A Father's Love - Halifax Explosion

This year’s December 1st lighting of the Tree for Boston on the Common marks the 99th Anniversary of the Halifax Explosion.   I am eternally grateful for all the aid given by the Canadians, Americans, and other countries.  For without this life giving generosity many more would have died.  Thank you for the gift of family.

What follows is a short remembrance based on my great grandfather Michael Landry's experience.

9:00am
December 6, 1917
Halifax, Nova Scotia

It’s a warm beautiful sunny day in December.

Sixty one year old, widowed dad, Michael is at his job at the Round House about a half mile from home.

He’s walking toward a rust colored freight car parked next to an outbuilding.  His job is to clean the car. Michael walks between the building and the car, unlatches and slides open the door, then climbs in to assess what needs to be done.  Before he can open the door on the other side, he feels the ground rumbling.  As its force increases, he’s knocked off his feet.  The large metal box shakes violently.  There’s a deafening sound reverberating within its walls as Michael’s body is jostled about.  Abruptly it stops.  Silence.  

Shops C.G.R. adjacent to the Round House – Photo #36
(Halifax Relief Commission Photos – Mass. State library)

Lying on the floor, Michael lifts his head and turns toward the door.  The air feels heavy and it’s dark outside. Getting up, he makes his way to the door and climbs down.  As he rounds the car, he sees a debris field containing a mixture of splintered wood, glass fragments, and shattered equipment.   There’s a huge dark cloud hovering over the harbor.

My family, he thinks as he stumbles through the debris and heads toward home.    

Oh, God, my family, my two girls.  He starts running out of the yard.

C.G.R. Round House – Photo #41
(Halifax Relief Commission Photos – Mass. State library)

As he's running, he thinks about his two girls and how he'd hugged them before he left for work. 

He thinks about his older daughter, fourteen year old Anna Bella at home doing the household chores; something she's done since her mother's death in January.  Elizabeth, age eleven, is at school.

He continues to run. The usual landmarks are missing.   Somehow his internal compass takes over as he makes his way down what was Young Street to look for Elizabeth.  The time it takes him to reach St. Joseph’s School feels like an eternity. The closer he gets the worse it looks. Houses are in various stages of demolition.   

As he approaches the parishes block, he sees there’s no roof on the church and the walls are barely standing.   The school is a windowless bulged-out mess.  A set of stairs has collapsed, so he moves around the building to discover a few children and a couple nuns covered in blood with soldiers assisting them.  

"Has anyone seen Elizabeth Landry?" he asks.  

“She’s not here,” said Sister Cecilia.

Burnt District – Photo #16

(Halifax Relief Commission Photos – Mass. State library)

Michael heads down the hill.  He smells the burning ruins and flesh.  Human carnage is strewn about the ground with cries of anguish coming from under the wreckage.  Soldiers and civilians are pulling people from the rubble.   Fireman using their equipment are doing their best to keep the fires at bay, but there aren’t enough of them.  

He fears that Anna Bella may have perished. It appears that the area where the house stood is now totally burned. 

In front of  him, the injured are being loaded onto horse drawn carts and motor powered vehicles. Running from one to the other he checks for his two girls. It is hard to find them since most everyone is unrecognizable. He continues his frantic search.

  

Then he hears, "Papa, we're over here!" 

He turns to see two girls, seated and holding each others hands, on the back of a buckboard. One has a swollen face and is covered with blood and dirt.  The other is covered with plaster dust.  

"Anna Bella, Elizabeth!"

"Yes, Papa, it's us," says Elizabeth.

Michael moves to them and wraps them in his arms

----------------------
To read more about the family during the explosion at "A Picture on the Wall."

Permission granted for photos used in this blog:  Folder #17 Photos 1-79, MS Coll. 90 Massachusetts-Halifax Relief Committee Records. State Library of Massachusetts Special Collections.

A Picture on the Wall: the Halifax Explosion

Boston responded and Halifax remembers as the Tree for Boston is lit on December 3^rd in gratitude and remembrance of those who died and those who survived the Halifax Explosion.  The lighting of the tree brings fond memories of a family survivor who brought this history to life over many cups of tea and an occasional slice of homemade apple pie. 

