Page 5. SD Enthusiasts' Club Magazine - Summer 2010.
TRADGEDY AT BOURNEMOUTH.
On Wednesday 20th July 1932 a fatal accident occurred on the steep approach road to Boscombe Pier when an SD Freighter ran out of control and crashed through the sea wall ending up on its side on the beach. Two passengers on board lost their lives in the only recorded fatal accident involving an SD Freighter bus.
Bournemouth Corporation ran a fleet of six SD freighters with bodywork by Chalmers & Sons of Redhill, Surrey. The 20 seat buses had front & rear entrances and the lower panels were made of mahogany. The first two vehicles commenced work on 18th September 1925 followed by the other four in February 1926. Immediately the six buses were a financial success. They ran between Bournemoth Square and Boscombe Arcade via Bournemouth Pier and Boscombe Pier. In 1929/30 the buses were modernised by fitting pneumatic tyres in place of the original solid tyres and the buses could now be used on relief work on ordinary bus routes.
Up until 1937 the buses were equipped with warning gongs which were replaced by electric horns in that year.
In 1938 after eleven years service the buses were withdrawn and scrapped to be replaced by Bedford WTB's with 25 seat Burlingham sunshine bodies.
[Information from David Kaye's article in Buses Extra No 49 October 1987.]