Document Record

Creator

Canada.Royal Commission on the Halifax Disorders, May 7th-8th, 1945

Title

Royal Commission to Inquire into the Disorders at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Vicinity thereof, During a Celebration of the Declaration of Victory over Germany on the 7th and 8th May, 1945

Identifier

lac_mikan_142
558
RG 33 57
Government
Military
oocihm.lac_mikan_142

Document source

Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Language

English

Description

The Halifax VE-Day riots of May 7-8, 1945, in Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia began as a celebration of the World War Two Victory in Europe. This rapidly declined into a rampage by several thousand servicemen, merchant seamen and civilians, who drank, smashed and looted their way through downtown Halifax. Dartmouth suffered on a smaller scale. A hastily convened Royal Commission chaired by Justice Roy Kellock (1893 - 1975) blamed the riots on the failure of Naval command to control the sailors, and particularly on Rear-Admiral Leonard W. Murray (1896 - 1971), who was subsequently removed from his command. It is also generally accepted that the underlying causes were a combination of bureaucratic confusion, insufficient policing and antipathy between the military and civilians, fueled by the presence of 25,000 servicemen who had strained Halifax wartime resources to the limit.
This collection consists of transcripts of hearings and exhibits.

URL

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_142