http://www.NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca/

Mining Association of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Halifax, NS (2026)

06/12/2026

Several million years ago, Halifax Harbour was not a harbour at all - there was just a river that flowed through the area. That river was the precursor to what we now call the Sackville River. In fact, we call it the “Ancient Sackville River.”

The river ran from Bedford through what we now think of as Halifax Harbour, and out to the Scotian Shelf which is now part of the Atlantic Ocean. At that time Bedford Basin, Halifax Harbour and the Scotian Shelf were all dry land.

Through various periods starting about two million years ago, glaciers eroded the softer rock in the harbour. This led to the formation of Bedford Basin as a giant depression and a deeper channel along the harbour. The harder rock did not erode and this left peninsular Halifax and Dartmouth as elevated land masses on the sides of the harbour.

Melting glacier water eventually became a series of lakes in depressions that had eroded in the bedrock, and these lakes were connected by a river and stream system to the ocean. As many as ten lakes once existed in the present area of the harbour.

Rising sea levels gradually moved up the harbour, connecting the lakes, and eventually flooded Bedford Basin 5700 years ago.

People tend to think that the harbour’s present shoreline is how it always was. However, ocean levels are constantly changing. In fact, during glacial times, the ocean levels were as much as 120 metres lower than they are now because so much water was frozen in glaciers. (Sea levels rise as glaciers melt and the water returns to the sea.) This means there were many former shorelines, islands, and lakes throughout Halifax Harbour that are underwater today.

Geologists figure out Earth’s history. While the mining industry uses that knowledge to help find and extract the minerals society needs, it has many other vital uses. For example, geologists help evaluate water resources and study natural hazards, such as arsenic, manganese and uranium in drinking water and radioactive radon gas in our indoor air, to help protect people and the environment.

Nova Scotia does not have many earthquakes today. However, Atlantic Canada did have a big one in 1929 which was a reminder that large, powerful earthquakes can still happen here. In fact, the 1929 quake was Canada's largest loss of life caused by an earthquake. See the story at https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid0uGN5p2hjHPNGHYnrwNRtYpXVpdrvhCkRrNskYoqpfAPCkrEEBpo3Za9q1TfeHBbsl

06/11/2026

BESCO took over most of Nova Scotia’s coal mines in 1920, kickstarting a turbulent, and sometimes violent, period in labour relations. Despite the company’s often-heartless attitude, it started a pension that helped many miners retire – but not out of compassion.

BESCO – the British Empire Steel Corporation – was formed through a merger of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company and the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company in 1920-21. The company was immediately a behemoth, controlling Nova Scotia’s steel production, most of its coal mines, the Halifax Shipyards and Newfoundland’s Wabana iron mines.

However, it also faced huge challenges. Demand for steel and coal dropped after World War One, and the company, with too little capital, needed to achieve unrealistic financial targets each year just to stay afloat.

In a desperate struggle to survive, the company’s management tried to cut costs by reducing miners’ wages and imposing other hardships on its employees, and tried to limit miners’ right to strike. This led to a series of strikes and confrontations with miners – a total of 58 in the Cape Breton coalfields alone between 1920 and 1925.

BESCO used its own security personnel, sometimes with support from the militia and police, to end strikes with force.

It was in this period that miner William Davis was shot and killed at the New Waterford Lake riot on June 11, 1925. Davis Day, still held each year on June 11, is a tradition that honours his death and those of other miners killed in Nova Scotia’s coal mines. It also acknowledges miners’ historical struggle for fair wages and better working conditions.

Today, Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry is the highest-paying resource industry in Nova Scotia, with average total compensation of more than $100,000 per year. We are also one of the safer industries in the province. We have reduced our injury rate 90% since the Westray public inquiry report of 1997.

Labour challenges, shrinking steel and coal markets and millions in debt led to BESCO’s bankruptcy in 1927, and the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (Dosco) took over its assets.

In the midst of all these challenges, BESCO established a company pension fund in 1923 that helped older miners retire. However, this was not merely an act of kindness on the company’s part. Many company pensions in the late 1800s and early 1900s were attempts by companies to control their employees - to keep them loyal and reduce strikes, according to “A Brief History of Pensions in Canada,” by Unions for Public Good.

Nonetheless, a number of BESCO coal miners had retired by 1930 with the help of the pension.

According to the pension fund’s sixth annual report, between 1923 and 1930 it had paid out a total of $236,514 to retirees. The average years of service of the retirees was 41 and the average age on retirement was 70.

