THIS WEEK IN

were confined to Nova Scotia, New England would consider itself safe.

However, the outbreak of the King George’s War hit home when news reached New England about French attacks at Annapolis Royal, and then Canso, where several prisoners were taken to Louisbourg. Many New Englanders became alarmed. Soon, under the leadership of Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts, a force of over 4,000 volunteers was raised for an attack on Louisbourg.

Many of the volunteers had no military experience, but all had a singular anger over the attacks that had happened, which was further fuelled by both anti-french and anti-catholic sentiments. They were led by commander-in-chief, William Pepperrell (1696-1759), a wealthy merchant and soldier in colonial Massachusetts, who helped organize and finance the expedition. He was supported by an additional 3,500 men from the British Royal Navy, led by Commodore Peter Warren (1703-1752).

After their attack began on 11 May 1746, the fortress fell six weeks later in June. One hundred New Englanders died in the fighting, but over 1,200 would later die of disease and the cold winter of 1745-46. That winter, newly appointed Governor Charles Knowles wrote, “I have struggled hard to weather the winter, which I’ve done thank God, tho was not above three times out of my room for five months - I am convinced I shou’d not live out another winter at Louisbourg.”

Much to the further distress of the New Englanders, with the Treaty of Aix-lachappelle in 1748, Fortress Louisbourg was returned back to the French. As for Charles Knowles, he would later serve as Governor of Jamaica, and after resigning from the British Navy in 1770, he accepted an invitation from Catherine the Great of Russia to serve as the first admiral of her Russian fleet. After serving for seven years, he would later return to London, where he died in 1777.

(Reference: Donovan, Kenneth. 1982. “Communities and Families: Family Life and Living Conditions in 18th Century Louisbourg.” Material Culture Review 15 (June). URL: bit.ly/3v2pfvg.)

15 March 1945 - When the Second World War started in September 1939, and up to March 1945, the Dartmouth Marine Slips shipyard repaired over 3,000 ships, with the peak years being 1941-42. Along with the Halifax Shipyard, they played a critical role during the Battle of the Atlantic (19391945).

As Dr. Brenda Hattie pointed out, due to men leaving their civilian jobs to fill the armed forces, a shortage of manpower was a challenge. By May 1942, the federal government had created a Women’s Division of the National Selective Service (NSS), with a mandate to recruit women into the labour force. This eventually included not only single women but also married women, filling a range of office roles, as well as in various trades.

For example, the Pictou Shipyards employed women in more than a third of their 2,000-employee workforce, many in non-traditional roles such as welding. Whereas the Dartmouth Marine Slips employed women in more traditional office roles.

This included Dr. Hattie’s mother, Nan (Wilkinson) Hattie, who, at the age of 17, was hired at the Dartmouth Marine Slips in 1942, after she had completed some courses at Miss Murphy’s Business College in Halifax. She told stories from the war years, which she described “as the most difficult time of her life and yet the most exciting…her position at the Dartmouth Marine Slips had given her a sense of self-confidence and agency as a young woman…having her own money had given her a new-found sense of independence…” Within five months of being hired, she was also put in charge of supervising five women in a hectic office, and a stressful environment that was practically 24-7.

The stressful realities of the working environment were evident when one considered that “Between January and May 1941, the lowest number of vessels entering Halifax in any one month was 329 and the greatest 434. The greatest number of ships in port on any one day was 126. Ship repairs at Halifax reached their peak on 4 April, when 64 ships were undergoing “major” repairs.”

Nan (Wilkinson) Hattie worked at the Dartmouth Marine Slips till 1949, “when she left to marry her longtime beau, Jack Hattie. She said she no longer wanted to work because, she said, she wanted to have and raise a family.”

(Reference: Hattie, Dr. Brenda. “Women of the Dartmouth Marine Slips 1939-1945 Final Report.” Nova Scotia Museum. May 2021.)

CONTRIBUTED Hockey on the North West Arm. Isabel Lear. Reference: O’neill, Mora Dianne. The Artists’ Halifax Portraits of the Town and Harbour through 250 Years. Halifax: Formac Publishing, 2003. p.67.