"There was One Great Blast After Another as we Ran . Loaded and Half-Loaded Shells, which were Thrown into the Air, Exploded. Glass Came Down Like Rain, and Pieces of Steel from the Shells and Chunks of Concrete Would Come Down in a Shower After Each Explosion." While World War I ranged in Europe, America scrambled to supply the Allies with ammunition, and several munitions plants were constructed near the Jersey Shore. The hastily built plants hummed with hardly a mishap until the fateful night of October 4, 1918, when a series of explosions killed one hundred people. Firemen and other volunteers were powerless to stop the destruction as it devastated the Morgan-South Amboy area and terrified the surrounding region. Strangely, though, this woeful disaster has been forgotten by history. New Jersey historian Randall Gabrielan re-creates this terrifying night and its aftermath in the context of Middlesex County's role in the Great War.
Book jacket.