The total number of pensioners over those six years was 435. Of those, 106 pensions had been terminated due to deaths (104) and men who had returned to work (2).

The pension payments were based on years of service and 25 years of work at BESCO and its predecessor companies were required to be eligible. The average paid over the six years was $10.10 per month, but the average in 1929 was $35.35 per month. Three miners received the maximum pension payment of $75 per month that year, worth about $1350 per month in 2025 dollars.

The Evening Mail wrote, “The statistics given in the report…indicate the stamina, sturdy physique and general good health of the average Nova Scotia mine worker, with so many years being spent at the hard work of coal mining.”

The Evening Mail did a series of articles in 1930 that profiled some of the retired miners. Here are some of their stories:

Thomas Casey Sr. of Glace Bay was born in 1856 and started working at Glace Bay’s Caledonia mine in 1867. He worked there his entire career, starting as a trapper boy and rising all the way to underground manager. He retired in 1924 after 57 years of service.

Casey “has been one of the most respected citizens of the town,” according to the Evening Mail. “He has been a member of the board of St. Joseph’s hospital ever since the hospital was founded and several times in the early years of the town after incorporation he refused pressing requests to allow himself to be nominated for the town council. One of his sons, the late ‘Jack’ Casey, one of the most popular and successful mining men in Cape Breton, who died suddenly a few years ago, followed in his father’s footsteps by working up from a driver boy in Caledonia mine to become manager of the colliery.”

Hector McLean was born in Malagawatch in 1854. He went to work at the Bridgeport mine in 1873 and later worked at the Old Bridgeport mine, Dominion No. 1 and the No. 1-B until 1926 when he retired after 53 years of work. “His capability as a miner early won him promotion, and when pensioned he held the responsible position of deputy overman and examiner,” said the Evening Mail. “Mr. McLean is one of the ‘solid’ citizens of the town of Dominion, and served three terms in the town council. Three of his sons served in the Great War, one making the supreme sacrifice.”

Norman Robertson was born in Big Glace Bay in 1853, and started work there in 1868. He went on to work at coal mines in Schooner Cove, Lingan and Caledonia. He started working at the Dominion No. 6 mine when it opened in 1904 and worked there until he retired in 1926 after 57 years of service.

Thomas Stevenson was “one of the best type of old Cape Breton miners.” He was born in Newfoundland in 1856 but moved to Cape Breton where he started working at the Lingan mine in 1870. He went on to work in Victoria Mines and Reserve, where he retired in 1927 from his position as the mine’s examiner. “Notwithstanding his 57 years of service, Mr. Stevenson’s vigor and capability were such that the manager of the mine strongly protested against his being retired.”

Michael McMullin, born in 1843 in Castle Bay, worked from 1868 to 1924 at a long list of Cape Breton mines in Bridgeport, Blockhouse, Caledonia, Big Glace Bay and Bridgeport again. Next he went to Reserve, Lingan and back to Reserve where he remained until retirement after 56 years of work. “He was one of the first miners to be pensioned under the Besco pension scheme, but notwithstanding his 86 years is still ‘going strong.’”

Norman McRury was born in 1858 at Main-a-Dieu. He worked 56 years, first at Big Glace Bay and then at various other Glace Bay mines. His final job was as a rail car inspector with the Sydney and Louisbourg Railway. He retired in 1927. “Mr. McRury is well known and much respected all through the South Cape Breton mining district,” wrote the Evening Mail.

BESCO also owned mainland coal mines and some of the retirees featured by the Evening Mail were from Pictou and Cumberland counties. The Evening Mail reporter in Pictou County wrote that the retired miners from that county were “noted for their fine type of manhood.”

Daniel Gillis was born in Albert Mines, New Brunswick, in 1861. He started work in Stellarton at the age of eight in the Cage Pit and rose through the ranks to become manager of the Albion mine in 1912. He stepped down from that position in 1916 due to poor health, but continued working as building inspector and examiner until he retired in 1929 “with a splendid record of 60 years’ service.”

Alex B. McDonald of Stellarton, born in 1860, started working at nine years of age in the Dalhousie and Cage Pit mines. He worked in several other Pictou County mines, eventually serving the last 23 years of his career in the McGregor and Albion mines as overman, examiner and engineer. He retired in 1924 after 63 years of work.

