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“Hold up the train. Munitions ship on fire and making for Pier 6 ... Goodbye boys.”Vincent Coleman (vincent coleman halifax - Google Search)Wednesday, Dec. 6, 1917 was unseasonably warm with a blazing sun in a cloudless sky. Halifax was busy with shipping as the First World War dragged into its third year. Haligonians were weary of war but still feeling the pride of the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge that April while nervously watching the unfolding events of the Russian Revolution.[1]Railway Dispatcher Vincent Coleman went to work from his home on Russell Street in the neighbourhood of Halifax's North End known as Richmond.[2] He left his wife Frances looking after their young two-year old daughter Eileen, dressed in a cheerful blue dress handmade by Frances.[3] It was a short five blocks to his workplace at the Richmond railway station.Vincent Coleman's neighbourhood (Vincent Coleman and the Halifax Explosion)He worked not in the grand brick passenger station on North Street but in the deceptively small wooden station in the middle of the Richmond rail yards.[4] Working only a few feet from the harbour with its busy piers, the Narrows as it was known - an inlet separating Halifax and nearby Dartmouth. Halifax was already a busy seaport on Canada's east coast, but World War I transformed it into a military port. The Canadian Royal Navy maintained the Atlantic trade routes and required all neutral ships to stop in Halifax for inspection. Submarine nets installed at the end of The Narrows had to be lowered to allow convoys in and out of the harbor,[5] limitng ship traffic and causing delays.Coleman's job was to control the massive rail traffic generated by the crowded wartime harbour of Halifax. He sent orders to the countless trains feeding freight into the ship filled wharves of North End Halifax as well as routing the heavy wartime passenger traffic passing into the North Street Station and the vital troop trains and hospital trains from the Pier 2 ocean liner terminal.[6]Coleman worked for what everyone in Halifax called the "Intercolonial Railway" or "ICR" even though it had been renamed "Canadian Government Railways" in 1916.[7] As dispatcher, he was a rank above the ordinary telegraph operators in most stations. A few years previously he was commended for helping to stop a runaway train.[8] He was also very active in his railway union. In his wallet that morning, tucked beside some raffle tickets for the Victory Bond drive, was a clipping about an upcoming union meeting in Montreal.[9]Coleman's wallet, raffle tickets and union meeting clipping. (Fifteen stories: Heroic dispatcher keyed warning, perished in cataclysmic Halifax explosion)Coleman relieved the night dispatcher, Ralph Fielding, at the telegraph. 100 years later, Fielding's grandson credited Coleman with saving more lives than anyone realized.My grandfather Ralph Fielding had just come off the night shift. He was standing there talking to Vince and he was about to go home and the events in the harbour were starting to unfold. He said to Vince, 'Do you think you need me to stay on for a while', and Vince said 'No, you'd better get home and check on your mother'." As Fielding arrived in downtown Dartmouth, he noticed a naked and semiconscious woman lying in a ditch. It would be hours before Fielding reached his home, aiding those wounded and blinded as a result of the explosion.[10]Off in the distance there was a muffled crash, followed by a column of black smoke rising above the rows of parked freight cars in front of the station.[11] The French munitions ship Mont-Blanc caught fire after a collision with the Norwegian vessel Imo as it left Halifax for New York City.[12] The Mont Blanc was a 3,000-ton floating bomb crammed with munitions, bound for the war raging in Europe. Its holds were crammed with 2,500 tons of TNT and picric acid. The decks were crowded with 35-gallon barrels of high-octane benzole.[13]Suddenly a naval sailor burst through the door. He warned everyone that the burning Mont-Blanc was full of ammmunition and about to explode.[14] The sailor had been sent ashore by one of the naval officers responding to the blaze, one of the few people who knew of her deadly cargo. Coleman started to leave with his boss, William Lovett, the chief clerk at Richmond and his stenographer, Florence Young,[15] but then Coleman turned back to use the telegraph key to send his famous message.Coleman was especially worried about Passenger Train No. 10, the overnight train from Saint John, New Brunswick.[16] It had about 300 people aboard and was due in Halifax at 8:55 am.[17] Within minutes it was due to pass along the approach tracks to the North Street Station directly in front of the blazing Mont-Blanc. The newspapers of the day recorded slight variations on the exact wording of Coleman's message but its content is consistently reported as:“Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys.”[18]Clearly Coleman knew the explosion was imminent and that he was staring death in the face. He even signed off with a telegraph shorthand for "Goodbye Boys".[19]Flashback in Maritime history – SS Mont Blanc explosion in Halifax 6 Dec 1917And then at 9:05 am, Mont-Blanc exploded. The resulting blast was the biggest man-made explosion of the pre-atomic age, according to analysts. It devastated the busy port city, leveling more than a square mile of the waterfront, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring 5,000 more, almost 12 percent of Halifax’s population.[20] The massive iron hull disappeared, blown into shrapnel that tore through neighborhoods miles from the harbor. A half-ton chunk of its anchor still lies where it landed 2.5 miles away.