The only recorded direct wartime enemy attack on sa国际传媒 soil took place during the Second World War. On June 20, 1942, a Japanese submarine fired upon the Estevan Point lighthouse, on the mid-Island鈥檚 west coast. Despite firing 25 to 30 rounds of 140-mm shells, the sub failed to hit its target.
The messiest, most ruthless and most tragic aspects of modern warfare have largely bypassed sa国际传媒 War has never blown us out of our homes here as it has so many people in so many other parts of the world.
Instead, we鈥檝e sent people, equipment and supplies to war and welcomed refugees and veterans in turn. Many sa国际传媒 residents have shipped out to fight elsewhere.
Tens of thousands were sent overseas during the first and second world wars, the Korean War, and the war in Afghanistan. In addition, many sa国际传媒-bred or -based members of the military have served as peacekeepers in troubled regions.
Elsewhere, landmines and buried ordinance may riddle a countryside pockmarked with bomb craters. Bullet holes might scar buildings, and plaques along streets and in squares and parks might commemorate victims who died or were deported from there. But here, the signs of our involvement in war are very different.
We have memorials to those who served and those who died in those far-off conflicts, of course. And with both a long and strong military presence here and our location next to shipping lanes leading to the mainland, our region also has reminders of the country鈥檚 involvement in wars that took place elsewhere.
In addition to CFB Esquimalt, built mementoes of sa国际传媒鈥檚 past and present contributions to fighting war and maintaining peace can be found throughout the region.
Little remains of the Second World War camps that housed Commonwealth air crews where Victoria International Airport now stands, and most of the property is off limits anyways.
However, the British Columbia Aviation Museum stands where the East camp once housed the Royal Air Force training unit. The museum鈥檚 hangar holds examples of aircraft that had been stationed onsite during the war.
At the north end of the airport property, where a military hospital once stood, the Lost Airmen of the Empire memorial honours Second World War airmen who died in training accidents at the Pat Bay Air Station. Seating areas at the site are made from bricks salvaged from the former hospital.
Remnants of Victoria鈥檚 wartime past can also be seen at the University of Victoria. The campus was once the site of the Gordon Head Military Camp, established in 1940.
More than 50 buildings were built to contain sleeping quarters, mess halls, officers鈥� huts, and a drill hall for military recruits. Camp buildings that remain today include the 鈥渉uts鈥� on the north side of McKenzie Avenue. View them from the outside only 鈥� these buildings are offices and other working facilities.
Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site is an obvious local wartime site that is open to the public, although with limited hours and restrictions on visitor numbers during the pandemic. Built in the late-19th century, concrete bunkers and batteries were added during the 1940s, when it became part of a network of fortifications along the Island鈥檚 south coast.
These included batteries and bunkers at Albert Head and Mary Hill in Metchosin, and at Duntze Head, Macaulay Point, Golf Hill and Signal Hill in Esquimalt. Along Dallas Road, Ogden Point, Clover Point and Holland Point held gun emplacements.
A wooden direction-finding radio tower perched atop Mount Douglas, and military observation posts at Oak Bay鈥檚 Walbran Park and Mount Tolmie, at Mary Hill, at Church Hill on Smythe Head, and on Triangle Mountain provided clear views of Juan de Fuca Strait.
This year, many Remembrance Day events are scaled back or cancelled to prevent crowds and spread of COVID-19. No parade will take place. The thousands who, in past years, gathered at the cenotaph on the sa国际传媒 Legislature grounds for commemorative ceremonies are being asked instead to remember and honour Canadians鈥� sacrifices from other, safe places.
If you鈥檙e not tied to a remote or onsite office this year, places like Holland Point, Fort Rodd Hill, the summits of Walbran Park and Mount Tolmie, or the Lost Airman memorial at the airport might be appropriate alternatives to pause at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 2020 to reflect on courage and sacrifice.
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