Male Archives | When World War II Came to Bell Island, Newfoundland

Lloyd Rees

Photograph of teenager Lloyd Rees standing on the Lance Cove wharf with his bicycle during World War II. You can read Lloyd Rees’ teenage memories of the Bell […]

Rick Stanley Interview on Remembrance Day 2019

Rick Stanley is the owner of Ocean Quest Adventures, which is a scuba diving operator in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. On November 11th each year (Remembrance […]

David Rees Interview and Virtual Tour, Lance Cove, Newfoundland

David Rees shares stories from his grandmother Emma Rees of how survivors from the two German U-boat attacks and sinkings in 1942 were cared for in Emma’s home […]

Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland & Labrador

The Honourable Frank Fagan (on right), Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland & Labrador, delivers a speech of remembrance at the commemoration ceremony for the 75th anniversary of the U-boat attacks […]

Video of Canadian Forces divers removing unexploded shells

Video of clearance divers from the Royal Canadian Navy’s Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic) removing unexploded artillery shells (also called unexploded ordnance or UXO) from two of the Bell […]

Video of German U-boat attacks at Bell Island in 1942

Video shows German newsreel of U-boat crews attacking Allied merchant ships with torpedoes. Transcript of narration: On September 4th 1942, U-513 under the command of captain Rolf Ruggeberg […]

Diver Luc Michel recovers a sextant from Rose Castle shipwreck

In 2015, scuba diver Luc Michel (on left) recovered a navigational sextant from the Rose Castle shipwreck. On the right in the photo is Rick Stanley of Ocean […]

Navy divers handling unexploded artillery shell

Canadian Forces clearance divers from the Fleet Diving Unit – Atlantic lift an unexploded artillery shell recovered from the SS Rose Castle shipwreck. The divers are Leading Seaman […]

Navy diver clearing unexploded ammunition from Rose Castle shipwreck

A Canadian Forces clearance diver from Fleet Diving Unit – Atlantic shows an unexploded artillery shell (lower right) on the S.S. Rose Castle shipwreck. The Royal Canadian Navy […]

Eyewitness account of Rose Castle sinking by survivor Gordon Hardy

Eyewitness account of Gordon Walter Hardy from Ingonish, Nova Scotia, who survived the sinking of SS Rose Castle on November 2, 1942: “I joined the [Canadian] Merchant Navy […]

Electric shovel loading iron ore into ore car at Bell Island

An electric shovel loading iron ore into an ore car in a Bell Island iron mine in 1949. Ore production increased as heavy equipment was introduced into the […]

Drilling for iron ore at Bell Island

A driller and chucker operate a drill in a Bell Island iron mine. Mining was hard and dangerous work. Dozens of miners were killed at Bell Island over […]