roger Byrne - the captain - Mark Jones, Eddie Colman, Tommy Taylor, Liam Whelan, David Pegg and Geoff Bent. Eight British sports journalists and several club officials were also killed in the disaster. An 8th player, Duncan Edwards “The greatest of them all” was to die 15 days later after a heroic struggle for life that had astonished the doctors who treated him.
The chartered aircraft was bringing the Manchester United entourage back from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia and had stopped at Munich's Riem Airport to refuel. On the third attempt to take off the plane over-shot the runway, hit a house with its port wing, veered to the right, hit another building and burst into flames.
The Chief Executive of BEA, A. H. Milward, confirmed at the time that there was a heavy snowstorm in Munich and the pilot delayed departure because he was dissatisfied with one of the plane's engines. This was the first fatal accident for this type of BEA aeroplane, which had carried 2,340,000 passengers on 86,000 flights since it began service in 1952. The same plane - called Lord Burghley - had taken the Manchester United entourage out to Belgrade on the previous Monday.
An investigation into the crash initially suggested pilot error as the cause of the tragedy, saying Captain James Thain had taken off without de-icing the wings of the plane. He was later cleared when it was found that a build up of slush on the runway had prevented the plane from taking off.
 The morning of Thursday 6th February 1958 had found the players of Manchester United in high spirits after the success of the night before where they had played out a 3 – 3 draw with Red Star of Belgrade to ensure that United would progress through into the semi - final of the European Cup for the second successive year and they were looking forward to returning home and the next match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the following Saturday, and so they assembled at Belgrade airport for the return flight to Manchester via Munich which was being piloted by 2 captains, James Thain and Ken Rayment. The first part of the journey was relatively pleasant with intermittent sunshine but with the forecast for Munich of low cloud, rain and snow. At approximately 13:15 GMT they landed at Munich and taxied through the slush and snow to the parking bay by the terminal building. As the passengers disembarked to make their way to get some refreshments, the ebullient Manchester United players spotted a German refueller walking across the wings of their plane and playfully started throwing snowballs at him.
After the completion of departure details the crew and passengers returned to flight 609 and at 1420 hrs GMT (1520hrs local) just over 1 hour after arrival, with the lively band of passengers aboard, Zulu Uniform called Munich Tower to apply for taxi clearance for the final leg of the journey to Manchester, and home.
The aircraft lined up on the runway, for a final engine run in order to check performance before departure. As the aircraft moved off Radio Officer Bill Rogers made a final call indicating that the run had begun.
Captain Rayment opened up the throttles and the aircraft accelerated with little indication of the retarding effect of the slush. Suddenly an uneven tone in the engines was detected which alarmed Rayment and he abandoned take off. Flight 609 decelerated quickly and slithered to a halt some way down the runway.
The problem was found to be “boost surging”. Neither Captain had been happy with the uneven engine noise and were both in agreement over the termination of the take off. Boost surging had been experienced by both pilots in the past as the Elizabethan had been somewhat prone to the problem when first introduced into service and Rayment himself had had similar experiences at Munich.
One answer to boost surging was to open the throttle slowly so it was decided to try the take off once more, applying this approach, with departure checks again completed the aircraft was lined up with the runway and Zulu Uniform began its second take off run.
Rayment slowly opened the throttles and as the aircraft was accelerating down the runway, Thain’s eyes scanned the instruments and spotting a rising pressure gauge called out to abandon the take off. The throttles were quickly closed with full braking applied, and the aircraft once again slowed to taxi speed half way down the runway.
The taxi from the runway back to the parking bay was achieved with some difficulty. While Rayment spoke to the passengers, Thain took control and had some trouble following the lines of the runway with the fresh fall of snow. In the passenger cabin the Manchester United party listened attentively to the announcement explaining that a technical fault had prevented departure and it was now necessary to return to the apron for further checks.
It was a less than jovial party that disembarked for a second time at Munich just 20 minutes after they had first attempted departure. Coffee was soon ordered for the group, and any feeling of apprehension was quickly dispelled by the usual round of larking and joking.
