Hang on, then

Yates and Douglas Streets in 1916. Victoria, BC.

Yates and Douglas Streets, Victoria, 1950s.

Yates and Douglas Streets, Victoria, 1970s.

Why did I show you three photos of an intersection in Victoria, BC? Because at a bus stop in this area, in 1959, my father proposed to my mother.

April 23, 1915, the 7th Battalion - which was in reserve - found itself holding the peak of salient under heavy bombardment. That night, Lieutenant-Colonel Hart-McHarg was killed and Major Odlum took command. The German shelling rose to an unprecedented crescendo and a second gas attack was launched.

Between 3:30 am and 4:30 am, wave after wave of Germans were thrown back by rifle fire. But the bombardment continued and by 6 am, the 15th Battalion - on the 7ths left - was entirely wiped out. The 7th was the only one holding the critical apex of the line. The 7th repulsed another attack at 6:30 am but the line was broken on the right flank. The battalion, along with the remnants of the 13th and 14th, was surrounded.

At 9 am, the shelling was recorded as "tremendous". At 10 am, the Germans brought out their field guns to the right within 200 years. The two right platoons were wiped out. 

Lieutenant E.D. "Smoke" Bellew and Sergeant H.N. Peerless were alone with the battalion's only two machine guns. Yet they held the flank. When Peerless was killed, Bellew dragged his body in front of his own gun for protection and continued to fire, beating back several attacks. When his ammunition was gone, Bellew destroyed both guns, stood up and charged the Germans, firing his last clips of ammunition and killing three of the enemy with his bayonet. He was shot down and taken prisoner.

The Vancouver battalion won its first Victoria Cross.

The battalion made a fighting withdrawal at 11 am, 300 yards. During this manoeuvre, two left platoons died to the last man. At 12:30 pm, a second withdrawal was made at which time six Canadian battalions had so shattered the attacking units that 20 German assault battalions and the 51st Reserve Division were withdrawn from the battle. At 1:40 pm, 3rd Brigade troops nearby were withdrawn as result of a garbled order. The remnants of the 7th and 10th Battalions stood alone.

General Currie, commanding the 2nd Brigade, ordering the men to retire. But both officers and men refused, declaring they would die where they stood rather than give way any further. 

"Hang on, then, and - good luck," was Currie's reply.

Thanks to the book, Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Vancouver Corner

Although the sign outside now says Sinclair Centre when this four-storey, classically designed structure was built from 1911 to 1913 it was known as the Customs Examining Warehouse and is adjacent to what was then the post office.

David Ewart - the Chief Architect of the Department of Public Works - headed the team that is responsible for this design.



It is one of four federally-owned buildings on a site known as Block 15. This building looks like it is divided into three parts - a base which is made of rough faced stone and smooth brick; the shaft is shown by shallow brick pilasters with segmented arches on the upper floors and finally a prominent cornice suggests the capital of a column. The steel frame and reinforced concrete was a modern construction technique unique to Vancouver at the time. (The Great Fire of 1886 was still fresh in some people's minds I guess.)

Some of the character defining elements to this impressive warehouse are its classically inspired design that uses what was then modern building techniques; the upper walls are faced with red clay brick trimmed with sandstone; the changing size, shape and pattern of the windows; the steel and concrete superstructure and the overall masonry. Whether you are walking along Hastings or Howe or Cordova you can't miss this building. Even the entrance is interesting.

As I have said before there are mosaics around the city and some of them tell the story of this beautiful city. Like this one.

This mosaic, Vancouver Corner, may be one a person would just glance at but once you read what it stands for it really makes you pay attention. And be thankful for what you have.

Far away in a town called St. Julien in Belgium there is a piece of Vancouver buried there and watched over by a statue called the Brooding Soldier.

The story goes like this: In the Second Battle of Ypres, where chlorine gas was released on French and Canadian troops, the Canadians - who were fighting for the first time as a nation instead of a British Colony - proved themselves equal to any fighting force. Especially a Lt. Donald Bellew of the British Columbia 7th Battalion, the Duke of Connaughts Own Rifles.

On April 24, 1915 the enemy was 100 metres away and the reinforcements destroyed when Lt. Bellew and another soldier decided to fight it out. The other soldier was killed and Bellew wounded but he kept firing until the ammunition failed. Then he took a rifle and smashed his machine gun before being taken prisoner.

Bellew survived and when he returned to Vancouver he read in the newspaper that he had been awarded the Victoria Cross.

This is the Brooding Soldier monument. It shows a Canadian soldier with his head bowed and was designed by  Frederick Chapman Clemesha. It stands 11 metres high and is located at what was known as Vancouver Corner during that war.  It was unveiled on July 8, 1923 by the Duke of Connaught and a tribute was given by French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. He said:

The Canadians paid heavily for their sacrifice and the corner of earth on which this Memorial of gratitude and piety rises has been bathed in their blood. They wrote here the first page in that Book of Glory which is the history of their participation in the war.

