Sid Glennie remembers the ground shaking and seeing a mushroom cloud over the Number 4 mine in Springhill just after supper on Nov. 1, 1956.
It was the second of three mine disasters to befall the Springhill mines and this one claimed 39 men.
Those men and their families were remembered and commemorated on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, during a memorial service at the Springhill Baptist Church.
“As an 11-year-old boy I was playing with friends at the top of Victoria Street hill I heard a loud whoosh and felt the ground rumble shortly after 5 p.m. and when I looked toward the mine I saw a ball of flame followed by a black mushroom cloud that resembled a nuclear bomb exploding,” Glennie said during the ceremony.
“I immediately ran over the hill to our home on the far side of town. Along the way, I met my 16-year-old brother, Bill, who was running toward the mine. He instructed me to go straight home to our mother. I knew my father and his good friend were working the afternoon shift.”
Springhill and area residents paused on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, to remember those miners who lost their lives 70 years ago in the 1956 explosion at the Number 4 mine. Thirty-nine pins were placed on the board at the front of the Springhill Baptist Church. Darrell Cole – Municipality of Cumberland photo
Glennie said his extended family came from River Hebert and Barronsfield to offer and support and just like they did time and time again, Springhillers came together.
In the days that followed many men were rescued and he held on to hope that his father would emerge. After several days, though, the mine was sealed off due to underground fires and gas and it wasn’t until January that his father’s body was recovered.
He said times were tough in Springhill that first Christmas.
“As Christmas 1956 approached, family members encouraged my mother to put up a tree for her boys. On Christmas morning my mother was standing looking out the window at the back of the house, trying to cover her tears while my brother, Bill, did he best to comfort our weeping mother,” he said. “The love and grief I struggled with that day still bring tears to my eyes.”
He said he later learned from another miner that his father and a friend attempted to walk out from the 5,400-foot level the day after the explosion but were overcome with gas.
Raymond Jones said Springhill and its people were forever changed at 5:07 p.m. on Nov. 1, 1956, by an event that would leave its mark on the community for generations to come.
“Some of you here today still remember where you were when it happened and what it felt like. You remember the shock, the fear and the tremendous impact it had on you and your loved ones,” said Jones, whose father also lost his life in the disaster.
Family members and descendants of the 1956 Springhill mine disaster gathered on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the explosion that claimed 39 men. Darrell Cole – Municipality of Cumberland photo
While he was too young to remember the explosion, Jones said he remembers vividly how it impacted the community over the last seven decades.
“As we gather here to remember, let’s also reflect on the tremendous strength of this community, both then and now,” Jones said. “In the face of such devastating loss the people of Springhill came together. They supported one another, comforted one another and found strength in each other during some of the darkest days this town has ever known. Seventy years have passed, but for families the pain, the struggles have never completely gone away.”
While it’s important to remember those who lost their lives, Jones said it’s also important to honour those who stood beside those who were grieving and helped carry them through those difficult days.
A song, written by Jack Kingstone in the days following the mine disaster, was played, while an interview of Dr. Arnold Burden in 2008 by elementary school teachers Linda Scott and Dan Calder was also played as he recounted for the interviewers how he and others responded to the disaster.
The service included the symbolic placing of the pins representing each of the 39 men who died. During the community’s mining days, miners would leave an identification tag on the board before going underground, while taking the duplicate tag with him. This allowed the mining company to know who was working in the mine.
Each miner would retrieve his tag and leave his hat lamp upon the conclusion of the shift.
“Behind every tag was a life, and a man who was more than a name and a number. He was a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a neighbour. He was someone who loved and was deeply loved,” Jones said.
“Today we remember not only the lives that were lost but also the family members who waited, whose hearts were broken. And a community that carried their memories through generations. May each tag that’s placed served as a reminder they were not forgotten and that their lives and legacy will live on and remain part of Springhill’s history.”
Tags were placed in honour of: Ephriam Alderson, Frank Allen, Kenneth Beaton, Floyd Beaton, David Betts, Ernest Boutilier, Thomas Brown, Alex Campbell, Kenneth Clarke, Ralph Clarke, Joseph Crummey, Gilbert Daken, Gerald Dawson, Richard Ellis, Lester Fisher, William Ferguson, Avard Glennie, Victor Henwood, Angus Hunter, William Jones, Harold Lewis, Ben McLellan, Henry McLeod, Leonard McCormick, Leslie MacDonald, Victor Millard, Logan Milton, Russell Morse, Lester Nelson, Burrel Pepperdine, Pleaman Pyke, Emel Spence, Alex Spence, Clair Styles, Donald Tabor, William H. Tower, David Vance, George T. Ward and Daniel Winters.
A video presentation was shown featuring photos of those lost in the disaster, while Rev. Dr. Brian Spence provided a moment of reflection and Clare Canning performed the song Working Man, something she does at each Miners’ Memorial Day in June.
Raymond Jones (left) and Sid Glennie emceed the commemorative event on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, while sharing their experiences in the days, months and years following the 1956 Springhill mine explosion. Darrell Cole – Municipality of Cumberland