| Bruce Macdoanld states that "In the explosion's immediate aftermath, James and Gordon Breen were both reported as "missing, believed killed 6 Dec. 17, Halifax". On December 14, the Navy officially notified Mary Jane Breen that her two sons were "reported missing, believed killed in the disaster at Halifax on the 6th December". When their bodies were recovered from the Musquash, the coroner attributed cause of death to "shock due to injuries in the explosion." James Irvin Breen's remains were transported to Liscomb, where he was buried in the family plot at St. Luke's Cemetery, Liscomb on December 16, 1917. For unknown reasons, Samuel Gordon Breen was interred in Section Q, St. John's Cemetery, Fairview, NS, alongside other sailors killed in the explosion. The Musquash was subsequently repaired and returned to service as a sea-going tug. It was eventually lost off St. Esprit, Cape Breton on August 4, 1921, after colliding with a barge in heavy seas on its way from Louisbourg to Halifax. All crew on board survived the sinking. James and Gordon's father, William, wrote to the Department of Naval Service fo llowing his sons' tragic deaths, in hopes of receiving compensation. On August 30, 1918, the Department notified him that he had been awarded an annual pension of $480, effective January 1, 1918. Sadly, William was in poor health and passed away on December 29, 1918, seven months' shy of his sixtieth birthday. Following her husband's death, Mary Jane contacted the Department of Naval Service, requesting "something to mark the graves of my two sons". As James' grave was nearby — now adjacent to his father's — and could be more conveniently maintained, Mary Jane was more concerned with Gordon's final resting place. On one occasion, she travelled to Fairview, where she "worked a day fixing up his grave[,] for it is a disgrace the way their graves are neglected .... The poor sailors' graves are left for the grass to grow over." As nothing more than a wooden cross marked the grave, Mary Jane purchased a stone slab at her own expense. In response, the Department of Naval Services requested information as to the exact location of her sons' graves, to be forwarded to the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) for further action. The problem may have been the unusual nature of the Breen brothers' status. As Class 2A, neither was paid from naval funds. Nor was either "called out" for "active service", although the Department acknowledged that both had enlisted with the RNCVR. While subsequent correspondence in James' service file makes no further mention of grave markers, standard IWGC headstones mark both brothers' final resting places. On December 18, 1922, James Irvin and Samuel Gordon Breen posthumously received British War and Victory Medals, in recognition of their naval war service. Several months later, the Department of Naval Services forwarded two Memorial Plaques and Scrolls bearing their names to their mother, Mary Jane, in recognition of their tragic deaths on board HMCS Musquash. " |