[21] “Halifax” became the standard of blast comparisons for decades, unsurpassed as an explosive disaster until Hiroshima replaced it in 1945.[22]Pier 6 and the ship vanished in a column of flame. Rows of boxcars were vaporized while others were hurled through the air.[23] Coleman's station, a mere 750 feet from the centre of the blast, disappeared. It was crushed by the blast and buried in debris from the railway yard as tidal waves rose from the harbour and roared back and forth across the Richmond yards.[24]The blast crushed internal organs, exploding lungs and eardrums of those closest to the ship, most of whom died instantly. Glass shattered … sending out a shower of arrow-shaped slivers that cut their way through curtains, wallpaper and walls. The glass spared no one. Some people were beheaded where they stood … It pierced the faces and upper chests of anyone unlucky enough to still be standing in front of a window.[25]As buildings collapsed, hundreds of fires were sparked by wood-burning stoves. Soon the wounded could hear the screams of the trapped. Burns were a major cause of death. Iron shrapnel peppered the city, killing many that day and causing wounds that killed more in the months to come in that pre-antibiotic age.[26] In addition, many lost their vision when looking out the window. The explosion shattered the glass and hundreds and hundreds were blind or semi-blind.Must-read books about the Halifax Explosion | Halifax MagazineHowever the message sent by that telegraph key went out on the railway telegraph line and would have been heard by every station from Halifax to Truro: all along the line from Rockingham, Bedford, Windsor Junction, Elmsdale, Stewiacke and so to Truro.[27] Each station agent would have quickly moved the station order boards, those semaphore blades you once saw mounted on the side of stations, dropping them from the vertical "All Clear" position to the horizontal "Stop!" position.[28] Bang, bang, bang, all the way to Truro the order boards would drop bringing all Halifax bound trains to a halt as soon as they approached their next station.[29] This is how rail traffic was controlled in 1917. It would be many decades before two-way radios were installed aboard trains.Coleman's telegraph key, recovered from the wreckage of the station (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4425343)In the aftermath of the explosion, questions circulated concerning Coleman's role in stopping the Train No. 10 and saving the 300 people aboard. The record is unclear. A very detailed account of what happened aboard Train No. 10 was gathered from interviews of passengers and crew by Archibald MacMechan in 1917[30] and published in Graham Metson's 1978 book The Halifax Explosion December 6, 1917. According to MacMechan, the train was past the point where it could be stopped because it had already passed the Rockingham station, the last station before Richmond.[31] Fortunately, it was running a few minutes late and was far enough from the explosion so the blast inflicted only broken windows and minor injuries.[32]An article in the December 7, 1917 Moncton Transcript newspaper indicates that Coleman did stop the train:"Conductor Gillespie Had a Marvelous Escape From Death—Conductor Gillespie, who went to Halifax on No. 10 Express on Thursday morning, arrived in Moncton this morning in charge of No. 9 Express from Halifax. Conductor Gillespie had a narrow escape from death. His train was running on time, but was held fifteen minutes by the dispatcher at Rockingham. He says, that the explosion blew the windows out of the train at Rockingham some 4 miles from Halifax. All the crew of No. 10 are safe."[33]A relief train backs into the ruins of Richmond. (7 December 1917 - The Halifax Relief Trains)While debates continue to circulate whether Coleman actually stopped Train No. 10, that was his intention and he clearly halted all the other inbound freight and passenger trains.[34] It is also very important to remember that Coleman's message had a second, arguably more important effect. He alerted the entire Intercolonial to this catastrophe.Otherwise the lines would just have gone dead and hours would have been wasted figuring out what was wrong in Halifax.Coleman's message, followed up an hour or so later by a more detailed call for help from a Halifax Intercolonial official, put an entire railways system into high gear and the Intercolonial sent six different relief trains to Halifax that day from Truro, Kentville, Amherst, New Glasgow and Moncton bringing firefighters, doctors, nurses, medical supplies and wrecking crew.[35] This help, in the vital first hours was absolutely critical to the fate of for hundreds of lives as a snowstorm the next day slowed everything down.[36] American relief trains did not arrive until two days later.The rapid railway response allowed heavy equipment and construction crews to mobilize in Halifax with remarkable speed. Within a week, the battered wartime port of Halifax was back in action, and trains rumbled through the ruins of Richmond bringing passengers to the repaired North End station and supplies to the cleared wharves of the harbour.[37]The home that Vincent Coleman had left that morning was only 2000 feet from Ground Zero.[38] The Coleman house was wrecked and then burned by the explosion. The kitchen sink crashed down on two year old Eileen Coleman, badly cutting her neck and leaving her little blue dress spattered with bloodstains that you can see to this day.[39]Eileen Coleman's Dress (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4425343)Coleman's wife Frances suffered serious back injuries. Her two older children Gerald and Eleanor rushed home from school to take their mother and sister to Gottigen Street where soldiers took them to the Camp Hill Hospital.