Blood on the Coal: The True Story of the Great Springhill Mine Disaster

The riveting true story of one of Canada’s worst mining disasters, told in the voices of the men who survived it

Foreword by Anne Murray

They said it was the world’s deepest and most dangerous coal mine. That claim was probably correct. What is certain is that in October 1958, the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation’s No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, was a leading candidate for both those dubious distinctions. The mine was the proverbial “disaster waiting to happen.” And it did.

Springhill was the quintessential one-industry town. Its existence depended on coal, and in 1958 the market for that commodity was dying. And yet something far worse was to come. On the night of October 23, a “bump” in the mine—actually a small earthquake—shook the ground beneath the town. Seventy-five miners died and scores more were injured in what remains one of Canada’s worst underground disasters. The lives of the survivors were shattered, and Springhill would never be the same again.

In compelling detail, Ken Cuthbertson tells the stories of three of the miners and one of the doctors who cared for them following the disaster. This remarkable book is based on historical documents and interviews, as well as new interviews with the last of the surviving miners and their loved ones. It is a story of heroism, sacrifice and the indomitable strength of the human spirit. 

KEN CUTHBERTSON is a veteran journalist with forty years’ experience writing for publications in Canada, the US and the UK. A finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, he is the bestselling author of six books, including the critically acclaimed The Halifax Explosion: Canada’s Worst Disaster. Ken Cuthbertson lives in Kingston, Ontario, and has deep maternal roots in Nova Scotia.