[3]On 7 October 1939, Emerald sailed from Plymouth for Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the gold bullion from the Bank of England, bound for Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to be used to pay for American war materials.

By the time the convoy reached Halifax, the Emerald had lost her ship's boats, rafts, and various depth charges, wires, shackles, and other valuable equipment, as well as her spotter plane, a Fairey Seafox.

[4] Using their wartime powers, the Churchill government confiscated the securities that the British people were forced to register at the beginning of the year, and under the cover of secrecy, moved them to the port of Greenock in Scotland.

Again another fierce storm endangered the operation when high seas forced the ships to slow their speed, making them easy targets for any prowling U-boats.

When they finally reached Halifax, on 1 July 1940, the British treasure was transferred to trains and the gold sent to Ottawa, while the securities were shipped to the Sun Life Building in Montreal.

[1] The British securities were locked in a specially constructed underground vault that was rushed into existence three storeys beneath the Sun Life Building in Montreal, and were guarded around the clock by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

A persistent rumour that the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom were stored there was deliberately spread in Montreal to account for increased activity at the building.

The 5,000 employees of Sun Life never suspected what was stored in their basement,[dubious – discuss] and while unloading the treasure ships, not one crate of the cargo went missing.