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lives lived

take a moment to walk in their shoes

The Halifax Explosion

12/5/2017

1 Comment

 

The View from Sailors from St. Thomas, Ontario

The Halifax Explosion December 6, 1917 was the largest man-made explosion until the nuclear era. There are many excellent resources about this event. What follows are the memories of two St. Thomas men writing home to their parents in the aftermath. Seaman Gunner James A. Cluskey and Seaman Owen George Young were serving in the navy as members of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (the precursor to the 'Wavy Navy'). They were witnesses to the catastrophe and the aftermath.
Picture

Seaman Gunner James A. Cluskey VR2238

Letter To: Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Cluskey, 151 Alma Street, St. Thomas

We Were Right in the Middle of It

…We just arrived in from the sea on Thursday the 6th about 8:15 a.m., and had nicely tied up and had breakfast and were about to start work. I, with a couple of more were on deck having a chat and all at once there was an explosion, followed by another awful one and then there was an awful pour down of pieces and parts of ships and pieces of projectiles, all sizes. One piece of shell just missed me by a few inches and hit the deck with such force that it put quite a dint in the deck. I cannot tell how our ship was so lucky because we were right in the middle of it.
Picture

It Looked like a Zeppelin

There was a big French ship [SS Mont Blanc] loaded with 7,000 tons of explosives and shells coming in and a big Belgian Relief Ship going out. The Belgian Relief Ship [SS Imo] rammed the French ship and started a fire in some benzene which was carried on deck. The officers and others of the French ship abandoned their ship and twenty minutes after there was nothing left of it.  At first it looked like a Zeppelin, but it happened to be the funnel off the ship flying through the air.

Devastation

The greater part of Halifax is ruined and fire started all over both Dartmouth and Halifax and if there had been a north wind blowing there wouldn’t have been any Halifax left.
 
Every available place such as churches, Y.M.C.A. and shops of all descriptions are used as hospitals and morgues.
 
The gun which was on the French ship was found buried in the ground three miles away. The city is under martial law and I suppose it will be for some time to come.
Picture

Loose Lips Sink Ships

Well as this will likely be censored this is all I can say at present.

Seaman Owen George Young  RV3971

Letter To:  Mr. & Mrs. G.F. Young, 29 Elysian Street, St. Thomas

Everything is Completely Demolished

I was pleased a few days ago to receive a letter from you, but owing to existing conditions up till the present time I have been unable to answer it.  As you know during the past few days we have had quite an exciting time and judging by what I saw while through the city today it has had some effect on the place. Even right south and to the north and everything is completely demolished; all that remains is battered down trees and the places where houses have been razed to the ground.
Picture

December 10th

The day after the catastrophe a strong wind blew all day, following later by snow, but even that did not put the fires down and even now (Dec. 10) as I am writing there are still some burning ruins despite the fact that it has rained some since that show storm… (The letter was here interrupted owing to the fact the writer was called to perform some duties on board the ship. Continuing on the following day.)

December 11th - Threat of Censorship

Picture
Things are very much the same as yesterday, but there is not so much snow now. Well, I guess I cannot say much more about the explosion as I am informed all letters will be censored.

Relief Pouring in to Halifax

While I think of it this is my tea hour too, so I shall have to hurry. You know I am on duty now and the hours are pretty long too. We do not get much time to ourselves just now. I have been on duty until 11 o’clock at night some nights since the disaster, and haven’t very much more in the way of news anyhow, but I must say here, that there is all kinds of relief coming in since the last few days. Trains have arrived from Toronto, Montreal and the United States. The Americans are certainly doing their share. There is one of their hospital ships now in the harbour half full of wounded and another relief ship has just arrived from Boston.

Thoughts re Brother Bert

Speaking of Bert [Seaman Young’s younger brother] I guess it is hard to say why you have not heard from him. It is hard to tell what they may be doing over in France and I guess worrying won’t do any good, there are quite probably just as well off as we are here. I wish however that the war was all over then we would know what we were doing.
Picture

North End Just Like France

Soldiers arriving here from France state that the north end of the city here is just exactly like the devastated area of France. All you can see now is white snow and charred trees with a little smoke rising here and there. They have placed guards all along the streets and the city is under martial law. It being impossible to go into the ruins of the damaged part of the city without a pass from the authorities.
1 Comment
Tracy Ryall Young
12/17/2019 09:52:51 pm

My husband is a Young, I believe this is his relative. Interesting story. Thank you.

Reply



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    The Elgin Military Museum has a vast collection of letters, articles, poems and pictures of veterans and others who served their community over a period of two hundred years.. This blog is our way of sharing them with you.

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  • The Elgin Military Museum
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Research Veterans Collection
  • The Services
    • ARMY >
      • D-Day
      • The Elgins
      • The Perfect Man
      • The Kangaroos
      • Afghanistan
      • Links to Army Stories
    • Navy >
      • HMCS St. Thomas
      • Radar Man
      • Links to Navy Stories
    • Air Force >
      • Flying 001
      • Commonwealth Air Training Plan
      • First Radar Dome
      • Links to Air Force Stories
    • Women in the Services >
      • Donna Price
    • Services for the Services
  • Stuff
    • The Boss
    • The Chair
    • Pride Pets & Pests
    • National Winner
  • EXHIBITS & EVENTS
    • Cold War at Home
    • Vimy Centennial at EMM
    • THE VIMY POPPY
    • Fragments
    • Hall of Honour
    • Remember
    • Model Ships
    • Jumbo
  • Plan Visit
    • Tours EMM
    • Tours HMCS Ojibwa
  • Education
  • Blog