“Few, if any, men have the long record of service that is to the credit of Abner McLean of Springhill,” wrote the Evening Mail. McLean was born in Boularderie, Cape Breton, in 1852. He started work at nine years old in the Lingan mine. He later worked in Cow Bay (now called Port Morien), Caledonia, Stellarton, Vale and Springhill. He retired in 1926 as an overman after 64 years of work. “D. H. McLean, district superintendent of the Cumberland mining district, is a son of this fine old Nova Scotia miner.”

See the story of Glace Bay's Dominion No. 4 mine (aka the Caledonia): https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid0366Ka2uta8nXyWK2fmcr5qqR5EMCNANU9CkEmSUkLcf7stiq7VyC7ck5rRpLpinJbl

See why metallurgical coal from mines like Cape Breton's Donkin mine is essential to achieving climate goals: https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid02sXk1c1YneoUS2hA5VRyCUF5GF34MiSQKDYGgAremcuR6PLQmSLZgfGSVhWaHMsMtl

Mines and quarries create a lot of jobs, both directly and indirectly. A recently approved project at the Moose River gold mine is an example. See the story at https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid02XS47tERdytgfAchY9B8Xcnp1zGpPqULHdk4yYpBJ41ssrAWTMbTvjSUFJHJxnuAkl

06/10/2026

An 1869 report about the Waverley gold district criticizes the often disorganized, unprofessional mining that took place in that era – and helps explain why Nova Scotia’s early gold miners often left an unfortunate environmental legacy.

Fortunately, their unsophisticated methods were left behind generations ago and modern gold mining is a science and technology-based activity that takes excellent care of the environment.

Gold was discovered in Waverley, Halifax County, in 1861 on the farm of Charles P. Allen. The area had over 30 gold mines by 1864 and Waverley's population grew from 200 to 2000 by 1868.

Many of Nova Scotia’s gold miners in the 1800s were not miners at all. They were often farmers, tradesmen and men drawn from any number of other professions because they thought the only skill required was the ability to swing a hammer to smash rock. They usually had little or no expertise in mining and they certainly had no knowledge of how to take care of the environment.

Henry Youle Hind, a consulting geologist to the Government of Nova Scotia in that period, lamented the mining that was done in Waverley in the 1860s.

Hind pointed out that far too many shafts were being dug, which increased costs and generated little revenue, when fewer shafts and more tunnelling on leads (gold-bearing quartz veins) would have been more efficient: “The number of shafts sunk by different companies on these leads, within a mean distance of 2000 feet, is fifty-four... On area 155, for example, there are four shafts on the Tudor Lead and three shafts on the North Lead – the breadth of the area being 150 feet. On area 102 there are three shafts on the Tudor and three on the North Lead, the same on areas 164 and 102. On the property of one company there are 8 shafts on the North Lead in the space of 450 feet, and 9 shafts on the Tudor Lead within the same distance. The leads being but sixty feet apart. Two main shafts, with suitable hoisting and pumping machinery, and cross galleries, would have been ample, and the saving in labour and time would have greatly reduced the cost of mining the quartz.”

Hind criticized the amateurish processing of ore, the rock that hosts the gold: “It has been shown that it is probable that one-third of the gold was lost in the tailings, which were allowed to escape…directly into the River.”

Hind wrote that miners were mixing ore from different leads in the mill, which made it impossible to gather data on the different leads. “The practice of mixing quartz from different leads and crushing the whole together is to be condemned. It is impossible by the adoption of this method to ascertain whether a lead is paying or not. A poor lead worked at the same cost as a rich lead may neutralize all the benefits which would be obtained if the rich lead were worked alone. Each lead ought to be crushed by itself, and a statement of the result with the cost of mining the quartz recorded.”

Hind pointed out that historical miners often did not keep proper plans of their mines, which made planning difficult. Other than two minor documents, Hind wrote, “I was unable to obtain any plan of surface workings, much less any plan of underground workings, and the agents of the different companies uniformly informed me that none to their knowledge were in existence.” (The lack of plans was a problem during the Moose River disaster in 1936: https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid02NZFhsnusYt1bPxV5dgmC1CHxLxQ3i1NWHULn1Go28Dc1wWMadZ8EERFDJxzUeYYTl).