 Flight 609 Zulu Uniform was now attracting some attention after the two abandoned take off attempts, and a number of people, including the Airport Director, stopped to watch the departure preparations. Zulu Uniform was becoming the centre of attraction and was not allowed to leave unobserved. With the decision now made to try again the passengers waiting in the departure lounge were summoned less than 10 minutes after leaving the aircraft amid some surprise, and with coffee only half drunk, the Manchester United party somewhat reluctantly boarded the aircraft. There was little fooling about now and the atmosphere was tense. United manager Matt Busby was overheard to say that if it wasn’t so important for them to get back and get some rest before the game on Saturday they would have left it until the next day. As the passengers settled just before 1500hrs GMT (1600hrs local); the door was closed and Captain Rayment lifted the handset to say a few words. The passengers were informed that the technical fault had been resolved and they would shortly be on their way. The flight time was to have been just under three hours, and with the one hour time change, ETA in Manchester was to have been 1800hrs.
The aircraft moved across the tarmac for the three minute taxi to the runway as the final departure checks were being completed. A final few words were exchanged between the captains and it was agreed that Thain should keep his eyes glued to the engine instruments and adjust the throttle himself if any surge occurred.
At around 85kph Thain suddenly called out that the port engine was surging slightly. While Thain dealt with the surging, Rayment transferred from nose wheel to rudder control as the rudder became fully effective with the increase in speed. Rayment now pulled gently back on the control column to lift the nosewheel free from the slush in preparation for take off. This normally simple manoeuvre was achieved with some difficulty. Meanwhile Thain eased the left throttle rearward until the surge ceased. Slowly but steadily the port throttle was pushed open again until fully open. Both boost pressures now showed no evidence of surging. Thain confirmed again that full power was set with temperatures and pressures ok then returned his attention to the airspeed indicator, acceleration was continuing slowly but to Thain, with his attention still on the instruments, this did not seem unusual, and he watched the airspeed indicator move more sluggishly round the dial. At 117kph Thain called out “V1”, the point of no return, after which there was insufficient runway to stop. Zulu Uniform was committed to take off.
Rayment now made a slight adjustment to ease the strain of holding the nosewheel off the ground while Thain’s eyes remained fixed on the airspeed. The next speed call should have been at 119k, or V2 (the minimum safe speed required in the air following an engine failure at V1, the worst possible moment for such an incident). After V2, Rayment would be free to pull back further on the column to fly off the ground and the aircraft would then be at a safe flying speed even if loss of power occurred in one engine. Zulu Uniform was by now well down the runway and was approaching the area where even slush was unmarked by previous aircraft movements. Suddenly there was a marked drop of about 4-5kph and for the first time Thain had the distinct feeling of “lack” of acceleration. The power then dropped and the end of the runway was approaching with insufficient speed for flight and no room to stop! As the pilots confronted their dilemma Rodgers, the Radio Officer, continued with his duties by transmitting a last message to the tower which wasn’t completed.
The aircraft left the paved surface and ploughed through the snow towards the boundary fence. Zulu Uniform, already 200 yards past the end of the runway, tore through the fence and on across a small road on the other side. Ahead, immediately within their path, lay a house and a tree. Rayment tried in vain to pull Zulu Uniform off the ground and called for the undercarriage to be retracted in a desperate attempt to do something to become airborne and the aircraft’s movements became smooth as if flying through the air, the two pilots watched helplessly as the aircraft began to turn slowly to the right on a path between the house and the tree which they could not miss. In the tower, the controllers were blind to the drama, they heard only Rodgers’ last attempt at a message followed by sound, as the aircraft struck the house.
