Jim Coleman said, for many years, people avoided talking about the disaster, including his grandfather's contribution. It wasn't really spoken about.". Fortunately, it was running a few minutes late and was far enough from the explosion so the blast inflicted only broken windows and minor injuries. The home that Vincent Coleman had left that morning was only 2000 feet from Ground Zero. Image credits: CAFinUS. My father talked about it. A sailor apprised train dispatcher Vince Coleman of the danger, and rather than flee, Coleman warned incoming trains: “Hold up the train. Vince Coleman’s widow, Frances, also survived. Rows of boxcars were vaporized while others were hurled through the air. Image credits: Historica Canada. The train that Vincent Coleman stopped from entering the area had 700 people on board. Today he is remembered as one of the heroic figures from the disaster. Vince Coleman was also the subject of a Heritage Minute and was a prominent character in the CBC miniseries Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion. ", Audience Relations, CBC P.O. As Coleman relieved the night dispatcher at the telegraph, off in the distance there was a muffled crash, followed by a column of black smoke rising above the rows of parked freight cars in front of the station. These were the last words of Vince Coleman, the train dispatcher who met his end on December 6, 1917, in the Halifax Explosion. By: Misaki Chan Vincent Coleman was born on 13 March 1872, in Halifax, Nova Scotia He has a wife named Frances Coleman and 4 Childrens . "They were all heroes. Guess this will be my last message. Canadian Government Railways Timetable Dec. 1, 1917. The explosion was even heard all the way south in Massachusetts. The morning of December 6, 1917, Railway Dispatcher Vincent Coleman went to work from his home on Russell Street in the neighbourhood of Halifax's North End known as Richmond. The record is unclear. He alerted the entire Intercolonial to this catastrophe. Unaware of the Mont-Blanc’s cargo, crowds gathered to see the fire. HALIFAX - Exactly one century after he died, mustachioed train dispatcher Vince Coleman's status as the ultimate Halifax Explosion hero will be cemented Wednesday. Within minutes it was due to pass along the approach tracks to the North Street Station directly in front of the blazing Mont-Blanc. The kitchen sink crashed down on two year old Eileen Coleman, badly cutting her neck and leaving her little blue dress spattered with bloodstains that you can see to this day. Coleman's action and results were truly heroic. Frances was presented with the telegraph key, the watch and the pen of her husband who was quickly becoming famous. HALIFAX — Exactly one century after he died, mustachioed train dispatcher Vince Coleman’s status as the ultimate Halifax Explosion hero will be cemented Wednesday. 10 Express on Thursday morning, arrived in Moncton this morning in charge of No. According to MacMechan, the train was past the point where it could be stopped because it had already passed the Rockingham station, the last station before Richmond. You can still see water stains in his wallet at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic today. The Halifax Explosion was a disaster that occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. The choice is yours with an Annual Pass. Calgary lawyer Jim Coleman — Vince’s grandson — will deliver brief remarks during the city’s commemorative ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the blast that killed or wounded 11,000 people. "He had a choice, he had a decision to make and I think he made the right one — to stay and save the people," Jim Coleman told The Homestretch Tuesday. Coleman was killed in the Halifax Explosion in 1917 that claimed the lives of 2,000 and injured 9,000 more. Good-bye boys.” Coleman died at When a … In his wallet that morning, tucked beside some raffle tickets for the Victory Bond drive, was a clipping about an upcoming union meeting in Montreal. The Coleman house was wrecked and then burned by the explosion. Coleman started to leave with his boss, William Lovett, the chief clerk at Richmond but then Coleman turned back to use the telegraph key to send his famous message. The Aftermath of the Halifax Explosion & Vincent Coleman Railway Dispatcher The explosion upon December 6 1917 at 7.30am among the French mail Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian vessel Imo remaining the north conclude of the town of Halifax inside of ruins and chaos. The kitchen sink crashed down on two year old Eileen Coleman, badly cutting her neck and leaving her little blue dress spattered with bloodstains that you can see to this day. Such was the case that December morning in Halifax, when Vince Coleman, a railway dispatcher working less than a mile from the explosion, learned what the Mont-Blanc was carrying. Image credits: CAFinUS. 9 Express from Halifax. 10 and save the 300 people aboard? He worked not in the grand brick passenger station on North Street but in the deceptively small wooden station in the middle of the Richmond rail yards. A few days later, searchers found Vincent Coleman's body in the wreckage of the Richmond rail yards. Patrick Vincent "Vince" Coleman (March 13 th, 1872 - December 6 th, 1917) was a Canadian train dispatcher who lost his life during the Halifax Explosion while he warned an oncoming train about the pending disaster.. On that fateful day, the SS Mont-Blanc, a French munitions ship carrying a cargo of high explosives collided with a Norwegian vessel, SS Imo. Did Coleman really stop Train No. He sent orders to the countless trains feeding freight into the ship filled wharves of North End Halifax as well as routing the heavy wartime passenger traffic passing into the North Street Station and the vital troop trains and hospital trains from the Pier 2 ocean liner terminal. His watch speaks grimly of the violent forces which descended on Coleman as its crystal and hands are blown away and its back is pounded in as if by hammers. He was also very active in his railway union. Good-bye boys.”. A sailor appraised train dispatcher Vince Coleman of the danger, and rather than flee, Coleman warned incoming trains: “Hold up the train. He was 11 years old when it happened," he said. 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