Nov 11 - Victoria in wartime

Good morning !

Today we open with a rundown of the many local Remembrance Day ceremonies. You can skim that list to find your nearest event. After that, we have a weekend roundup of some of Capital Daily's stories on life in the South Island—and far away from it—during both World Wars.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌦 10 / 8 

Tuesday: 🌧 10 / 8

Wednesday: 🌧 11 / 8

7-day forecast

NEWS

When & where to find Remembrance Day events today

Ceremonies in the core:

• ‍BC Remembrance Day Parade and Ceremony: 10:30am-12pm: The province’s official Remembrance Day ceremony will start with a parade at 10:30am, followed by a ceremony at the Victoria Cenotaph at the legislature.

• ‍Esquimalt : 10am-12pm: Parade begins at Tudor House (Admirals and Esquimalt) at 10am and ends at Cenotaph in Memorial Park.

• ‍Saanich: 10:45am at the Saanich Cenotaph at the Municipal Hall.

• Ross Bay Cemetary: 10:45am at the cenotaph in the southeast corner.

• Oak Bay: 10:55am at the cenotaph at Cattle Point; viewable by livestream.

Peninsula ceremonies:

• Sidney: Parade starts 10:30am at the Mary Winspear Centre, and moves to Beacon, Second, and finally the cenotaph. Ceremony begins 10:50am. Flyover during the two-minute silence at 11am.

• ‍Central Saanich: 10:45am at HEL, HILEȻ Park in Brentwood Bay.

Westshore ceremonies:

• Sooke: March begins at Evergreen Plaza at 10:30am & reaches at cenotaph at 10:50am

• Colwood: The 7th Juan de Fuca Scouts march from John Stubbs School to the cenotaph (in the Garry Oak grove, outside Juan de Fuca arena) for a ceremony around 10:45am.

• ‍Royal Roads: Ceremony on the Castle Terrace Lawn outside Hatley Castle begins 10:40am. Dr. Geoffrey Bird of the War Heritage Research Initiative will also present his documentary films on local war memorials.

• ‍Langford: 10:30am at Veterans Memorial Park.

Remembrance Day music:

• ‍Royal BC Museum: 11:45am: Featuring a Remembrance Day Recital on the Carillon, a Children's Choir performance, and a presentation by historian Paul Ferguson.

• ‍The Music of WW2: 1pm: Traditional pop and jazz of the late 1930s and 1940s era at Mary's Bleue Moon Cafe in Sidney.

• Christ Church Cathedral concert: 2:30pm: Choral music to honour fallen veterans.

For all of these events you can find more information and event links on the full Remembrance Day event page at Capital Daily.

The main ceremony will be broadcast on CHEK beginning around 10:40am, and the Oak Bay one will be livestreamed.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Rain ending in morning, then mainly cloudy with 40% chance of showers. Wind 30 km/h, gusting to 50 but diminishing in afternoon.

Veterans travel for free on BC Ferries & BC Transit. [Today]

Free parking at City of Victoria parkades and on-street meters today. Pay parking at City's surface parking lots.

Downtown bike valet has holiday hours: 10am-5pm.

East Island wind warning continues this morning.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Islanders’ stories of World Wars

With nearly 80 years now having passed since the end of World War II, fewer and fewer Islanders have memories of life during that war—whether on its front lines or here at home. For previous Remembrance Days, Capital Daily put together these stories on Islanders experiencing WWI and WWII.

Letters, diaries, & other accounts of WWI and WWII

These accounts by Islanders describe desperate escapes from falling aircraft, the queasy reality of the trenches, the sight of “hundreds of bodies lying about unburied,” and life in prisoner-of-war camps (including diagrams of one of the war’s most famous escape plans).

They also capture locals’ nostalgia and longing to return here, to “dear old Victoria,” or to one soldier’s idea of heaven: an armchair beside the Cowichan River.

Read those stories here.

Everyday life in Victoria during WWII

This story was written during the early months of COVID, and highlighted the similarities in how locals’ ways of life were drastically altered. It describes how air raid drill sirens would interrupt the day and blackouts would pitch the nights into complete darkness. Estevan Point lighthouse even faced submarine fire. But although those days were a time of resilience, they were also a time of paranoia and injustice in which locals of Japanese descent were dispossessed and forced to leave.

