Hero of the Halifax Explosion: Vincent Coleman

100 years ago today on the morning of the 6th of December, the largest man made explosion of the pre-atomic era occurred in the naval city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. I made a more detailed post about the disaster itself last year on this post: https://imgur.com/gallery/kmUeu

This year I'd like to focus on one individual, Vincent Coleman.

Patrick Vincent Coleman, born on the 13th of March, 1872, worked as a train dispatcher on the Richmond Railway yard near Pier 6 of the Halifax Explosion. He was working that morning when two ships, a Belgian Relief vessel and a French Munitions ship, collided in the Halifax Harbour a few hundred yards from the railway yard.

The French vessel, The Mont Blanc, caught fire and drifted towards Pier 6. It was 8:45 in the morning and everyone in Halifax was getting ready for a regular day's work. Unfortunately, few people knew the cargo that was being carried on the Mont Blanc, and in the crew's haste to abandon ship they had forgotten to raise the warning flags associated with dangerous explosives to warn the public onlookers.

A frantic sailor warned Coleman of the coming catastrophe, urging everyone to get as far away from the Pier as possible. Vincent knew that a train carrying 300 passengers was scheduled to arrive at 8:55.

Coleman and Chief Clerk William Lovett sent a telegraphed message to the train:

This was the telegraph he sent. He stayed behind after to keep sending telegraphs to stations around the province to warn them of the danger until, at 9 o'clock, 4 minutes, and 35 seconds, the Mont Blanc gave way to her cataclysmic cargo.

These are some of the possessions of Vincent Coleman that survived the explosion, on display in the Maritime Museum in Halifax. He, along with nearly 2000 others, died in that devastating explosion.

It is argued that even if he did evacuate, he would not have made it safely from the blast in time. Regardless if he knew if he would survive or not, he decided not to abandon his post - a decision that saved the lives of 300 people on board the No. 10 Passenger Train.

Today, on an online poll to name the new Ferries going across the harbour from Halifax to Dartmouth, Vincent Coleman was chosen as one of the names (Ferry McFerryface was another popular runner-up, because memes).

Also, many Canadians will remember the Heritage Minutes released back in the early 90's depicting short segments of Canadian history. Vincent Coleman was given a Heritage Minute, which can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-FbwmzPKo