HalifaxYesterday: Charles John Mayers: The Real Life Story Behind ‘The Flying Sailor’

The common phrase, “truth is stranger than fiction,” is applied to incredible real-life stories which defy belief. What happened on the morning of 6 December 1917 to a 22 year-old merchant mariner named Charles John Mayers (1896-1959), is as true as it is incredulous: A man, swept up by the explosion and carried high through the air for nearly half a mile, was thrown back to earth and survived.

 

An award-winning National Film Board (NFB) film directed by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby entitled The Flying Sailor, has received an Oscar nomination for this year's Best Animated Short Film. The project has brought some well-deserved curiosity regarding the real-life story of Charles John Mayers to whom the film is dedicated. The Flying Sailor is a creative interpretive work that combines animation with real-world images and a beautiful musical score to tell the tale of Mayers' experience.

However, relating a more detailed historical account of the actual harrowing event as well as those situations which occurred after the film leaves off is this article's main purpose.

Although Charles Mayers was never personally interviewed by any newspaper reporters, versions of his story were printed in all of the local editions of the day. The following information is primarily from Mayers' first-hand eyewitness testimony during one day of the wreck commissioner's inquiry in the Exchequer Court of Canada on 21 December 1917. The proceedings took place in Courtroom #1 (now, #4) on Spring Garden Road, Halifax.

After the SS Mont-Blanc (France) and SS Imo (Norway) collided in Halifax Harbour, a fire erupted aboard the French ship. Her manifest listed tons of volatile picric acid, guncotton, T.N.T., as well as over 400 barrels of inflammable benzol on the open decks. Numerous rounds of ammunition for her two guns were stored fore and aft. At the point of collision on Mont-Blanc's starboard side, Imo had pierced the forward hold containing the picric acid and ignited a fire – which then quickly moved upward towards the decks via spilled benzol flowing overboard.

Only a handful of naval personnel in Halifax were aware of the T.N.T. aboard Mont-Blanc with the exception of her crew, who knew of all of the holds' contents. Yet virtually no one in the city had any idea of the bulk of the cargo or could possibly fathom the extreme volatility of those explosives.

The British cargo ship SS Middleham Castle (Master, Captain Kelly) had arrived in the port of Halifax on 24 November 1917 and was slated to depart for New York on 25 December following an overhaul at the Dry Dock. Charles Mayers, originally from Seaforth, Lancashire, was the third officer and on his first voyage with this vessel. He observed the collision and resultant fire from aboard his ship which was rafted together with two others off the Graving Dock, approximately 200 hundred yards south of Pier 6. Following the collision, Mont-Blanc made her way to the south side of the pier on her own power and beached on the shore, broadside to Middleham Castle. On a whim, Mayers decided to leave the relative safety of his vessel and head on his own towards the burning ship.

1917 Halifax Harbour Map, Joel Zemel Collection

 

During his inquiry testimony, Mayers told the Court that on his way to the conflagration, he soon began to feel extremely ill at ease. He likely noticed several loud but minor explosions of overheated benzol drums bursting on deck and taking off into the air like fireworks. When he was within 100 yards of Mont-Blanc, he thought it might be best to go back and seek shelter as he had witnessed ships explode in the past. So, he quickly turned around and ran as fast as he could in the direction of Middleham Castle.

He reached his ship and made his way up to the port deck where he stood with the second mate as they continued to watch the intense fire. Suddenly, the powerful 2.9 kiloton blast occurred and Mayers was swept from his ship by a powerful updraft. He found out later that the second mate survived and was not taken from the deck. However, the only other witness who knew he had returned to the ship, Chief Steward, Charles D. Silva, was Middleham Castle's only fatality.

Explosion Blast Cloud, Harbour view to Bedford Basin, Joel Zemel Collection

The incredulity and in many cases, disbelief, of Mayers' experience of flying through the air and landing atop Needham Hill was well-known by the time the inquiry took place and unfortunately followed him into the courtroom.

The following is a matter of fact exchange between Crown counsel William A. Henry and Charles Mayers:

Q.- Any sound of the explosion?

A- Not that I remember; everything went dark.

Q.- Describe your experiences? 

A – I don't feel proud of it altogether.

Q.- You were hurled through the air a considerable distance?

