Skegness Magazine

Gertie was a 28 year old Indian elephant who was a tourist attraction at Butlins holiday camp in Skegness.
She was used to paddling in Ingoldmells pool during the winter months so she had no quarms about splashing about in the pool at Butlins in the summer. She was having a great time when suddenly she fell over in deep water.
Two members of the camp staff dived into the pool fully clothed to help the elephant but she was dead. It is thought that Gertie suffered a heart attack.
A heavy crane was deployed from Boston to remove the elephant’s body, which was taken to Boston for burial.

GERTIE, the 28-year-old Indian elephant at Butlin’s Skegness holiday camp died tragically last Tuesday. She took one dip too many in one of the camp’s open-air pools.
Gertie, who was recently featured in the “Standard” when she was “christened” by Queen’s Chaplain, Canon Tom Pugh, senior chaplain to Butlin holiday camps, was taking a walk around the camp with handlers “Steve” Stephens and Jim Gamer shortly before 1 p.m. when it happened.
Accustomed to paddling in the open-air pool near the Ingoldmells Hotel in winter when it is not needed for holidaymakers Gertie suddenly decided to have a summer dip.
Into the pool she went, blitherly disregarding the protests of her
handlers and had a gay old splash until suddenly she slid into deeper water and fell.
There were no other bathers in the pool at the time, as it was lunch-time for most of them, but a big group of holidaymakers were watching amused by Gertie’s antics. Then they realised something was wrong.
Two members of the camp staff dived fully-clothed into the pool to see if they could rouse Gertie.    But she was gone beyond recall.
One theory is that she had a heart attack. After all, she was ten and a half
feet high when upright, andonly in eight feet of water.

Camp security men screened off the pool and kept everybody away
while an emergency call went to a Boston firm for a heavy crane.

A skin-diver had to go after the pool attach chains and after a couple of hours the body of Gertie was recovered.
about
How does anyone begin disposing of the body of a four-ton elephant?

A Butlins Camp spokesman said: “The body has been removed to Boston for disposal.”

The photo of Gertie the Butlin’s elephant taken early summer 1960, when she took part in a christening service by Canon Pugh, for the children of  elephant trainer, Steve Stephens.

Source: Skegness Standard August 1960.