In honor of this event I’m sharing a piece of my late Aunt Anna Bella’s story.   Anna Bella is my paternal Grandpa Joe’s younger sister.  

“I tell you, awful things happen in this life, but you’ve got to keep going on…you just have to go on.”  - Anna Bella (Landry) Bradley

The Picture

A large sepia toned family picture was hanging over Anna Bella's bed.

“Could you tell me about the picture over your bed?” I asked.

“It’s the only thing that survived the explosion?” Anna Bella said.

“What explosion?”

“The Halifax Explosion,” 

What follows is a brief excerpt from the stories she shared of survival and tragedy.

The Explosion - December 6, 1917

Halifax Harbor’s piers were busy with ships from many countries being loaded and unloaded in an effort to supply the allies as World War I waged on.  

Five streets up with a beautiful view of the waterfront was 38 Union Street.  

Everyone had left for the day and fourteen year old Anna Bella was busy clearing breakfast dishes off the kitchen table in her family’s first floor apartment.  She's feeling a bit down. Life had changed since her mom passed away of Tuberculosis in January.  Instead of going to school she was keeping house. Between her dad, three older brothers, and younger sister there was a lot to do. While in the midst of this morning routine, she was unaware of what was happening in the harbor.

The Mont Blanc, a fully loaded munitions ship, had been cleared to enter the harbor.

On the other side of the harbor the Imo was making its way out.  Further into the harbor,  a tug is on the wrong side. Before they get to close to each other, the Imo’s pilot switches lanes successfully; which keeps the two boats from colliding.  Now the Imo is on the Mont Blanc’s side of the harbor.

Once in site of each other the Mont Blanc’s horn sounds alerting the Imo to switch lanes.   The Imo signals back, requesting the Mont Blanc move over.  By the time the two ships reverse engines it was too late – the Imo’s hull pierced the Mont Blanc’s.  Then as the Imo’s engine reverses, metal scrapes metal and the two hulls pull apart.  The Mont Blanc’s deck catches fire as it drifts toward Pier 6.

Anna Bella was at the sink doing dishes when the Mont Blanc reaches Pier 6 and blows up. With the force of the blast, the house explodes.  Anna Bella’s unconscious body is thrown several yards away and buried under a pile of rubble.   The once beautiful city of Halifax was in ruins with Anna Bella buried within it.  

Smoke starts to rise from the debris as the embers from overturned coal stoves ignite the downed structures like kindling.  Seeing this, soldiers, family members, and others start calling out and listening for life.   They were hoping to lift people from the ruins before the fires spread.

As Anna Bella regains consciousness she hears the bells of the fire rigs and feels herself being pulled from the rubble and then lowered onto the street. Squinting and adjusting her eyes to the light, she focuses to see her sister Elizabeth in front of her.

The explosion has left Anna Bella’s lip partially torn off and there are cuts on her arm.  They are stitched up, out on the street.  Her face swells to the point where it will be difficult to eat for several weeks.  Once attended to, Anna Bella is relieved to find out that Elizabeth is uninjured.

In the days to come, Anna Bella and Elizabeth are reunited with family and eventually relocated to the Hydrostone section of Halifax.  *

* * * * 

Spending time with my great Aunt Anna Bella and learning about my heritage is like getting some pieces to a larger family history. Thanks to family members from both countries, Canada and the United States, I’m getting more of the missing pieces and they’re starting to fit together. 

I’d appreciate your prayers and support as I spend time each day working on writing my great Aunt Anna Bella’s memoir.  My hope is to portray her 103 years of living a “fully engaged” life as authentically as possible and to have it completed in time for the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion.**  

[*Note: As more information came to light from additional audio recording transcripts of my great Aunt Anna Bella Landry Bradley, it appears that her father was on the scene not long after she was rescued and before they went to the Monastery of the Good Shepherd after their home was destroyed. 

**Note: The scope of my great aunt's life, additional research and interviews, plus relocating have altered my plans.  I've changed the focus of this book to the Halifax Explosion and the family's experience.  The book is progressing with plans to publish in 2022.  Thinking of  My Grands - Passing It On. ]