By Bill Reid

August 12, 2020 - Word has reached CoalZoom that one of the great pioneers of longwall mining in America, Harry Martin has died.

Harry was born and educated in England and completed all his mining engineering education and underground training with the National Coal Board. After taking up several senior positions including colliery manager, he emigrated to the United States in 1970 when he was offered the position of Vice President of Sales of equipment manufacturer, Dowty Corporation, based in Cranberry Township, near Pittsburgh, Pa. Harry reported to another well-known figure in the industry, Matt Spedding.

During his many years with Dowty, Harry helped to win a considerable share of the longwall roof support market in the U.S. as it developed from chocks to chock-shields then to 2-leg shields. He travelled extensively and visited underground a large number of coal mines, specifying roof supports and laying out plans for longwall mining. He was also an essential part of the Dowty training program and soon established himself as an expert in his field.

In 1988, looking for another challenge, Harry joined Westfalia, which later became DBT (Deutch Berbau Tecknik) comprising the original mining machinery company’s Westfalia, Hemsheidt and Halbach & Braun. In 1997, DBT was purchased by Bucyrus International then in 2011 Bucyrus was acquired by Caterpillar Inc. He travelled extensively in China and became the company’s expert in that part of the world. With the additional range of coal plows in his repertoire, Harry soon became highly knowledgable in this alternative method of mining to the use of high capacity shearers.

During his extensive career, Harry travelled to most countries of the world where coal is mined. He learned to speak Mandarin which he spoke fluently on his many visits to China. While there he met and married XIE Guifen. Harry retired in 2018 and lived by the beach with Guifen at Daytona Beach, Florida.

It can fairly be said that Harry was one of the original pioneers of longwall mining in the U.S. arriving on this side of the Ocean when modern longwall mining in its infancy accounted for only 2% of the underground production. He will always be remembered for his role in developing and promoting longwall mining. 

Harry was a long-time member of the King Coal Club and the Longwall USA Executive Board. He was also a member of many of the coal mining institutes around the country and around the world. All of us who knew Harry will miss him. He had a great sense of humor and cared deeply about coal mining and all those in or connected with the industry. Our thanks go to Harry for his contribution to the great American coal mining industry and deepest condolences go to Guifen and family.

Harry Martin