A.- Yes, I was on top of Fort Needham hill, about a half a mile from the ship.

Q.- You were fully dressed at the time going up?

A.- Yes, heavy coat on, and when I realized where I was I had nothing on but just my boots.

Q.- Everything went black?

A.- Yes.

Q.- And you had a sensation of revolving?

A.- Yes, revolving sensation; I tried to throw myself back and could not.

Q.- And also of knocking against something?

A.- Yes, I remember hitting something with my left side.

Q.- And you were going through the air you had the sensation?

A.- I remember meeting pieces of timber and wood; I was quite conscious; I felt the water; I thought I was under the bottom of the sea somewhere.

Q: You had the sensation of being under water?

A.- Yes, I was wet when I came down.

Q.- You fell on your left side.

A.- Yes.

Q.- And that stopped you?

A.- Yes.

Q.- You were pretty badly injured?

A.- Very badly cut; nothing broken. 

Q.- Your face was pretty well cut all over?

A.- Yes, I picked nails and pieces of wood out of my face.

At the heart of the inquiry and all subsequent civil proceedings to determine responsibility for the collision was a $2,000,000 damages claim – if Mont-Blanc had been the cause of the accident, her owners La Compagnie Generale Transatlantique would be awarded the money. If Imo were at fault, the claim would go to her owners.

By all accounts, Mayers was a credible witness and appeared to possess an almost photographic memory. He had indeed witnessed the entire circumstances leading up to and following the collision – from the time Imo came down the harbour from Bedford Basin and The Narrows until the accident took place just across from Pier 9 near midstream. He also clearly recalled the exchange of whistle signals between the two ships and their positions. His testimony was succinct, truthful. Throughout, the young man remained unflappable.

Notwithstanding the prejudice towards French-Canadians for their stance against the country going to war for Britain, most people in Halifax had assumed the blame for the collision should be assigned to the French ship, Mont-Blanc. After all, the entire crew escaped to Dartmouth (with one casualty on land) while there were seven fatalities aboard Imo, including Captain Haakon From, First Officer Iverson, and local Pilot William Hayes. Complications also arose regarding an unwritten rule that it was inadvisable to speak ill of the dead.

Even before the inquiry, the consensus was that the accident had taken place on the Halifax side of midstream, thus, the French ship was to blame. Imo's company also contended the accident took place on the Halifax side. Conversely, Mayers continually affirmed his point that the collision took place on the Dartmouth side of the line which indicated Imo was to blame – much to Charles Jost Burchell's chagrin.

Burchell, counsel for the Southern Whaling Co. Ltd., owners of Imo, was particularly hard on the young third officer. Burchell wanted to completely discredit his testimony regarding signals and locations and went so far as to hammer Mayers with invective, bringing up inane subject matter such as how many steps did he count coming into the courtroom and whether he read fantasy as a child such as Jules Verne books or Deadeye Dick.* Counsel commented that Mayers' experience was considered a joke by his crew mates; to which Mayers replied, “A good many people do.”

Q.- You said you were ashamed of it?

A.- No.

Q.- I thought you said you were ashamed?

A.- I was not proud of the experience of being blown in the air.

Q.- When you came to you were not quite yourself?

A.- No, my mind was affected.

Q.- And you saw some horrible sights?

A.- I did; I did see some horrible sights; I remember them.

Q.- A woman badly mangled giving birth to a child?

A.- I did in a field.

Q.- You wandered around and didn't know where you were?

A.- I didn't know until I was picked up by a blue jacket from the Niobe and taken to the hospital.

Q.- And been under medical treatment since? The doctor fixed you up?

A.- Yes, at the house.

Q.- You went to the hospital first and then to a private house?  A.- I did.

Burchell then bluffed by suggesting he could produce a witness who said Mayers did not go back to his ship but rather ran up a hill just before the explosion. The third officer categorically stated he did not do such a thing and that he would be surprised if such a witness was produced.

Mayers was next examined by Humphrey Mellish, who represented the owners of Mont-Blanc and wanted to know more about his ordeal:

Q.- You stated you had no clothing after the explosion?

A.- None whatever.

Q.- And you were found on a hill?

A.- In a field amongst burning houses.

Q.- And you were taken care of then? 

