WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

[lawman133]

WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

Hi I tried to send this the other night but for some reason it wouldn't go through.

My 93 yr old father served in the Canadaian Army oversea's in WWII. He says that upon returning to Halifax and B4 leaving ship they were warned they would be searched for war booty and charged if any was found. He says he personally dumped a kit bag full of jewellery "liberated " from Italy over the side of the ship and hundreds of other soldiers emptied bags and threw objects overboard. Dad kept one piece for Mom that was appraised at @ $500.00 in the 50"s so You can speculate what the rest was worth. Multiple this by dozens of ships and thousands of soldiers and what is at the bottom of Halifax harbour is staggering.


Jim Ziegler

 

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[Canadian Cossack]

Re: WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

Hi Jim,

Myself and others have spent years diving and exploring the bottom of Halifax Harbour.

For me, the thrill was collecting steamship china. This project has led to a catlogue of hundreds of steamship chins patterns. My work is also the basis of an exhibit in the Maritime Auseum of the Atlantic in Halifax as well as being recently published ina book titled "Underground Halifax".

Besides china we have found numerous artifacts in the harbour ranging from cars, airplanes, complete shipwrecks, guns, bombs, swords, coins, false teeth, bowling balls, art glass, clocks, coconuts, portholes, etc. etc. (it would probably be easier to list the things we have not found :-)

I have found a scant few pieces of jelwelry, including a pocket watch, but never a "duffle bag" full. I've also heard the stories of soldiers returning with various weapons and other war prizes and dumping them for fear of being caught. I have found a few guns over the years (and given them to the police) but I think they were more modern.

The bottom of halifax Harbour, like any major port, id littered with artifacts from all periods in history... it's a tricky place to dive, but if your up for it the rewards are truly fascinating!

Below are some pictures of us diving and some of the steamship china finds:

 

[lawman133]

Re: WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

Hi Cossack....I've often wondered if anyone had done a search and it looks like you have pulled up some great items. I'll see if my Dad can remember the name or designation of the ship he came home on. I have his paybooks around here somewhere and they should give me the date he landed. With these two bits of info it should also be possible to find out where the ship was tied up in the harbour.
I am on the board of the Elgin Military Museum and we have access to an extensive resource network through Museums Canada as well as the D.N.D. so I will see what I can come up with.
If you have any connections with the Harbour Master they may have the records stashed away somewhere there as well.
It may take me a while as I have in service training starting 01 April and then once I am back to my reqular shift I will be filling my O.D. time trying to catch up on back knifemaking orders as well as driving 18 wheeler on the week-ends.
I don't know when the heck I will find the time to jump into this new hobby of Metal detectoring but I can not wait to try out the GTI 2500 my wife let me get. It is probably overkill for a newbie but I fiqured I may as well go for the best while I had the money otherwise I would just blow it.
Sorry for rambling on so long.

All the best and good hunting

Jim Ziegler

 

[Stroover]

Re: WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

Hey Cossack,

I saw you on "Live at 5" a couple years ago. I assume it was you, because they showcased that same "Québec" plate with the red lettering. I thought that was a great idea, and have since been pondering whether do dive in and around my little home-town port along the Northumberland Strait, since shipping was prevailant there since the 1700's, but is reduced to a fishing village now.

 

[Canadian Cossack]

Re: WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

Hi Stroover,

Yes, I've been on "Live at Five" with this project.

I think you should try a couple of exploratory dives in your harbour... you never know what you might find!

Just be careful and be safe. When we dive Halifax we basically follow commercial procedures and issue notices to mariners etc.

Once you figure out how to do it safely and become used to the environment it can be a whole lot of fun swimming around down there. Like I said it's probably easier to list the things we havn't found!

If you do try it, make sure you post some of your findings.

 

[crazyjarhead]

Re: WWII Halifax harbor Treasure dump.

Nice haul