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World War I: 1914-1918 Many residents of the villages went to war during this period to fight the German Kaiser. They say the assassination in June 1914 of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo started World War I. Chemical warfare was used on the fields of France. Many young people left their communities and villages to go to Europe and never came back. Alice Thomas remembers being at home during World War I and she remembers her sister Alma's husband coming home from the war. She says, "He wasn't the same after...He was shell-shocked.." He came back to Terence Bay but never got any pension and they were very poor. He was sick and unable to fish. World War II: 1939-1945 Residents as young as 17 years old signed up. The period heralded the beginning of the Nuclear Age when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. This time the fighting was against Hitler and his Nazi regime. The villages sent pilots, navymen, soldiers and nurses to the battlefields. George MacKenzie Collier of Shad Bay remembers ships coming into the bay during World War II and government people coming down to the beach showing photos of enemy aircraft so residents could identify any if they appeared in the area. Lloyd Marshall of East Dover recalls seeing anti-submarine and torpedo nets stretched across the Halifax Harbour in 1941. He was called to active naval duty in late September and did not see East Dover again for six years. Eva Coolen remembers saying prayers for the men going into combat and listening to the radio for news. She says, "It was a sad time and friends were lost forever." Many residents also remember the rationing of food during these years. Muriel Bartlett also talks about rationing during the war and says that things were very, very hard to get. "You were lucky to get a pair of nylons," she says. She also remembers the riots in Halifax following the war. The surrender of German forces on land and sea on May 7, 1945 was followed on May 8th by a city riot. Of the 9,500 servicemen in Halifax at that time, it is estimated that about a thousand of them took part in the looting and state of anarchy displayed primarily on Barrington Street. Muriel Bartlett's husband joined the Marine section of the Air Force and carried ammunition for the planes. His unit would leave Halifax with supplies and head to Iceland or overseas. Lloyd Marshall of East Dover recalls seeing anti-submarine and torpedo nets stretched across the Halifax Harbour in 1941. He was called into active service with the 5th Fleet Division (Destroyer) UN Naval Reserve and didn't see East Dover again for six years. Fenian Raids An Irish nationalist secret revolutionary society dedicated to achieving Ireland's independence from Britain operated between 1866-1871. Raids were cross-border skirmishes into British Canada by American-Irish Fenians. The Irish in Canada never became as supportive of the Fenian effort as had the Americans. However, there were probably a few sympathizers among the Irish immigrants. For the defense of Nova Scotia in the event of an attack, there was Her Majesty's Regular Forces in the Halifax garrison. In 1866 Halifax fortifications were expanded. A battery was constructed on McNab's Island with arms ordered for St. George's Island, Point Pleasant Park and York Redoubt. Since 1758, the Militia Act was in effect in Nova Scotia requiring every male aged 16 to 60 to serve. In 1866 due to raider activity, seventy-six men were stationed in Chester and others were on guard in Upper Prospect, Pictou, Halifax, Windsor and Yarmouth. A Fenian attack alert was in effect in Halifax Harbour in 1866. From March to September 1866 a resident of Prospect, Corporal David Coppin served guard duty in the Halifax Volunteer Artillery, called later the Halifax Field Battery. He was awarded a Fenian Raid General Service Medal for serving as guard when an attack from the enemy was expected. It was a circular, silver medal showing an effigy of Queen Victoria on one side and the flag of Canada surmounted by the word Canada, on the other. The threatened invasion was never carried out. Veterans List
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