A.- I could not properly walk from the pain in my feet.

Q.- Some people took care of you?

A.- I helped myself: I got a pair of trousers from a house and a mackintosh coat.

Q.- And a blue jacket assisted you?

A.- Yes, to a conveyance; a motor car.

Q.- And since then you have been provided with clothing from the Relief Committee?

A.- I have what remains on my own ship.

Mr. Mellish went on to establish that Mayers had stayed at the hospital for thirteen hours and then recuperated at the house of Mr. Hart of the Green Lantern Building. Mayers verified that he had also been interviewed prior to his inquiry testimony by Mr. Mellish himself, Mr. Gaboury, French Consul and the chairman of the Relief Committee, and Mr Burchell.

The biassed three-man inquiry panel concluded that Mont-Blanc was entirely to blame for the collision. One of the panel's members, Judge Arthur Drysdale, oversaw the first of the civil litigations and made the same conclusion. This led to the appeals and cross-appeal by the ships' owners to the higher courts. Ultimately, The location of the collision was determined irrelevant by the Supreme Court of Canada (19 May 1919) as well as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (22 March 1920). Both committees decided Mont-Blanc and Imo were equally to blame for the collision thus voiding the $2,000,000 damages claim for both shipping company.

One statement regarding Mayers appeared within the Privy Council decision. The panel wrote, “…but though one may not have the same confidence in his evidence as if he was free from his delusion, yet his testimony ought not to be put aside as entirely untrustworthy.”

There is anecdotal evidence that during his tribulation atop Needham Hill that he briefly saw and spoke to a sobbing girl. He told someone, “There was a little girl near me and I asked her where we were. She was crying and said she did not know where we were.” This, in fact, was  fourteen year-old Barbara Orr, who had been watching the fire near her home on Albert Street and, like Mayers, had also been carried by the explosion through the air to the hill nearby – though it was not as great a distance as the third officer's.

Barbara Orr, Janet Kitz Collection

Historian Janet Kitz wrote: “Barbara had a feeling of somersaulting through the air. She came to near the top of Fort Needham, one of her high tightly laced boots gone. She was covered with a black, wet, oily substance. There were people around staggering, bleeding … She struggled to her feet. Where her house had been, she saw only smoke and flames. Sometimes walking, sometimes crawling, she managed to reach her aunt's house on Gottingen Street, where there was serious damage, but no fires.” Barbara Orr survived the explosion but unfortunately, lost her entire family.

Archival photographs show the damage to the ship's stoved in funnel as well as a view (looking aft) of the port side of the ship from where Mayers had been taken from the deck by the blast. By the time his ship was ready to leave Halifax bound for New York, He had fully recovered from his injuries. After undergoing repairs from the explosion, Middleham Castle left on Christmas Day with a new master, Captain Hawkin.

SS Middleham Castle following explosion / view port side to aft, Joel Zemel Collection

The young third officer worked on other merchant ships after his tenure on Middleham Castle – SS Egremont Castle and SS Andorhina. By 1919, he had reached the position of second mate and received mercantile awards for his WWI service. Not much more is known about the true-life flying sailor after his incredible experiences in Halifax except it is reported that Charles John Mayers died in 1959 at age 63.

Due to the recent wide-spread interest in the NFB film, people wish to learn about the real Charles Mayers. Of course, the directors of 'The Flying Sailor' have taken artistic license with regard to his wearing a sailor's outfit, his age and physical appearance, the location where he was swept up by the blast, as well as his perceptions during the ordeal.

A frame from 'The Flying Sailor', National Film Board of Canada

Yet the fundamental tale of Mayers' experience is nevertheless conveyed in an original and effective manner. I am certain everyone in Nova Scotia, Alberta and the rest of Canada wishes the creators of this short film the utmost success at the Oscar Awards on Sunday, 12 March 2023.

 

Sources: Testimony from Imo vs Mont Blanc Volumes 1 & 2; Scapegoat, the extraordinary legal proceedings following the 1917 Halifax Explosion by Joel Zemel; additional biographical information and photograph of Charles John Mayers courtesy of Hugh MacLean;  Notes by Janet Kitz; various online resources.

 

* Burchell was likely referring to Dick Deadeye, a character in H.M.S. Pinafore, a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan.