Nova Scotia Area Scenery - VE Day "celebrations

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Celebrating the announced surrender of the German Army in WWII (May 7, 1945), unoccupied servicemen and other Halifax citizens got out of hand and began looting liquor-, and other stores on Barrington Street and in the neighbouring area. With the police outnumbered and a slow start by the military in rounding up its own, a great deal of damage occured in the two days it took to restore order. After an inquiry, the blame was primarily attributed to naval personnel.

On a personal note, Theresa got her first toaster (a Sunbeam) from one of the looters, at a great discount. And no, Fred didn't get into any trouble that I know of, although his records show that he was assigned to the Prince Rupert, which was stationed at Stadecona, from April 14th to May 30th, 1945.

Hardly the whole story, these few photographs were purchased in a bookstore in Halifax on one of the vacation trips or on a working trip made in the early 2000's.

This news story found at CBC Archives, shows what happened and discusses why it happened and who was to blame.

This link will take you to a google image page with a great many pictures of VE Day in Halifax.

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Click on any picture to enlarge...

With the celebrations over and the mob gone, the broken windows have been boarded up and "decorated" with Buckingham cigarette signs.

This 2014 Google Earth colour snip shows the same corner. One block west on Salter, up the hill, is Barrington Street.

This photo (from Nova Scotia Archives) was taken from up the hill of where the Buckingham signs are in a previous photo. Halifax harbour is visible in the background as you look down Salter Street.