Another common problem in Nova Scotia’s historical gold mines was lack of capital to buy proper equipment and to get through the inevitable periods when output decreased: “The absorption of all returns to pay large dividends is as a rule as fatal an error in gold mining as in most other enterprises. When the different mines were yielding very handsome returns, it was most unwise to suppose that such unlooked-for prosperity would continue for any length of time. Nevertheless it appears that nearly all the profits were at once divided amongst the shareholders, and no reserve fund permitted to accumulate. Hence when the returns grew less the necessary means to provide machinery for deeper workings were not forthcoming, and, as a consequence, most of the establishments were closed… All experience in gold mining tends to prove that all leads or veins are more or less intermittent in yield…At the same time proper machinery for hoisting and drainage must be adopted in order to arrive at this result, which, it need scarcely be observed, cannot be obtained if shareholders insist on a division of all profits, without leaving any reserve for contingencies, and subsequently refuse to raise additional funds when the period for the application arrives.”

The staking system set up in the early 1860s by the Government of Nova Scotia only allowed for very small claims, which limited a company’s working area, discouraged investment in more sophisticated and expensive equipment, and sometimes caused neighbouring mines to impact each other. “The narrowness of the properties is a great objection to permanent operations. Several companies at Waverley have only 450 feet on the leads…The absence of any regulations defining the space which different companies shall leave between the workings on the same or adjacent lead is likely to become a fruitful source of trouble. In one instance at Waverley the agents of two companies decided not to touch the quartz within four feet of their boundary on either side, with a view to prevent by means of an eight foot dividing wall the water from one mine draining into the other. This agreement, I was informed, was faithfully kept on one side and as grossly abused on the other, the whole of the four feet of quartz being removed. The consequence is that the works on one mine being stopped, the proprietors of the other have been vainly endeavoring to drain both on account of leakage through the dividing wall, which unfortunately has hitherto defied all their attempts to arrest.”

Hind offered an interesting example of poor planning: the building of a mill on low ground which made it necessary to mechanically carry tailings away, when the usual approach would be to build the mill on an elevated site so tailings could simply flow downhill. “A remarkable instance of want of foresight in a most important department of mining economics is presented in the construction of one of the largest steam crushing mills. The site selected for this mill is so low that the tailings, as they leave the mill, are now required to be hoisted by a revolving wheel, furnished with buckets, to a sluice, where they have an opportunity of escaping over the accumulated heaps near the mill, but without any attempt at concentration, or saving any of the gold which they undoubtedly contain. This is equivalent to employing power, machinery and labour, to get rid of 1 dwt., 16 ½ grains of gold per ton. A buddle [container] to concentrate the tailings and save the gold, could have been constructed at far less cost than the present ingenious contrivance to hoist the tailings out of the way.”

While Hind’s focus was not on environmental impacts – society’s environmental awareness was still a century away – his comments about historical mining help explain its unfortunate environmental legacy. The miners and their technology simply lacked sophistication. Also, there were adhering to the standards of the era, which did not include any concerns about the environment.

Mines today can often even remediate historical tailings as part of the modern mining process by moving them into the modern mine’s tailings facility, as was done at the modern Moose River gold mine when it extracted between 2017-23. The mine remediated two historical mine sites, including 61,000 tonnes of contaminated soil and 59,000 tonnes of historical tailings.

Also, before getting operating permits, modern mining companies must get government approval of reclamation plans and post reclamation bonds (money in escrow, basically) that ensure funds are available to properly take care of sites. In fact, reclamation is a key part of the mining process today and progressive reclamation - reclaiming areas where extraction is complete while continuing to mine elsewhere on-site – is standard industry practice.

Learn more about the differences between modern and historical gold mining at https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/modern-gold-mining

Gold is considered a safe haven in uncertain economic times like this. It is also essential in all modern electronics, including electric vehicles and phones. 75% of Nova Scotians support mining gold (tmans.ca/polling).

Mines and quarries create a lot of jobs, both directly and indirectly. A recently approved project at the Moose River gold mine is an example. See the story at https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid02XS47tERdytgfAchY9B8Xcnp1zGpPqULHdk4yYpBJ41ssrAWTMbTvjSUFJHJxnuAkl

06/09/2026

The Newark Plaster Company operated a gypsum quarry at Ottawa Brook, Victoria County, from 1907-1927.

The quarry struggled in its early years due to sinkholes that prevented the company from obtaining a good-sized working face - none were taller than 15 feet, quite small by industry standards.

