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Military Hospitals Commission
Canada
District Vocational Officer
Kentville N.S., March 12/18

On the day of the explosion I was at the Kentville Sanatorium, taking the cure for tuberculosis. When I got the news about Halifax being blown up, I left on the 4 o'clock train for Halifax, having a wife and family there. When I arrived in Halifax, I went right home to see if my family was all right. I got home about ten o'clock that night. When I saw that my family was all right, and the state the city was in, I then went to the Police Station. There i found that some of the policemen had been very badly injured and that we were short of policemen. I reported to duty to the Chief of Police, who told me that he was expecting me, but I could do nothing that night, and to come the first thing in the morning. Both he and Controller Taylor asked me if I would go out and take full charge of the morgue at Chebucto Road School until I heard further from them. I did so. On arriving there, I found found quite a few military men working there. The bodies were lying all strewn about on the concrete floor, and a lot of water was on the floor. I got a number of carpenters to work, firdt building forms, 2 ft. wide and 6 ft. long to lay the bodies on to raise them off the concrete. Then I got two military men, one was Sgt. Saunders of the 63rd regiment, and Cpl Laing. Laing was looking after the bodies which people were bringing in double team loads after the explosion, and looking after the transportation of the bodies out by undertakers. Sgt. Saunders was looking after the coming of the bodies, taking all the particulars down about them for public information, where they had come from, and all the details about them. I was there about one or two hours when Mr. Barnstead and Mr. Cutten arrived. Mr. Barnstead told me who he was, and told me the Board of Control had sent him there to run it. I said "Very well, go ahead. I will not have anything more to do with it." He objected to that, and said "You are doing fine." I told him that what we wanted was some more soldiers, that we had not police enough to act as guards at the door to keep the general public out. The first and second day and part of two nights, I was there with only two glasses of milk from morning until such time as I got home about half past 12 or 1 o'clock at night. I placed guards at the door, also had the soldier boys which were a great help and willing to do anything. I asked them to escort the people around amongst the dead bodies and not to allow them to touch any of their belongings. I also placed two men to work washing the faces and hands of the dead for identification. As we were ate first so overcrowded with the public, and so many bodies that we hadn't time to take all the clothing off and the details of what clothing was on the bodies. The next I did was to place reliable sergeants with two men each to work searching bodies for identification and the belongings, taking off all particulars of what belongings they had on clothing and all. While I was doing this, Mr. Barnstead and Mr. Cutten were getting the building ready to erect an office, to look after the the executive end of affairs. It took up all his time ,while I was running the down-stairs for him. Accordingly, as the bodies were searched, the same number of that body went on a bag which contained all the property that came off that body, and went up to Mr. Barnstead's office, so there would be no mistake in identities, and for public information. The public seemed to be well satisfied