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The Bedford Magazine Explosion 18-19 July 1945
Following the surrender of Germany, Canadian warships began unloading their ammunition as they paid off crews in Halifax or for refits in preparation for deployment to the Pacific. Soon the bunkers at the Bedford Magazine were filled and piles of shells, rockets and depth charges stored outside and on the magazine jetty in contravention of "Naval Magazine and Explosive Regulation". On the evening of July 18, a fire started on the wharf and spread to the stockpiled ammunition. There was an initial massive explosion followed by a chain reaction of explosions that lasted for 24 hours as the fire spread from bunker to bunker. Damage to the city, however, was limited to shattered windows and cracked foundations.
The Board of Inquiry could not determine the exact cause of the fire but believed it to be either careless disposal of smoking material or spontaneous combustion of waste or other material.
The quick action of fire crews prevented widespread devastation and contained the fire and explosions, managing to rescue thousands of depth charges before they went off. The determined and courageous battling of the fire by sailors helped restore the Navy's reputation after the V.E. Day riots a few months earlier.
Patrolman Henry Raymond Craig, a naval seaman on watch that night, was the lone death.
Armed forces teams still regularly discover and dispose of ammunition around Bedford and Burnside thrown great distances by the explosions.
* Findings of the Board of Inquiry into the Bedford Magazine Explosion // DND, DHH File No. 78/212 // Courtesy of Derek Waller, Air Commodore, RAF, ret'd
* Article on the Bedford Magazine Explosion - Extract from the Evening Citizen Jul 19-21, 1945 // DND, DHH File No. 78/212 // Courtesy of Derek Waller, Air Commodore, RAF, ret'd
* Excerpt from RCN Magazines, Bedford Bases, NS Quarterly Report on Explosion to Oct 1945 // DND, DHH File No. 78/212 // Courtesy of Derek Waller, Air Commodore, RAF, ret'd
Bedford Magazine Explosion 18-19 Jul 1945 From the collection of George Smith, AB, RCNVR Courtesy of Matthew Smith
(CGWJ059) Mushroom cloud from an explosion at the Bedford Magazine 18 Jul 1945 (CGWJ060 - CGWJ061) Sailors fighting brush fires around the area of the Bedford Magazine (CGWJ062) Ordnance on the road a half mile away from the Bedford Magazine
(CGWJ060 - CGWJ061) Damage caused to buildings and bunkers as a result of the explosion at the Bedford Magazine 18-19 Jul 1945 (CGWJ062) Rail ammunition loading platform at the Bedford Magazine with shell casings strewn about (CGWJ063) Broken windows at the drill hall at HMCS STADACONA, Halifax caused by the Bedford Magazine explosion From the collection of Walt Johnson, RCNVR Courtesy of Beverley Desmarais
(RB028) On 16 Jul 1945, Raymond Burton was drafted to HMCS Fort Frances. Two days later, on 18 Jul 1945 a series of explosions at the Bedford Magazine rattled Halifax - which became known as the Second Halifax Explosion. Photo - Mushroom cloud rising from the Bedford Magazine // From the collection of Raymond Burton, RCNVR // This photos are not for reproduction, distribution or sale // Copyright Elizabeth Wagner (BME001) Article on navy casualties of the Bedford Magazine Explosion - Patrolman Henry Craig - Killed; Patrolman Thomas F. Hill - Injured // The Toronto Star, 21 Jul 1945, page 2 (BME002) Explosion of munitions at Magazine near Dartmouth // Photos taken from Halifax, NS Jul 18-19/45 // Photographer J.C.M. Hayward // Buckingham St
(GFW002) Bedford Magazine Explosion 18 Jul 1945, 6:30 pm (GFW003) Bedford Magazine Explosion 18 Jul 1945, 9:36 p.m. From the collection of George Woods, Petty Officer Electrical Artificer, RCNVR
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In memory of those who made the Ultimate Sacrifice
Lest We Forget
