He came close to tragedy

Records indicate that he saw active duty on several ships including his basic training between August and November,  1914.

He was transferred to the Naval Base Vivid I at Devonport, England on Nov. 6 and remained at this base until Dec. 30, when he was shipped out on New Year’s Eve to HMS Oropesa. This vessel was born as a commerical liner but was converted for use as an Armed Merchant Cruiser. Shortly after Ben joined the Oropesa, the ship was renamed the HMS Champagne.

She was torpedoed on Oct.  9, 1917, and Ben was re-assigned to the naval base at Vivid I in February, 1915.

He remained there until February, 1916, when we was transferred to the newly-launched HMS Snapdragon, an Arabis class sloop.

The HMS Snapgragon was a minesweeper and Ben spent until March 31 aboard sweeping the northern waters for minefields.

In April, 1916 he was ordered to report to the HMS Egmont, a base ship located at Malta, a small Southern European Island country.

In February, 1917 he joined the HMS Pelorus at Suda Bay on the island of Crete. He remained here until Aug. 16, 1917, when he was assigned to HMS Vivid III for the first of three times, the others being Nov. 27, 1917, to March 19, 1918, and January to February, 1919.

From March 20, 1918, to December 31 of that year he was assigned to the base at Egmont. He arrived back in the port of St. John’s on Feb. 19, 1919, and spent his finally navy days at the HMS Briton. He was demobilized April 10, 1919, free of military obligations and able to return to his hometown of Gooseberry Cove.

Ben was also present during the Halifax explosion and would have witnessed the devastation that occurred when the HMS Niobe was requested to tow the IMO out of Halifax Harbour. The IMO, carrying a load munitions, had collided with the Mont Blanc, caught on fire, and exploded, wiping out a great portion of the homes and businesses along  the habour front.

The writer of the article “Trinity Bay In Great Halifax Explosion”  was not aware of when Ben joined the HMS Niobe. It was likely he went aboard in Halifax after the completion of a month’s leave granted to visit his friends and family at Gooseberry Cove. He would have travelled to comfort his grieving mother and sister-in-law, over the lose of Luke. This leave was granted in fall of 1917.

Ben claimed that he was located below deck, which likely saved his life, when the explosion occurred. The events that happened were unknown to Ben at the time because he was possibly asleep or just resting in his bunk.

After the collision, the Commander of the HMS Niobe agreed to tow the French cargo ship away from the harbour because there appeared to be no immediate threat.

It was only when the HMS Niobe approached the cargo ship that the explosion occurred and most all men on deck were killed or wounded.

When Ben joined the rest of the crew rushing to the upper deck, the magnitude of the explosion was revealed. He also realized that he had lost his sailor cap and when he stepped on deck he grabbed the cap from one of the two bodies of sailors he saw.

He was quoted as saying of that time, “ there was punishment if a sailor was found not wearing his cap and I knew he won’t be needing his cap anymore. I wore the cap for the rest of war.”

His shipmates were allowed to go ashore to assist people that were in shock and needed assistance. He witnessed a lot of terrible sights that day, devastation caused by explosives to humans and their infrastructures, the response of looters, and the screams of severely injured people.

Ben continued his journey overseas and completed his time serving his King. On April 10, 1919, he was demobilized from the H.M.S. Briton and returned to his home of Gooseberry Cove. He had served five years and one month.

When he returned, he married Mary Jane Lambert of Southport on July 18, 1919, at Heart’s Content. She died of kidney trouble a year later. He re-married Eliza Ann Hiscock of Hodge’s Cove on Oct. 2, 1924,  at the Church of England in St. John’s.

They had six children: four girls and two boys. He moved his family to Hillview in December, 1938, and he died there on Jan. 9, 1978.