Heroes, Heroines, and History: Halifax Explosion

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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

The Great Halifax Explosion and the Blind Mechanic

By Terrie Todd

“I always knew it was a story that should be told to a wider audience.”

–Marilyn Davidson Elliott

As a toddler, Eric Davidson was playing with a toy train in his Halifax, Nova Scotia home on the morning of December 6, 1917. While his mother prepared breakfast, he pushed the train back and forth on the windowsill, no doubt making the noise of the engine. Suddenly, the window, inches from his face, exploded inward. Shards of glass became embedded in Eric’s face, including his eyes. Later that day, he would become the youngest survivor of the Halifax Explosion to have both eyes surgically removed. He was two and a half. At such a young age, Eric did not understand why it was always so dark and repeatedly asked his parents to turn on the lights.

Some of the babies recovered from the disaster area, many unidentified. The child standing was blinded by flying glass, like Eric.

Educated at the Halifax School for the Blind, Eric decided upon his graduation that he wanted to be an auto mechanic. But the trade school he approached told him no one would hire a blind mechanic and that he should consider fixing washing machines. Eric believed there had to be a way. He bought some auto manuals, had his family members read them to him, and began tinkering with old cars in the backyard. Once they were working, he’d disconnect something and listen to the sound the engine made. Soon, he could identify a vehicle’s problem by simply listening to it.

Halifax School for the Blind

Eventually, Eric became a licensed mechanic in 1948 and enjoyed a long and successful career with the City of Halifax, retiring in 1980. His accomplishments also generated a lot of attention, but interviews and accolades made him uncomfortable. “He never understood what all the fuss was about,” said his daughter, Marilyn Davidson Elliott, in her book The Blind Mechanic. (2018, Nimbus Publishing).

Eric married Mary Zinck, a partially sighted woman, in 1950. They had three children, all of whom had excellent vision, but appreciated their exposure to vision loss and the courage it instilled in a warm and loving family.

Eric Davidson

At the time of his death in 2009, Eric Davidson was the second-last living survivor with permanent injuries from the Halifax Explosion, which killed more than 1,600 people. “Everyone always says that they came away from being with my father feeling better about themselves and life in general, and that was just his positivity,” said Marilyn. “People were amazed at this man.”

The Reluctant Healer of Halifax, a novel of the Great Halifax Explosion of 1917, is a story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War. It releases from Barbour Publishing on August 1, 2026.

Terrie Todd is the award-winning author of ten historical novels, all set in Canada, where she lives with her husband Jon. A former church drama team leader and newspaper columnist, she’s also a frequent contributor to Guideposts Books, a mother of three, and grandmother of five.

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Sunday, May 24, 2026

The Great Halifax Explosion and the Halifax School for the Blind

By Terrie Todd

Born on January 4, 1850, in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada, Charles Frederick Fraser was whittling a stick with a pocketknife at the age of seven when a splinter flew into one of his eyes, permanently blinding it. By age thirteen, he was losing vision in his other eye. At the time, it was believed to be over-use. A failed surgical procedure led to his enrollment at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind in Boston. He left there in 1872, completely blind.

Intending to go into Business, Fraser instead became the first superintendent of the new Halifax Asylum for the blind—one small building with six students. He promptly changed its name to the Halifax School for the Blind. The school taught blind children as young as kindergarten, its goal to make the blind socially and economically independent. Fraser advocated for a well-rounded education, including physical education and music, along with marketable skills like chair caning, piano tuning, craft production, typewriting, massage, shampooing, and bookkeeping.

Halifax School for the Blind, 1930s

A tireless lobbyist, Fraser traveled on the school’s behalf to raise funding and awareness. He succeeded in convincing the province to provide free education for the blind and the Canadian post office to provide free shipping for Braille books.

With the onset of the Great War, Fraser extended the school’s services to blind veterans and other blind adults, through extension instruction. He was knighted in 1915 for his work.

Sir Frederick Fraser

On December 6, 1917, the Great Halifax Explosion caused classes to cease temporarily at the school. Not only had the building been damaged, but many parents withdrew their children. This increased the school’s financial problems at a time when two hundred people were blinded by the explosion, making the need greater than ever. Sir Frederick rose to the challenge. His school assumed responsibility for these newly blinded victims, with help from the Perkins Institution and the American National Red Cross.

