On December 6, 1917, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was shaken by the largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb. A French cargo ship, Mont-Blanc, carrying high explosives, collided with another vessel in the harbor. As the ship caught fire, Vince Coleman, a nearby railway dispatcher, realized a passenger train was minutes away from entering the danger zone. Instead of running to safety, he rushed back to his telegraph to send a final message warning to stop the train.
His words, “Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys,” were hauntingly precise. Moments later, the Mont-Blanc exploded with the force of 2.9 kilotons of TNT, destroying much of Halifax, killing nearly 2,000 people, and injuring thousands more. Coleman died instantly, but his message reached the train station in time, saving over 300 passengers from certain death.
Coleman’s sacrifice became a powerful symbol of selfless duty. Though a civilian, his actions were honored with memorials, plaques, and a Canadian Heritage Minute. His story is still taught in schools and remembered as a rare act of heroism amid unimaginable disaster—a quiet man who chose others’ lives over his own.