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In memory of:

Petty Officer Stoker Ernest Edmund Beard

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Maple leaf on headstone

Military service

Service number: VR/1731
Age: 30
Rank: Petty Officer Stoker
Force: Navy
Unit/Regiment: Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve
Division: H.M.C.S. NIOBE
Death: December 6, 1917

Burial/memorial information

Grave reference: Panel 1.
Additional information
Son of Frederick and Sarah Beard.
Additional citations

Albert Medal<P>CITATION

<P>An extract from The London Gazette dated 18 February 1919, records the following

<P>"Mont Blanc,"
<P>'On the 6th December, 1917, the French Steamer 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 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 endeavor to save the lives of others.

In the Books of Remembrance

Commemorated on:

Page 198 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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