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Statement Re Explosion At Halifax
J.P.D. Llwyd, Dean of Nova Scotia
I was standing in the Chapel of the Cathedral reading Morning Prayer, in accordance with the rules of our Church, when the explosion happened. The congregation was composed of three persons, my wife and two other ladies. I had just risen to my feet from saying the first praters and was beginning the psalms, when I felt a strong vibration like that of a mild earthquake. I said to myself at once, "That is a German shell," and it flashed across my mind that the submarine had at last crossed the Atlantic and bombed Halifax. Two or three seconds passed away and suddenly there came a terrific roar. The building trembled and the glass began to fall in showers from the windows of the north side and of the two ends of the structure. The effect was frightful; the whole fabric seemed to be falling in upon us. A sensation of utter powerlessness as in the grip of some immense force passed through the mind. I dashed to the nearest door, the thought having at once arised, that this was a munition factory exploding. I guessed that the shock came from the north, because of the collapse of the north windows of the building and of the north transept doors, which were of solid oak, and would have withstood a cannon shot. In the distance, I saw a large cloud of yellowish gray rising skywards. As it rose, it took on the form of a huge flower unfolding in the air. Realizing at once that my guess was correct and that the explosion was from a munition source, I turned back to the ladies of the congregation and said to them, "It is all over, it must have been a munition explision at some point north. We can go on and finish our service". We did not, however, finish the service entirely. We closed it with two or three prayers. My wife's hat had been hurled, either by glass or by the shock, into another corner of the edifice. She did not discovered the fact until we were out of the Cathedral; an inch lower, and it would have taken off the top of her head.
I went home, and after a few minutes, started down town. On the way, I met a member of my congregation, Mr. W.R. Hewat. He was very greatly agitated. He said, "You have no idea at all, down here in the South end, of the disaster that has happened to the North end."