As a result, the Ottawa Brook quarry was actually several quarries that were considered one operation. By 1921 it had as many as five sites operating, including one underground which operated briefly around 1921. Nova Scotia has world-class gypsum deposits and with so much available near-surface, there generally isn’t any reason to incur the much higher costs of mining it underground. The brief underground operation at Ottawa Brook was unusual and likely done to address a site-specific challenge, i.e. there may have been a small reserve of gypsum that could only be accessed via a tunnel, but not enough to justify the costs of an ongoing underground operation.

The quarry’s early challenges with small working faces were eventually overcome. In later years, the working faces in the main quarry were approximately 40-50 feet in height, which allowed for greater operational efficiency. This was the result of moving operations to areas with fewer sinkholes.

Most of the gypsum was mined from one elongated pit about 600 metres north of the Canadian National Railway trestle at Ottawa Brook.

The gypsum was extracted using hand augers to drill holes in the rock. Black powder or “rack-a-rock” dynamite was inserted into the drill holes to blast the rock, freeing it from the face.

Stone was hauled by a narrow-gauge railway (3-foot gauge, 40-pound rails) to loadout facilities at McKinnons Harbour, 1.6 kilometres south of the quarry. A trail that roughly follows the old rail track leads to the site from the paved road.

A rock crusher at the pier crushed the rock down to 3-inch chunks and screened it to remove fines (fines are particles of rock resulting from the crushing process).

The two World Wars often caused significant challenges for Nova Scotia mines and quarries. In a number of cases, sites were even shut down due to the lack of labour and materials during wartime. While that was not the case in Ottawa Brook, the quarry extracted 925 tons of gypsum in 1916 but was unable to ship any of it because the company could not get any vessels to carry it.

A calcining plant was installed in 1920. (Calcining means to heat a mineral to the point of changing its mineral structure. It is part of the process of turning raw gypsum into plaster so it can be used in products like wallboard, mouldings and casts.)

At its peak from 1923-25, the quarry produced an average of 23,500 tons of gypsum per year and employed an average of 53 men.

A sketch of the quarry with its multiple working areas from the 1940s is below.

The area is known to have amazing gypsum deposits. The Little Narrows gypsum quarry is to the northwest and the historical Grass Cove quarry, just north of Iona, is to the east.

A classic karst terrain can be seen about two kilometres north of Ottawa Brook where there is a line of lakes called the Plaster Ponds. A karst terrain is characterized by numerous caves, sinkholes, fissures, and underground streams. The sinkholes are caused by groundwater naturally eroding rocks like gypsum that are water-soluble. The water erodes the rock, leaving an underground cavern. Eventually, the weight of the rock and earth above the cavern causes the sinkhole to form.

The Plaster Ponds are depressions left at surface when the rock and earth sank into the underground cavities. They filled with water, forming beautiful ponds.

Nova Scotia has traditionally been one of the world’s biggest producers of gypsum, supplying many plaster, and later wallboard, factories on the US east coast. Today, the walls of most Nova Scotian homes contain gypsum quarried in the province.

Gypsum is 21% water at the molecular level and is therefore fire-resistant. This is the main reason why it is used in wallboard: safety.

See the story of the gypsum quarry in Iona at https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid0mbsr4ENbTf1Go3JXsoRbhqBUsugfL3m5qXQEZxDEm9UR6QL6NRpx4zaGFMs1jTQKl

Mines and quarries create a lot of jobs, both directly and indirectly. A recently approved project at the Moose River gold mine is an example. See the story at https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid02XS47tERdytgfAchY9B8Xcnp1zGpPqULHdk4yYpBJ41ssrAWTMbTvjSUFJHJxnuAkl

The Government of Nova Scotia has kickstarted work on Minerals Play Fairway, our proposal for an airborne geophysical survey program that will help find future mines and quarries and be a key tool for attracting investment and job creation. Learn about geophysics and why it's important in mineral exploration: https://facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid0GAoDUAAUNaxCHMSZ2J4SxPX2cwbyu5wodLKMrQ9NeuHxDgirQHw2JUEXP8mTxvUhl

06/08/2026

Mining and quarrying make temporary use of land and do reclamation to prepare it for its next use. Reclamation usually means returning a mine/quarry to nature but it can also mean preparing it for development.

This is Dartmouth Crossing in 2004 when it was the site of two quarries and in 2017 after it had become one of Nova Scotia's premier shopping districts.

Before getting operating permits, mining and quarrying companies must get government approval of reclamation plans and post reclamation bonds (money in escrow, basically) that ensure funds are available to properly take care of sites. Reclamation is a key part of the mining process in the modern era.

