Betrayal of Trust: Commander Wyatt and the Halifax Explosion
by Joel Zemel
7:00 pm
Before the Halifax Explosion, F. Evan Wyatt was a recently-married officer with a promising career in the Royal Canadian Navy. He also enjoyed popularity among those in the city’s elite society. But little else is known about the only man indicted for allegedly causing the disaster.
The French munitions ship, SS Mont-Blanc, and the Norwegian freighter, SS Imo, collided in Halifax Harbour on the morning of 6 December 1917. The resultant explosion killed nearly 2,000 people, caused 9,000 thousand injuries and left many more homeless and without shelter. Property losses were in the millions of dollars. In the aftermath of the blast, an inquiry was set up to determine the cause of the collision between the two ships in the harbour. However, the proceedings quickly devolved into a search for scapegoats on whom to lay blame for the explosion.
The captain and pilot of the French vessel were arrested along with the Royal Canadian Navy’s chief examination officer (CXO), Commander F. Evan Wyatt (ret. R.N.R). Each man faced a charge of manslaughter. Charges of criminal negligence were added at a subsequent preliminary hearing. The captain and pilot were soon released on a writ of habeas corpus, but Commander Wyatt was indicted by a grand jury and put on trial. Although duly acquitted, his personal reputation and professional career in Canada were ruined.
Betrayal of Trust delves into the life and times of F. Evan Wyatt, the circumstances leading up to his being scapegoated, and the failure of the Department of the Naval Service of Canada to protect one of its own.
Joel Zemel examines the personal life and career of F. Evan Wyatt before and after the disaster and the criminal litigation that resulted in his being the only person to stand trial on criminal charges related to the Halifax Explosion.
Joel Zemel is a professional jazz musician and documentary filmmaker turned author/historian. He resides and works in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His name is on the list of Professional Researchers for HRM Archives. In 2016, Canada Post Corporation enlisted his services as historical and design consultant for its stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion. Joel continues to write and is in the process of completing his first novel to be published in 2018.
Joel is also the author of Scapegoat, the extraordinary legal proceedings following the 1917 Halifax Explosion, winner of the 2014 Dartmouth Book Award for Non-Fiction, a 2015 bronze medal at the International Publisher Awards in New York City in the Canada East Non-Fiction category and the winner of the 2016 John Lyman Book Award in the category of “Canadian Naval and Maritime History.” Scapegoat retails for $35.00 and Joel will have copies available.
Light refreshments will be served after Joel’s talk.
ADVANCE REVIEWS:
“If I had known the fascinating and poignant tale of Commander Wyatt’s personal life, as related by Joel Zemel, I doubt that the novelist in me could have resisted his compelling story. It gives to the factual literature of the Halifax Explosion, an unusually intimate personal dimension, worthy of a novel.”
- Robert MacNeil, author of the novel Burden of Desire
For additional information:
Richard MacMichael
902-424-8897
richard.macmichael@novascotia.ca