Fraser retired in 1923 and died in 1925. With the growth of integration, the school closed and the building was demolished in 1983. In 1984, the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority built a Resource Center to serve the educational needs of children and youth who are visually impaired. They named it the “Sir Frederick Fraser School.”

Halifax School for the Blind in the 1970s

Sources:

Janet Guildford, “FRASER, Sir CHARLES FREDERICK,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed January 19, 2026, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fraser_charles_frederick_15E.html.

Book: The Braille Jail Anthology: A History of the Halifax School for the Blind By Chris Stark https://bobo.blackspheretech.com/?cat=11

Sir Charles Frederick Fraser appears as a minor character in The Reluctant Healer of Halifax, a novel of the Great Halifax Explosion of 1917. A story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War. Watch for it in August 2026.

Terrie Todd is the award-winning author of ten historical novels, all set in Canada where she lives with her husband Jon. A former church drama team leader and newspaper columnist, she’s also a frequent contributor to Guideposts Books, mother of three, and grandmother of five.

Follow Terrie here:

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Friday, April 24, 2026

The Great Halifax Explosion and the CNIB

By Terrie Todd

Born in Collins Bay, Ontario, Edwin Albert Baker graduated with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Queen's University in 1914. With the breakout of what would soon be called The Great War (and later, World War I), Baker enlisted with the Sixth Field Company, Canadian Engineers. In 1915, he was wounded in France, losing his sight in both eyes. In his own words during an interview with author Marjorie Wilkins Campbell in the 1960s, he said, “A German star-shell lit up the desolate landscape… as I watched, a bullet smashed through the bridge of my nose and left me to the mercy of the darkness and my friends.” Baker lay in an army hospital, believing his life was over.

Pocket watch designed for the blind.

While recuperating at St. Dunstan’s Hostel for Blind Soldiers and Sailors in London, England, its founder, Sir Arthur Pearson, presented Baker with a pocket watch designed for the blind. Pearson’s philosophy was one of self-reliance. He believed the blind could enjoy life and become active members of society with training. When Edwin discovered he could learn to tell time with his fingers, a spark of hope was ignited. Eventually, he learned to manage his daily life and to read Braille.

Edwin Baker

After returning to Canada, Edwin devoted his time to assisting other blind veterans, serving on the board of the Canadian Free Library for the Blind (founded in 1906). On 6 December 1917, the Great Halifax Explosion left hundreds of people suffering vision loss from the accident. The tragedy highlighted the need for more support for blind people in Canada. Seven board members of the Canadian Free Library for the Blind, including Baker, came together to establish a national organization. In 1918, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), was established in Toronto. The goal of the non-profit organization was “to serve the blind people of Canada and to prevent blindness.”

BakerWood, former CNIB head office on Bayview Avenue, date unknown. From Canadian National Institute for the Blind, The CNIB Story, 1918-1969: 50 years of Service (1968).

To provide employment opportunities to blind Canadians, CNIB established workshops and later stores to manufacture various items, including brooms and knitted socks, and do service work such as boot repair.

Helen Keller presents Col. Baker with Migel Award for Outstanding Services to the Blind, AFB, 1951.(courtesy American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller Archive)

Baker served as CNIB’s first Vice-President from 1918 to 1920 and Managing Director & General Secretary from 1920 until his retirement in 1962. He married Jessie Robinson. They had three sons and a daughter. He died in 1968, after having received numerous awards, including the Canadian Government’s highest award, Companion of the Order of Canada.

The Reluctant Healer of Halifax includes some characters blinded by the war and by the Halifax Explosion. A story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War. Watch for it in August 2026.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2026

The Great Halifax Explosion: The Halifax/Boston Bond

By Terrie Todd

There’s nothing like a disaster to form a bond between two previously rival cities. Citizens of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, once considered Boston, Massachusetts, their “ancient foe.” As the crow flies, these two cities are only 400 miles apart. But with an international border and mass of water between them, travel can be complicated.