Read the story here.

How a failed local real estate agent became Canada’s most crucial—and most lethal—WWI leader

Arthur Currie was not particularly popular, physically fit, good at real estate, or scrupulous—shortly before the war he embezzled over a quarter-million in current dollars from the reserve militia he participated in. 

But that militia connection fostered his access to military history and, in wartime, to the military itself. In early WWI he rose through the ranks and became known for avoiding unnecessary Canadian deaths and eschewing the outdated and inefficient conventions that many of his peers fell into.

But while many of his tactics were effective, many were also horrific. He ordered prolific attacks with gas (which would be internationally banned in 1925) and he unflinchingly sent many, many men to their deaths—even after the Nov. 11 armistice was confirmed. In the years after the war, he became almost as much of a cast-off as he had been before it. 

Read the full story here.

Local dog raised equivalent of $300k for Red Cross & other charities in WWI

Throughout the war the little white Spitz dog Muggins went out on Victoria’s streets with charity boxes on his back. One of downtown’s most popular residents, the dog raised what would be $300K+ in today’s currency. But his fundraising fame wasn’t limited to Victoria. Muggins was visited by the Prince of Wales and received a medal from France and an officer's rank from the US navy.

By WWII, the dog's taxidermied body was still being used for fundraising. But that body then disappeared for 60+ years, until being found recently. After refurbishment, Muggins was put on permanent display this summer at the Trafalgar / Pro Patria Legion Hall on Gorge. 

Read more here.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🚢 “We must remember”: Naval service member Jane Nighswander reflects on her grandfather and great-uncle’s WWII service in an essay for Canadian Naval Review. [PDF link]

🐦🔗 A happy kingfisher perched on a chain. [Robert Fraser photo]

🥁 Indigenous Veterans Day Ceremony was held outside the legislature on Friday. [Short video]

🗞️ In Other News

Underwater plaque placed at site of Saanich Inlet plane wreck
Hampden P5433 crashed in March 1943 on a routine training run, killing 2 Canadians and 2 Australians. It was found by divers for a documentary film in 2022 and examined/confirmed in 2023 by the Underwater Archaeological Society of BC. On Sat., the Society dove down to place a 90kg memorial marker.

Esquimalt Master Sailor chosen as sentry for national Remembrance ceremony
Philippine-born Jed Garcia, a naval comms technician, is among the dozen chosen every year to be part of the Ottawa event in recognition of outstanding service. [Times Colonist]

Campbell River's only movie theatre set to close in January
The manager of the Landmark Cinemas location, aka the Caprice, told CHEK that as its 30-year run ends he and other staff will be out of a job. The closure comes a year after the Cowichan Valley lost its only theatre, similarly known as the Caprice—though that one is supposed to reopen as Duncan Cinemas.

6 deer collisions in 6 hours, DriveBC reports
This is the most dangerous time of the year for deer on the roads. Rutting season coincides with the recent end of Daylight Saving Time—and the resulting increase in afternoon commutes happening in the dark. 

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🗓️ Things to do

📽 Dunkirk plays today at Cinecenta: Nolan's WWII picture starts at 7pm, then returns to the RBCM IMAX on Thurs. [Cinecenta showtimes this week]

📑 Bruno Feldeisen Bake Off Challenge: Join The Great Canadian Baking Show judge to celebrate the launch of his new book The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon, and Chocolate Cookbook. Bolen Books. Tues. Nov. 12. 7-8:30pm. [Info]

🎤 A Night for Sharon Jones: A local 12-piece pays tribute to the Queen of Funk for the 8th anniversary of her death from cancer. Alix Goolden hall at 7:30pm on Sat. Nov. 16.

👀 In Case You Missed It

Victoria CFL game cost more than planned—but city says the extra money went toward longer-term upgrades, not just the Labour Day weekend Lions game itself. [Sun. newsletter]

BC's first presumed H5 bird flu case in a human was reported in Fraser Valley.

Victoria wants other councils to step up on homelessness, by adding shelter spaces and offering up a new parking lot for Tiny Town. [Sat. newsletter]

The Breakfast Spot opened on Friday; it's a spinoff of 4 popular local restaurants. [Tasting Victoria]

A giant dendronotid nudibranch in local waters [video] 

Remembrance Day reads, curated by the Greater Victoria Public Library. [List]