you are right, there were a lot of people who assumed that it was an attack by the Germans. There was also a large population of people with German heritage in NS at the time (there still is) and unfortunatly they were persecuted during both WWI & WWII. So much so that many changed their names (some Muller's became Millers for example)
One of the worst things about the explosion is that there were a few smaller explosions first. This got everyone's attention and people started to go towards the harbour to see what was happening...school children also got up from their desks and went to the windows to see what was happening. That is one of the reasons that there were so many people blinded.
The whole north end of the city was flattened...not damaged....absolutly flattened and stoves that had been lit (this happened in December so everyone had their stoves on for heat and cooking) spread fire and since the firestations were damaged as well, the firemen couldn't keep up so that caused more damage. Add to this the fact that they had a major winter storm the next day...good lord...it must have been hell on earth for them.
My grandmother lived in Dartmouth (Woodside, just on the other side of Halifax harbour) at the time of the explosion. She was sick in bed that morning. Lucky for her, she slept with a pillow over her head (something my father and I inherited from her) and when the explosion happened, the force blew in all of the windows in her house in. Her bed was between the window and a dresser that had a mirror on it which shattered glass all over her bed. She had some minor cuts but would probably be one of the thousands that were blinded when the explosion happened if not for the pillow and blankets over her.
Meanwhile, my grandfather was living in Montreal and was working for CN Rail. He was sent down to Halifax to help with the cleanup. It was while he was down here that he met my grandmother and they fell in love. They always told us that if it wasn't for the Halifax Explosion, we wouldn't be here lol
Susan