The Halifax Explosion
I usually read the obituaries in The Times. Even if it’s just to check that I’m still here. But then I wouldn’t be in that esteemed organ!
Today there was an obituary of Marcus Chambers. He was not a man I’d heard of, but I do remember the triumph of Andrew Cowan driving a Hillman Hunter in the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. He was the brains behind it all. One thing that is not in the obituary was that the car was tuned to run on the very low grade petrol, that would be all that was obtainable on much of the route.
Sad to think, that such a race would not be possible today, as you just can’t drive all the way. Well not safely, as the route included Tehran and Kabul.
But what caught my eye in the obituary is the Halifax Explosion, which Marcus Chamber’s parents survived. Two thousand people died, when an ammunition ship blew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in “The Narrows” section of the Halifax Harbour. About 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. This is still the world’s largest man-made accidental explosion.
That was a terrible tragedy.
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The Anonymous Widower 
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