See more examples of reclaimed Nova Scotian mines and quarries at https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/reclamation-examples

06/07/2026

Many Nova Scotian miners served their country during the world wars. Here is the story of Private Colin Francis MacEachern.

MacEachern was born at Judique, Inverness County, on May 9, 1892, but was raised on a farm at East Havre Boucher, Antigonish County.

MacEachern was a coal miner in Glace Bay by the time of the 1911 census. A half dozen coal mines operated in Glace Bay in the early 1900s and we do not know at which mine(s) he worked.

It was in Glace Bay that he enlisted with the 94th Regiment’s local militia detachment during the First World War. He started training with a Cape Breton detachment of the 40th Battalion (Halifax Rifles) in 1915 and arrived in France in January 1916 to fight with the 25th Battalion, the first Nova Scotian volunteer unit to serve on the Western Front.

Throughout the winter of 1915-16, patrols were conducted in No Man’s Land to probe German defences and attack enemy trenches. To carry out these nightly activities, each battalion trained a small group of men to act as scouts. Their duties involved leading patrols to locate German defensive positions and guiding bombing parties to their targets. Scouts also accompanied relieving units to help familiarize them with their new sectors.

MacEachern served as a scout.

On the night of February 28, 1916, the 25th’s officers organized four scouting patrols, working in two shifts. The first two groups departed at 9:30 p.m., one accompanied by scouts Charles Dawson (Sydney), Robert Waylein (Canso), and Frank Kizer (Round Hill, NS). During their patrol, the group located a German “sausage bomb” and delivered it to the unit’s gr***de officer. Scouts Thomas Addicott (New Aberdeen, CB), William Curtis (Glace Bay) and a Pte. Trudell led a second patrol close to the German line, where they heard work parties “hammering stakes and sawing wood.”

A second pair of patrols departed at 1:00 a.m. MacEachern was one of three scouts accompanying a group led by Lance-Corporal Abraham Thurgood (Gabarus, CB). The party explored the area to the right of a farm, while their compatriots ventured to its left. Both groups reached the German wire, which “was only four to six feet thick and not heavy.” Fortunately, none of the night’s parties encountered enemy patrols.

The following night, another four parties entered No Man’s Land, accompanied by the same scouts. Once again, the soldiers advanced as far as the German wire, which was considerably thicker than the section explored on the previous night. The soldiers reported that the “ground on our front [was] grassy with few shell holes.”

Nightly patrols continued until March 5, at which time the 25th briefly retired to Brigade Reserve. Two days later, the unit returned to the front trenches and nightly patrols resumed.

On the night of March 13/14, two officers, guided by scouts MacEachern and Waylein, conducted a raid on the German line, throwing 30 gr***des into enemy trenches and detonating two “Bengalore torpedoes” underneath the German wire. Reports indicated that “all but two of the hand gr***des landed in the trench and as it was a complete surprise, at least several casualties must have occurred.”

The following day, the 25th retired to Divisional Reserve for a well-deserved rest. On March 18, however, two of its officers — Major Duncan S. Bauld (Halifax, NS) and Major William Bates (Birkenhead, Cheshire, England) — returned to the forward area to look over new trenches near Locre, Belgium. While the 25th’s war diary does not identify their companions, subsequent events indicate that at least one scout — MacEachern — accompanied them.

German snipers spotted the group. Both officers were “seriously wounded,” Major Bates succumbing to his injuries six days later.

Private Colin Francis MacEachern was “shot through the head by an enemy bullet and [instantly] killed.” He was laid to rest in La Laiterie Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Our thanks to all veterans for their service.

Our thanks to the Antigonish Cenotaph Project for sharing MacEachern’s story and those of other Nova Scotians who served in WWI (https://antigonishcenotaphproject.wordpress.com/).

Cape Breton coal miner John Croak received the Victoria Cross for his bravery during the First World War. See his story at https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid0CFezu5LsaynEtAd4B64Vv2aiwHV4kp1zZiGFs6AjHGeMvqrNg7uio1aK6SpyYT6zl

Joseph C. Cope (Joe) was a Mi’kmaw prospector whose story, and that of his family, was remarkable: https://www.facebook.com/MiningNS/posts/pfbid02h6dmbnf9LQzmCXb26USgpMZELbiQLjyr518PTTw2nTkm4s7dpZNDCCxMYstFfdZql

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