The interest in Halifax began for Boston around 1749, when the port was viewed as an asset for shipping and fishing. But during the Revolutionary War, the British evacuated Boston in favor of Halifax. In mid-March 1776, General Howe ordered the evacuation. Under threat of American artillery fire, British troops and Loyalist civilians boarded ships crowded with essential supplies. Thousands of Loyalists who feared retribution from the Patriots chose to leave with the British, contributing to the chaos and overcrowding.

Eventually, of course, the United States declared its independence and peace was established. In 1867, Canada became its own country. For some, bitterness remained between the two cities.

Along came the Great War and with it, the Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917. Caused by the collision of two ships in the harbor, one of them loaded with explosives intended for Europe, Halifax was devastated.

Cloud seen for miles following the explosion

Boston authorities learned of the disaster via telegraph. By ten p.m. they had dispatched a relief train loaded with medical staff, food, water, and more. That night, a blizzard delayed the train. Halifax citizens were amazed when Boston’s train arrived in the early morning on December 8, and immediately began distributing desperately needed supplies. American doctors and nurses went to work, relieving the Nova Scotians who had worked nonstop since the explosion occurred.

Some of the wreckage in Halifax following the explosion.

Over the many difficult months to follow, Massachusetts continued to come to the aid of Halifax with supplies, funding, and personnel. Although help came from across Canada and other parts of the world, many Haligonians praised Boston as their greatest source of assistance. So grateful were they, that in 1918, they sent a beautiful Christmas tree to the city of Boston in appreciation.

Fifty-three years later, in 1971, Boston’s goodness was still not forgotten. The gift of the Christmas tree was resurrected, becoming a tradition that has lasted to this day. The tree is Boston’s official Christmas tree and is lit on Boston Common throughout the holiday season, an important symbol to both cities.

For more, watch this moving video celebrating the bond between these two cities: 102 Years of Nova Scotia and Boston

The Reluctant Healer of Halifax is the final and sixth book in Barbour Publishing’s Enduring Hope series by various authors. In one-fifteenth of a second, the world’s prettiest harbor suffered the world’s largest man-made explosion prior to Hiroshima. A story of love, loss, faith, and honor set against Canada’s most devastating moment of the First World War. Watch for it in August 2026.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2026

The Great Halifax Explosion: A Harbor Pilot’s Job

By Terrie Todd

Before researching my novel set during the Halifax Explosion, if you’d asked me what a “harbor pilot” does, I might have taken a stab at it. Like an air traffic controller for boats? Maybe from a helicopter?

Not quite.

Harbor piloting is a career that depends on where and how you were raised. Most pilots grew up on and around boats. They know their local harbor like they know their own mother’s face. They understand its tides, currents, and hazards. They know which ships are currently in the harbor, at which piers they’re docked, what they carry, and how fast they’re moving. They know the depth of the water and exactly what lies hidden beneath.

When a ship approaches the harbor, its captain requests one of these local pilots, who arrives alongside in a little pilot boat. He boards the ship by climbing the ladder tossed over the side for him. Once the pilot is safely aboard, the helmsman of the pilot boat tootles off to his next pick-up or drop-off. The pilot stands alongside the captain and guides the ship in, sometimes taking control if warranted. If the pilot does a good job, he’ll likely be called upon when it’s time to navigate out to sea again. With that complete, the pilot disembarks the same way he boarded.

Bedford Basin in Halifax's busy harbor during WWI

In 1917, a full complement of pilots in Halifax harbor was 25, with eight apprentices. With so many men away fighting the Great War, Halifax was down to 14 pilots at a time when the harbor was busier than ever. Ship captains were not legally required to engage harbor pilots. They were, however, required to pay the fee for one. No captain would be foolish enough to forfeit this paid-for assistance, especially his first time in a port.

Location of the 1917 Explosion

In the case of Harbor Pilot Francis Mackey aboard the fateful SS Mont Blanc, language proved another barrier. His limited French and Captain Aimé Le Médec’s limited English proved an unfortunate combination in an already tumultuous situation. Both were prone to human error, as was the crew of the SS Imo with which they collided, setting off a chain of events that would result in the world’s largest manmade explosion prior to the atomic bomb.

Some of the explosion's aftermath.

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