The impact tore off the left wing outboard engine, ripping off part of the tail unit and setting the house on fire. The aircraft spun out of control, its speed carrying it beyond the house and into the tree which struck the left side of the flight deck, tearing open the cockpit. One of the wheels broke off and spun off towards a vehicle on the road whilst the broken aircraft continued to slither on the snow. 100 yards later the right fuselage was ripped apart after the wings struck a wooden garage containing a truck, and severed the complete tail section. The trucks petrol tank exploded covering the shed in flames. The remains ploughed on for about another 70 yards before coming to a halt whilst the now detached port engine continued for a few more yards. The series of impacts enveloped the planes occupants in a cacophony of breaking, tearing and crashing noises whilst they were being violently shaken and spun in the burning aircraft. Then, suddenly, there was an eerie silence.
Rayment, sitting on the damaged side of the flight deck was badly injured, but Thain, unhurt, quickly came to his senses and gave an immediate order to evacuate. Rodgers pulled open the battery master switch and shut off dangerous electrical circuits that could provide further fire hazards, then he squeezed through the emergency window of the galley door. The exit had been dislodged but escape was still possible, but the door leading through to the passengers was jammed solid behind a wall of luggage.
Thain got up to follow Rodgers but Rayment was struggling in his seat. Rayment said he was stuck and could not get out, Thain urged him to get out and Rayment suggested Thain go on ahead. Thain then crawled through the same exit used by Rodgers and quickly tried to make assessments. There were a number of fires around the aircraft; flames could be seen at the stub of the left wing and below the right wing where a 500 gallon tank was still intact. There was a very real risk of a great explosion.
Standing amidst the wreckage were the two stewardesses, Rosemary Cheverton & Margaret Bellis, but many of the passengers, still stunned and dazed, were still in their seats. Thain shouted to the girls to get away from the wreckage. Peter Howard, a Daily Mail photographer, fumbled about in a bewildered state, stumbled across a hole and simply crawled out on his hands and knees, closely followed by his assistant Ted Elyard. United player Harry Gregg, managed to struggle free from the wreckage.
Meanwhile Thain and Rodgers, ignoring the danger of explosions, clambered back into the wreckage to grab the two flight deck fire extinguishers, pausing only to reassure Rayment that, as soon as the fires were out, they would be back to help. As Thain discharged the extinguishers at the fire by the broken wing, he noticed through a window another player, Bill Foulkes still sitting in his seat, stunned by the impact. He shouted to him to get out, Bill panicked at first, then realised that his seat belt was still fastened. Quickly undoing his belt, Foulkes checked his legs for damage then leapt through a gap that had opened up just near him. Once free, he ran 200 yards before stopping to have a look around.
Soon the hand held extinguishers were spent and they were discarded. A thick column of black smoke rose into the sky. Undeterred by the blaze and imminent danger, Rodgers & the two stewardesses Bellis and Cheverton, along with Elyard, Gregg and Howard and joined by Foulkes, re-entered the wreck to help those trapped inside. Harry Gregg was later commended for his part in the rescue attempts after pulling a passenger, Mrs Vera Lukic & her baby daughter Venona out of the wreckage. Thain returned to Rayment, who was still trapped in the flight deck.
 In the broken cabin, United manager Matt Busby was found seriously injured near the rear of the aircraft, clutching his ribs, propped up on one elbow. Someone rolled up a coat and slid it beneath him for support. Ahead of Matt, were his players, Bobby Charlton who was slumped in his seat, still fastened by his belt, and next to him was Dennis Violett who was also slumped in his seat. Both appeared beyond help. As the rescuers approached, Bobby Charlton stirred as if waking up, sat upright and undid his seat belt. He then simply stood up and walked towards them; Dennis Violett followed suit. On the left, Jackie Blanchflower was alive but nursing a badly cut arm which was quickly dressed with someone’s tie. It seemed, in spite of the awful wreckage, that the casualty figures, at least in the forward section, were light.
