4. The Blast
1 sound
- The first Citadel, a wooden blockhouse, was built in 1749. The second, a larger wooden blockhouse, in 1776. The third was an earthwork fort built in 1793 with the labour of Jamaican Maroons, and the fourth and final Citadel of stone between 1828 and 1856.
The Citadel was used as an internment camp from 1 October 1914 to 3 October 1916 to confine immigrants from enemy nations who might pose a threat to Canadian security. Mostly these were German reservists. There was a second camp on Melville Island in the Northwest Arm. When the camp closed, its inmates were transferred to the camp at Amherst, NS.
“The large cloud of yellowish gray rising skywards. As it rose, it took on the form of a huge flower unfolding in the air. (Dean Llwyd)” (See: Explosion -- -sight. #179, MG1 vol 2124, Archibald MacMechan fonds, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.)
“The seven plate-glass windows in the front of the store broke into bits not bigger than a thumbnail.” from the personal narrative of Mr. L. A. Myers, who was in the National Drug Company store on the corner of Sackville Street and Bedford Row. (See: Personal Narrative of Mr. L. A. Meyers, #205, MG1 vol 2124, Archibald MacMechan fonds, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.)
“Ordinary glass was driven in like fine arrows in the opposite wall.” (See: Personal Narrative of Miss M. E. Doane, #140, MG1 vol 2124, Archibald MacMechan fonds, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.)
Many people believed that the blast had been caused by a bomb dropped by a German zeppelin, or that a magazine somewhere in the city, most often that at Wellington Barracks, had gone up.
Isaac is a fictional character. Lt. Harrison and Sgt Morton were real people, and they left alone. There is no mention of a third person with them.
“At about 9:30 the Adjutant took over and I left the Citadel with the Medical Orderly and as many bandages as could be procured and went North to the scene of the explosion.” (See: Personal Narrative of Lieutenant Harrison, #153, MG1 vol 2124, Archibald MacMechan fonds, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.)
- Usually a ship carrying so many explosives would not be allowed into the harbour for reasons of safety. The war changed many regulations.
--
While the events depicted in this walk are true, and we have endeavoured to represent them as factually as possible, it is important to note that the characters are fictional. As such, small details about their personal lives may not be accurate. These characters have been created from the remembrances of real people, and drawn from the communities present in Halifax in December of 1917.
