Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Great War Albert Medal for Saving Life at Sea posthumously awarded to Acting Boatswain Albert Charles Mattison, Royal Canadian Navy, for Gallantry in attempting to save lives at the cost of his own; killed in the devastating explosion at Halifax, Nova Scotia when the Mont Blanc blew up on 6 December 1917 - in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded

Albert Medal, 2nd Class, for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea, bronze and enamel, reverse inscribed, ‘Awarded by His Majesty to Albert Charles Mattison, late Acting Boatswain , Royal Canadian Navy, For Gallantry in attempting to save life at the cost of his own life on the occasion of the explosion at Halifax, N.S. on the 6th December 1917’, in case of issue, good very fine £6000-8000

A.M. London Gazette 18 February 1919. ‘The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the posthumous award of the Albert Medal for gallantry in saving life at sea to:

Mr Albert Charles Mattison, late Acting Boatswain, Royal Canadian Navy, and Stoker Petty Officer Edward S.(sic) Beard, late Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve.

On the 6th December, 1917, the French Steamer “Mont Blanc”, with a cargo of high explosives, and the Norwegian Steamer “Imo” were in collision in Halifax Harbour. Fire broke out on the “Mont Blanc” immediately after the collision, and the flames very quickly rose to a height of over 100 feet. The crew abandoned their ship and pulled towards the shore. The commanding officer of H.M.C.S. “Niobe”, which was lying in the harbour, on perceiving what had happened, sent away a steam boat to see what could be done. Mr Mattison and six men of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve volunteered to form the crew of this boat, but just as the boat got alongside the “Mont Blanc” the ship blew up, and Mr Mattison and the whole of the boat’s crew lost their lives. The boat’s crew were fully aware of the desperate nature of the work they were engaged on, and by their gallantry and devotion to duty they sacrificed their lives in the endeavour to save the lives of others.’

Albert Charles Mattison’s name is commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, Nova Scotia. Aged 44 years at the time of his death, he was the husband of Annie Alice Jones (formerly Mattison), of 159 Bleeker Street, Toronto, Ontario. Additionally awarded the 1914-15 Star, British and Victory Medals. A total of six Albert Medals - one in Gold, were awarded as a result of the disaster.

The French steamship Mont Blanc was bound from New York to Halifax with a cargo of 5,000 tons of mixed high explosives. On the morning of 6 December 1917 she was passing through the narrows leading from the outer harbour of Halifax into Bedford Basin. On an opposite course was the Norwegian steamship Imo. With the weather being clear and with plenty of room both ships should have been able to pass each other without incident. However the Imo was sailing in the wrong channel and in the confusion as both vessels tried to evade each other, the Imo rammed into the Mont Blanc. The collision set alight barrels of benzene on the Mont Blanc’s deck, which in turn ignited a cargo of picric acid in one of the forward holds. Efforts to extinguish the blaze were seen to be futile and the crew abandoned ship and made for the shore. Soon after landing ashore, some 20 minutes after the collision, the T.N.T. and other explosives aboard the Mont Blanc exploded. The explosion was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever to occur. An evaluation of the explosion’s force was put at the equivalent of 2.9 kilotons of T.N.T.

The devastation was immense. The Mont Blanc was reduced to wreckage, the Imo which had disengaged from the Mont Blanc was blown bodily ashore but it was the city of Halifax which suffered the most. Swathes of houses were blown apart, people were killed in the blast, in the falling buildings or in the resulting tsunami; thousands of people were either buried or badly cut by flying debris; freight cars were cast into the air to land some two miles distant, ships in the harbour lost two thirds of their crew killed, nearby schools and orphanages collapsed killing many children. The horrendous explosion was heard and felt up to 200 miles away.

The cost was great. Some 2,000 people died, 9,000 were injured; some 1,600 homes were completely destroyed with a further 12,000 damaged to some degree; 326 acres of Halifax was laid waste, with the city’s industrial sector largely destroyed. The damage to the city was computed at the time to be in excess of 30 million dollars.