A tragic day in Manitoba History

September 1st marks the anniversary of two of Manitoba's greatest disasters.

The Dugald Train Disaster of 1947 killed 31 and injured hundreds when the Minaki Express collided head-on with a work train. It remains Canada's third worst train disaster.

More on Dugald can be found in today's This Was Winnipeg post.

Manitoba Free Press September 3, 1929

On September 1, 1929 Winnipeg awoke stunned by news of the Medway Court fire at Ellice and Edmonton. Within minutes of the first alarm every on-duty fireman and piece of firefighting equipment in the city was called in. Despite their efforts and those of the Free Press night watchmen, nine people died, many of them children.

Last year was the 80th anniversary of Medway Court and I did a detailed post about the fire which, despite being tied for Winnipeg's worst fire in terms of loss of life, has no memorial. Please see Winnipeg's Fiery Holocaust.