This is a subject of which I have always had an interest, as I recall my grandmother's stories of how she survived after her house in Dartmouth was destroyed from the explosion while she was in it. Though she has been gone many years, I still remember her stories about how her arm was almost amputated in the post-explosion triage and how her brother, who was in the medical corps of the military, had intervened before the amputation took place, saving her arm. I vividly recall seeing the scars from the many stitches on her arms and face, and the patches of gunpowder still visible through her skin. The film depicts the aftermath of the terrible blizzard that happened the next day, as she had described to me.
On the explosion, NS archives also has quite a bit of info available online:
https://novascotia.ca/archives/virtu...THexp&List=all
I haven't been to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in a number of years, but I recall that they have a good explosion exhibit as well.
https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca...ifax-explosion
Some bits of info:
The Piercey's building, which was torn down 2 years ago almost to the day...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...tion-1.3324084
...was a cotton mill originally built by the Nova Scotia Cotton Manufacturing Company in 1882. It was mostly destroyed in the Halifax Explosion, with loss of life of many of its occupants. After the explosion the bottom floor was roofed over and used by Piercey's until it was closed and demolished in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_S...turing_Company
I believe this to be a photo of its ruins, looking towards the Halifax exhibition grounds (in the background).
https://novascotia.ca/archives/MacAs...es.asp?ID=2511
I've read quite a bit on the subject, but will say the book that brought the event alive to me the most was
The Blue Tattoo by Steven Laffoley. It is a novel interwoven with facts about the historical event, and really helps to lay out the event from the perspective of how it must have been experienced by the people in the city at the time. I recommend the read if anybody has interest - the Halifax Public Library has 13 copies listed at the moment.