[40] Eileen and her other siblings were sent to live with their grandmother on Edward Street and then with other family members in Pictou.[41] It would be 15 months before the family finally reunited.A few days later, searchers found Vincent Coleman's body in the wreckage of the Richmond rail yards. Frances was presented with the telegraph key, the watch and the pen of her husband who was quickly becoming famous.[42] Years later she would donate them to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. They were transferred to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in 2005.[43]Vincent Coleman's wallet, pen, watch and telegraph key (Widows and Widowers of the Halifax Explosion)In addition to all the many emotional challenges associated with the disaster experience, the death of a husband meant loss of the family’s principal income earner. The death of a wife also meant loss of the person usually most responsible for running the household and occasionally earning supplementary income.Older children could sometimes be recruited to help at home or, by going out to work, to earn needed money. Income sent home from soldier sons stationed abroad might also be available. And invaluable support often came from extended family members who were able and willing to take in refugees, act as surrogate parents, or provide housekeeping services.[44] However, a major share of the assistance received by widows and widowers was provided by the Citizens’ Relief Committee and its successor, the Halifax Relief Commission.[45]Halifax Relief Commission Offices (courtesy Halifax Relief Commission/Nova Scotia Archives/1976-166)Coleman's action and results were truly heroic. He stands with a number of heroes of the Halifax explosion such as Horatio Brennan, a heroic tugboat captain who died trying to pull Mont-Blanc away from the city.[46] They represent the many heroes of that day, the firefighters, the soldiers, sailors, doctors[47] and the many ordinary men and women across the city who rushed into burning and collapsing houses to save family, neighbours and strangers.Footnotes[1] The Battle of Vimy Ridge[2] Fifteen stories: Heroic dispatcher keyed warning, perished in cataclysmic Halifax explosion[3] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4425343[4] No. 3123: Vincent Coleman[5] No. 3123: Vincent Coleman[6] https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/[7] Tracking the Intercolonial Railway[8] Halifax Explosion commemoration to recognize growing legend of Vince Coleman[9] Fifteen stories: Heroic dispatcher keyed warning, perished in cataclysmic Halifax explosion[10] Local man says Vincent Coleman saved his grandfather's life during Halifax explosion[11] The Collision: What Caused the Halifax Explosion? - From One Moment to the Next: The Halifax Explosion[12] The Great Halifax Explosion[13] Page on google.com[14] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/06/two-ships-collided-in-halifax-harbor-one-of-them-was-a-3000-ton-floating-bomb/%3foutputType=amp[15] The day Halifax exploded[16] The Halifax Disaster[17] ‘He’s a genuine hero’: Railway dispatcher Vince Coleman’s grandson marks Halifax Explosion anniversary[18] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4425343[19] Excerpt from ‘The Great Halifax Explosion’[20] Redirect Notice[21] HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca[22] Top 10 Greatest Explosions Ever[23] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/06/two-ships-collided-in-halifax-harbor-one-of-them-was-a-3000-ton-floating-bomb/%3foutputType=amp[24] Halifax Explosion: The accidental blast that killed 2,000 people a century ago[25] 'Curse of the Narrows': Disaster in Slow Motion[26] A Newly Discovered Diary Tells the Harrowing Story of the Deadly Halifax Explosion[27] The 1917 Halifax Explosion: the first coordinated local civilian medical response to disaster in Canada[28] 7 December 1917 - The Halifax Relief Trains[29] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%2520Rail_no461_1997.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj2j7rGwr3mAhXYW80KHVv5Cr4QFjANegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2K_ezbTCgf5WdL_KF_ORM3[30] Nova Scotia Archives[31] The Halifax explosion : December 6, 1917 / compiled and edited by Graham Metson ; including the complete text of The Halifax disaster by Archibald MacMechan. - Version details[32] The Halifax disaster (1917): eye injuries and their care[33] Built for war : Canada's Intercolonial Railway / by Jay Underwood. - Version details[34] The Aftermath of the Halifax Explosion & Vincent Coleman Railway Dispatcher[35] The Aftermath of the Halifax Explosion & Vincent Coleman Railway Dispatcher[36] Page on google.com[37] Wartime Tragedies - The Halifax Explosion | Canada and the First World War[38] On the job: A sense of pride at A.F. Theriault following completion of Halifax ferry named Vincent Coleman | The Vanguard[39] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4425343[40] Widows and Widowers of the Halifax Explosion[41] Page on google.com[42] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4425343[43] History - International Congress of Maritime Museums[44] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/pdfs/History/HfxExplosion/USA/MA/Massachusetts%2520Committee%2520on%2520Public%2520Safety.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjZ6P7ygb3mAhWYXM0KHalvBnIQFjACegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2ddAEvzOpX9HaHJ4pcjJd9[45] Halifax Relief Commission[46] From the Archives: Shelburne County man died a hero in Halifax Explosion | The CoastGuard[47] The 1917 Halifax Explosion: the first coordinated local civilian medical response to disaster in Canada