Little did the rescuers know that, of the 44 people on board, including the crew, 21 had already lost their lives, including 11 members of the United party, the coach Bert Whalley, the trainer Tom Curry, secretary Walter Crickmer, one supporter Willie Satinoff and 7 players, Roger Byrne the club captain who had played for England 33 times, Mark Jones, Tommy Taylor who had 19 England caps, Eddie Colman, Liam Whelan who had played 4 times for the Republic of Ireland, David Pegg who had played once for England and Geoff Bent. Eight of the nine football writers on board, Alf Clarke of the Manchester Evening Chronicle, Don Davies (Manchester Guardian) George Follows (Daily Herald), Tom Jackson (Manchester Evening News),Archie Ledbrook (Daily Mirror), Henry Rose (Daily Express), Eric Thompson (Daily Mail) and Frank Swift (News of the World) who as well as being one of Manchester City’s greatest ever players was also one of the finest goalkeepers ever to play for England- had all been killed, as well as Tom Cable, the Steward and Bela Miklos the travel agent who had organised the trip.
Small fires continued to burn throughout the aircraft but the feared explosion did not occur and rescue work was able to continue. On the smashed flight deck Captain Rayment was unable to be freed by Captain Thain and it soon became obvious that cutting gear was needed. Soon first aid and ambulances appeared on the scene, followed shortly by the fire services. The flames around the wreck were quickly brought under control and the seriously injured rushed off to hospital. Thain borrowed a fireman’s axe and returned to the Flight Deck to attempt to free Rayment but had no luck. Eventually rescuers persuaded Thain that he really should go to hospital for a check up and so, with thumbs up to Rayment, he allowed himself to be led to a waiting vehicle and left the scene. Rayment waited calmly to be rescued. Later, rescue workers climbed onto the roof of the cockpit via the starboard wing and managed to release him, badly injured, from the tangle of metal. Soon he too like all the passengers, living and dead, was on his way to the Rechts der Isar hospital.
After the last of those rescued had been removed from the scene the search continued for survivors, but after 2 hours, all hopes of finding anyone alive dissipated. A newspaper man searching the rubbish for a missing can of film of the match cleared some litter and underneath was young United starlet Ken Morgans, unconscious but alive! That brought the total number of survivors to 23. The casualty figure now stood at 21 dead with 2 more to join them in the days ahead.
Of the 23 survivors, 15 had been detained in hospital. 6 of these were dangerously ill, including Ken Rayment, Matt Busby, Johnny Berry, Duncan Edwards and two of the Yugoslavian passengers Eleanor Miklos and Vera Lukic, of whom four, including Busby, were close to death. . Busby had suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung, as well as injuries to his legs. A hospital statement said: "We do not have much hope of saving him." And the last rites were administered.
 As airport officials waited at the scene of the crash for the German Federal Crash Investigators to arrive, news of the tragedy spread like wildfire around the World. The entire city of Manchester was shaken to its very foundations and the effects of the catastrophe rippled far beyond Northern England and the World of football.
Britain's first news of the tragedy came via teleprinter: "Manchester United aircraft crashed on take-off . . . heavy loss of life feared." The BBC interrupted its afternoon programmes to broadcast news flashes.
After the aftermath of the crash, the bodies were flown home and lay overnight in the gym at Old Trafford before being collected by the families. Thousands turned out to line the streets for the funerals & memorial services were held all over the country, and a two minutes' silence was impeccably observed at matches everywhere.
With Busby still so close to death that he received the last rites a second time, and Edwards fighting a losing battle, football was the last thing on Mancunian minds, but life had to go on, and 13 days after the crash United played again. Busby told his assistant Jimmy Murphy, who missed the trip because he was managing Wales in a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff, to "keep the flag flying". For the fifth-round FA Cup tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday, Murphy signed two midfield reinforcements. Ernie Taylor arrived from Blackpool, and just 75 minutes before the kick-off Stan Crowther moved from Aston Villa, thus becoming the only player to legitimately play for two different teams in the same year’s F.A. Cup campaign.
"United will go on" was proclaimed on the front cover of the match programme whilst the teamsheet inside the programme consisted of 11 blank spaces to fill in. Wednesday were swept away on a tide of emotion, beaten 3-0. Albert Quixall, who later left Hillsborough for United, said: "United ran their hearts out. They were playing like men inspired."
