Halifax/Dartmouth Explosion Series
In the 1980s & 90s, the Dartmouth Heritage Society conducted a series of interviews with Dartmouthians who survived the 1917 Halifax Explosion. This listening gallery features a selection of excerpts from those interviews.
Content warning: Many of the following audio clips contain descriptions of graphic injuries.
Leighton Dillman Interview
Year – 1981
Interview conducted by – Janet Kitz
Leighton Dillman, namesake of Dartmouth’s Leighton Dillman Park, was approximately 20 years old at the time of the explosion. He was working at the Consumer Cordage Rope Company when the blast occurred.
CJCH 1978 Radio Broadcast
This excerpt from a 1978 radio broadcast by CJCH FM Halifax features a short recreation of the events of the radio station on the morning of the Halifax Explosion.
Ethel Morash Interview
Year – 1989
Interview conducted by – Janet Kitz
Ethel Morash was at home in Dartmouth at the time of the explosion. In the first clip, she recalls the event itself as well as the strange circumstances she was discovered in after the blast. In the second clip, she shares some of her memories of the public’s reaction to the event on the day and in the days proceeding.
Mabel Ardley Interview
Year – 1992
Interview conducted by – Lois Richards
Mabel Ardley was only 8 years old at the time of the explosion. She was at school at Greenvale School on Ochterloney St. when the blast occurred.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson Interview
Year – 1991
Interview conducted by – Lois Richards
This clip features Mr. Robinson’s memory of the explosion. He was home at the time of the blast but his sister was struck by debris and hurt on her walk to school. He also believes his dog had a premonition of the event.
Campbell Sisters Interview
Year – 1992
Interview conducted by – Lois Richards
Frances Mary (Mollie) Campbell and Margaret Isobell Campbell (both nee Kuhn) of Dartmouth recount their memories of the day of the explosion, sometimes disagreeing on the order of events. The two sisters were at school at the Halifax County Academy at the time of the explosion, and when they returned home, they learned their landlady had been killed.
Mollie Forbes Interview
Year – 1991
Interview conducted by – Lois Richards
Mollie Forbes was returning from a wedding in the Annapolis Valley by train when the explosion occurred. She remembers the devastation in Halifax, as well as the heroic efforts of the local doctors and townspeople.
Verna Gentles Interview
Year – 1990
Interview conducted by – Lois Richards
Verna Gentles was on the ferry at the time of the explosion. She was injured in the blast and was given medical attention from an officer and a nurse at a house on Victoria Road in Halifax.
Content warning: This interview contains the use of outdated and racist terminology common for the time period. The interview is presented unedited and in its original form, as doing otherwise would be akin to erasing such racism from the historical record.
Walden Langille Interview
Year – 1992
Interview conducted by – James Candow
Walden was at school at the time of the explosion. He recounts his memories of Dartmouth at the time, the aftermath of the blast, and the effect of the explosion on the many different Dartmouth industries.