Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Albert Charles Mattison
In memory of:
Boatswain Albert Charles Mattison
December 6, 1917
Military Service
44
Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
H.M.C.S. Niobe
Albert Medal
Additional Information
Husband of Annie Alice Jones (formerly Mattison), of Toronto, Ontario.
Commemorated on Page 292 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
HALIFAX MEMORIAL
Nova Scotia, Canada
Panel 1.
The HALIFAX MEMORIAL in Nova Scotia's capital, erected in Point Pleasant Park, is one of the few tangible reminders of the men who died at sea. Twenty-four ships were lost by the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War and nearly 2,000 members of the RCN lost their lives. This Memorial was erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was unveiled in November 1967 with naval ceremony by H.P. MacKeen, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, in the presence of R. Teillet, then Minister of Veterans Affairs. The monument is a great granite Cross of Sacrifice over 12 metres high, clearly visible to all ships approaching Halifax. The cross is mounted on a large podium bearing 23 bronze panels upon which are inscribed the names of over 3,000 Canadian men and women who were buried at sea. The dedicatory inscription, in French and English, reads as follows:
1918-1945
IN THE HONOUR OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN
OF THE NAVY
ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY
OF CANADA
WHOSE NAMES
ARE INSCRIBED HERE
THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN
BUT THEIR MEMORY
SHALL ENDURE.
On June 19, 2003, the Government of Canada designated September 3rd of each year as a day to acknowledge the contribution of Merchant Navy Veterans.
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Digital Collection
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Inscription – The panel with Albert Charles Mattison's name inscribed, on the Halifax Memorial in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Image taken 4 November 2017 by Tom Tulloch. -
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H.M.C.S. Niobe – The ship in which Albert Charles Mattison served as boatswain, and from which he set off with a group of six ratings in Niobe's steam pinnace in an unsuccessful attempt to scuttle the burning munitions ship S.S. Mont Blanc in Halifax Harbour on 6 December 1917. All seven sailors were killed instantly when the Mont Blanc exploded, after they had come alongside. -
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Albert Medal – The 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.’ The medal was awarded posthumously to Mattison's widow on 18 February 1919; it is currently held by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. -
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A view of Halifax Harbour – shortly after the 6 December 1917 explosion that killed some 2,000 people and injured 9,000. Albert Charles Mattison's ship, HMCS Niobe, can be seen making smoke, beside the tall chimney on the right. -
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Citation -
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Newspaper clipping – From Diane Bennett-Jones. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram December 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper Clipping – From the Toronto Star. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
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Newspaper Cipping
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