Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Newfoundland, ever true to its independent spirit, did not join the confederation until
1949.
THE TITANIC'S CORONOR, UNDERTAKER & MOURNER
WhenRMS Titanicsank in April 1912, the rescue and recovery effort started in Hali-
fax, the nearest port city with rail connections. John Snow, owner of JA Snow Fu-
neral Homes, sailed to the disaster site to pull bodies from the ocean, bringing with
him 125 coffins, ice, iron, and all the embalming fluid in the city.
Some bodies were buried at sea (the iron ensured the coffins sank) and others
were brought back to Snow's funeral home. The building now houses the
Five Fish-
ermen
(1740 Argyle St; 5-9pm Tue-Sat)restaurant; the bodies were stored in
today's wine cellar. Snow helped devise a system to match bodies with posses-
sions so they could be identified and returned to their families, or buried with a
marked tombstone. Eventually 150 bodies were interred in Halifax, earning the
town the grim title of 'Titanic's coroner, undertaker and mourner.'
Five years later, the city was struck by another tragedy, known as the Halifax Ex-
plosion, when two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. Snow came out of retirement
to help Halifax deal with hundreds of bodies, and ensure as many as possible got a
proper burial. Snow's Funeral Home still operates out of Halifax (nowadays in the
far northwest of town at 339 Lacewood Dr). It unveiled aTitanicmemorial placard
in its front garden in 2012.
By Jon Tattrie, Halifax-based author and journalist
World Wars
During both world wars Atlantic Canada played a key role as a staging area for the con-
voys that supplied Britain. The wars also boosted local economies and helped transition
the region from an agricultural to an industrial base.
Halifax was the only city in North America to suffer damage during WWI. In Decem-
ber 1917, the
Mont Blanc,
a French munitions ship carrying TNT and highly flammable
benzol, collided with the
Imo
in Halifax Harbour. The 'Halifax Explosion' ripped
through the city, leveling most of Halifax' north end, injuring 9000 and killing 1900
people.
Newfoundland had the dubious honor of being the only place in North America direc-
tly attacked by German forces during WWII. In 1942 just offshore from Bell Island near
St John's German U-boats fired on four allied ore carriers sinking them; 69 lives were
lost. The Germans fired a torpedo at yet another carrier, but the projectile missed and in-
stead struck inland at Bell Island's loading pier - thus making it the sole spot on the con-
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