Exploration
the first project, dubbed MineQuest, are back, hoping to lay line and discover new landmarks of industrial archaeology. Joined by Gemma Smith, Cas Dobbin, Sabine Kerkau, Johnny O and myself, this is a dream team of congenial cave explorers. Bell Island’s mining history
dates back to 1578, when Anthony Parkhurst, a Bristol Merchant noted “certain mines in the Island of Ore.” But it wasn’t until 1895 that Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Company purchased the property to harvest the rich resources that lay beneath the island. The mines became the lifeblood of the community and by 1923 Bell Island had transformed into the second largest community in Newfoundland. The high value ore
22 Magazine
Guns were placed on the decks of ore-carriers and an artillery shore battery was positioned
was prized for use in shipbuilding and was exported to England, Germany and beyond. World War II, however, changed
everything. With the war of the Atlantic
spreading west, guns were placed on the decks of ore-carriers and an artillery shore battery was positioned on Lance Cove’s steep cliffside. When a young boy was accidentally crushed by the pivoting barrel of the mounted artillery, a
Top: 2016’s dream team of
cave explorers. Left: One
entrance to the
Bell Island Mine, being cleared,
Canadian style. Right: Jill’s
preferred method of gear rinsing!
wedge was installed to prop up the weapon and extend its reach further into the bay. This improvised solution could facilitate intercepting U-boats approaching the shore. Yet in 1942, German U-boats twice raided the island, causing death and destruction. The Germans knew that if they could disrupt the flow of ship building materials, even temporarily, then the Allied war efforts would be seriously affected. In two separate attacks, German Submariners sunk the SS Saganaga and SS Lord Strathcona, followed by the SS Rose Castle, Free French vessel PLM 27, and the loading wharf on Bell Island. In all, 70 men were killed and the sheer temerity of the attack awakened North Americans that
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