Two days later, Duncan Edwards died. Despite showing all of the fighting spirit and more that had carried him through the footballing battlefields of Europe and beyond, England’s brightest star conceded victory in his personal battle for survival, a personal battle that had astounded the medical team caring for him. Busby had stabilised, and United's next home game, on March 9, had a tape-recorded message from Matt Busby echoing across a packed and silent Old Trafford.
The following week, Kenneth Rayment succumbed to his injuries, taking the final death toll to 23. Still Busby fought on drifting in and out of consciousness. Nobody dared tell him what had happened. "How are the boys?" he asked his son, Sandy. "They are all right," was the reply - a white lie born of the best intentions.
It was left to Busby's wife, Jean, to reveal the worst, Busby later recalled "I came to one day and Jean was there, leaning over me. I said, 'What happened?' She said nothing, so I began to go through the names. She didn't speak. She didn't even look at me. When they were gone, she just shook her head. As Busby's physical injuries healed, mental ones came to the fore: "To be honest, I suppose I wasn't sane. I wanted to die. I felt that, in a way, I might have been responsible. That I shouldn't have allowed us to go the third time. What was so special about me that I'd survived? I was absolutely determined that I'd have nothing more to do with football."
Manchester, a city in mourning, was no place for a man in such a depressed state, and United sent Matt and Jean Busby to Interlaken, in Switzerland, for an extended period of convalescence. In their last days out there Jean Busby persuaded Matt to return to United, saying “You know, Matt, the lads would have wanted you to carry on." The melancholic spell was broken but, Busby said: "It was dreadful, facing up to going back.
 Of the surviving players, Jackie Blanchflower and Johnny Berry never played again, Ken Morgans never recovered his form and dropped down through the lower leagues before leaving the game completely, Albert Scanlon who suffered terrible head injuries in the crash played on for several seasons and scored 16 goals for United in the season following the crash, Ray Wood rarely played again, Harry Gregg replaced Wood as goalkeeper was cited for bravery for going back into the wreckage of the plane and rescuing Mrs Lukic and her daughter, Dennis Viollet went on to set a United goalscoring record of 32 league goals in the 1959/60 season and ended up playing for Stoke City, Bill Foulkes went on to play a major part in United’s rebirth resulting in United’s European Cup success at Wembley stadium 10 years after Munich, and Bobby Charlton, 20 at the time of the crash, became one of the games greatest players, winning the World Cup with England in 1966, and scoring twice in the 4 – 1 victory over Benfica at Wembley when United finally won the European Cup for the first time in 1968. He currently holds the record for most appearances for United (up to time of writing) and is one of the games most respected ambassadors.
Matt Busby returned by rail and sea to arrive back at United on April 18th - 71 days after the crash. In his absence, United had reached the FA Cup final, where they played Bolton Wanderers on May 3rd. Murphy led the team out, but all eyes were on Busby as he made his way slowly to the bench, on crutches. The players had run on adrenalin for a month or so after the crash, but then the inevitable reaction set in, and they had won just one of their last 14 League games to finish ninth. Wembley was too much of an emotional strain. Less than three weeks before the disaster they had thrashed Bolton 7-2. Now they lost tamely, 2-0.
It was all too much for the survivors. "I'd rather have been anywhere but there," Bill Foulkes said, "but somehow we got through it."
Appropriately, their shirts that day were emblazoned with a phoenix rising from the flames. They had lost 10 of their best players ( including Blanchflower and Berry), but the following season they were runners-up in the League.
At just 1504hrs GMT on that bleak winter’s day on February 6th 1958 in Munich, in an area not much bigger than a football field, the hopes, aspirations and dreams of a great football team, possibly the greatest ever, lay shattered in ruins, decimated by the death of 8 young footballers who destiny decided to rob of the greatness they were heading for and thus made them footballing immortals because of what they might have done rather than because of what they did. The tragedy that was The Munich Air Disaster deprived the world of much great footballing talent; it took away the pride of English football, The Flowers of Manchester.
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