Two plaques alongside Highway #34 in the Rural Municipality of Victoria commemorate a nearby creek named for Albert “Bert” Saunders (1900-1917) who attended Camille School while living on a farm at SW14-8-11W owned by his maternal grandfather.
During the First World War, despite being under age, Saunders enlisted in the Canadian military and served as an Able Seaman with the Volunteer Reserve of the Royal Canadian Navy aboard the HMCS Niobe. On the morning of 6 December 1917, a collision occurred in the harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia between a Norwegian relief ship and a French vessel carrying ammunition. The Niobe was moored 700 yards away. Saunders and six other sailers volunteered to go aboard the French ship and scuttle it. They were unsuccessful and its cargo of picric acid exploded, destroying everything within a half-mile radius and the death of over 1,700 people. Albert Saunders was buried in the Fort Massey Cemetery at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Saunders Creek Plaque (October 2026)
Source: Elise Watchorn
Saunders Creek Plaque (October 2026)
Source: Elise WatchornSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.65552, W98.86970
denoted by symbol on the map above
Birth registration [Albert Saunders], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Able Seaman Albert Saunders, Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
This page was prepared by Elise Watchorn and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 October 2026
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