These photos are compliments of Google Images and Wikipedia. I didn't take them personally. But I thought it would be nice to see what I was talking about.
 
I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Customs Examining Warehouse, David Ewart,The Brooding Soldier,Lt. Donald Bellew,History,St. Julien,Belgium,Victoria Cross,

Eternal Rest

I headed out today to go see an area of town I heard about through some research on the Internet. But I must have gotten mixed up on where I was going because I didn't really see much. So another time.

Funny thing though. I live about half a mile from first street east and I was headed to fiftieth street east. Now logic would dictate that fiftieth would be about forty nine blocks from first. Not here. It is closer to sixty five blocks south and then I still had to walk a few blocks east. My legs and feet are sore. But I saw some neat things along the way.

Aren't those colors gorgeous? All over I see blossoms that seem to be hanging on even if fall is and the time to go to sleep is near. I think that maybe the flowers are competing with the vibrant hues of the trees.

Whatever the reason we get the benefit of the competition.

Even though what I first went to see didn't work out I did find something else.

While walking along 41st Street I happened to see a cemetery. And what a cemetery! Mountain View Cemetery occupies 106 acres with 92,000 grave sites and 145,000 interred remains. I walked along Fraser street and I am sure that the cemetery took up ten city blocks.

Mountain View Cemetery was opened in 1887 - the only cemetery that is older in this area is the Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster which was opened in 1870 - and then it was between Fraser Street, 37th Avenue, 33rd  and a row of tall trees on the west. In 1901 land was purchased from the Horne Family; the Jones Farm to the south was added in 1910 and in 1922 more land from the Horne family expanded the cemetery to the west. A section of the graveyard between 41st and 43rd  is entitled the 1919 Addition and contains many victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic that not only ravished Vancouver but the rest of the world as well.

The final addition to the cemetery is Abray Park Addition on the west side in 1941. This tract of land was so named because of a squatter who used to live there, tended an orchard and grazed cattle on the land.

The deceased tend to be grouped by religion or nationality or organizational affiliation or pauper graves or military. The Mountain View Cemetery does have Canadian military graves.

Some of the famous of our city have had their remains left here as well.

Jonathon Rogers - the first man who stepped off the first passenger train to arrive in Vancouver and who later went on to own much of Granville Street.

Janet Smith - a.k.a The Scottish Nightingale. In 1924 Ms. Smith was a 22 year old Scottish nursemaid who was found dead in the home of a prominent family in Shaugnessy Heights. A young Chinese man was charged with murder but the case has never been solved.

There was an episode of either DaVinci's Inquest or DaVinci's City Hall that used this case as inspiration if I remember correctly.

Robertha Josephine Marshall - a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic.

Malcolm MacLennan - Chief Constable of the Vancouver Police, killed in the line of duty in 1917. (I have written on him and his tragic demise.)

Sara Anne McLagan - first woman newspaper publisher in Canada. Born in Belfast Ireland Sara came to Canada with her father  when she was three. Her father, Sergeant John C. Maclure came to New Westminster in 1858. He taught his daughter telegraphy which proved beneficial when the girl was 12 and fire threatened her Matsqui home she tapped a message to New Westminster for help. Two years later the teen was hired by the New Westminster Telegraph Office. She went on to start the Vancouver Daily World with her husband, John McLagon.

Thomas Ladner - the man who founded Ladner British Columbia is buried here.

Harry Jerome - Olympic runner. Jerome competed in the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. He brought home the 100 metre bronze medal in 1964. He is also responsible for setting seven world records. He died at the age of 42 of a brain aneurysm. Interesting fact. Jerome's grandfather John Howard represented Canada at the 1912 Summer Olympics. His sister, Valerie Jerome, competed for Canada at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Doesn't it look peaceful? Just the place where Victoria Cross recipients can spend all eternity. Or at least their remains. And for those of you who aren't aware the Victoria Cross is the highest military award given for valour in the face of the enemy. It is given to those in the armed forces of Britain and various Commonwealth couintries.

The Victoria cross was first given out on January 29, 1856 by Queen Victoria to soldiers from the Crimean War. The medal has only been awarded 1,356 times in 154 years so it is rare and those who have it must have really deserved it. In the last two decades though some countries of the Commonwealth have established their own version of the Victoria Cross so the one from England is now referred to as Commonwealth Victoria Cross or Imperial Victoria Cross.

Harry Churchill Beet - Victoria Cross awarded for actions during the Second Boer War.

John Chipman Kerr - Victoria Cross awarded after World War I.

Robert McBeath - Victoria Cross awarded after World War I. Scottish born McBeath also went on to become a Vancouver Police Constable who was killed during the line of duty.

I don't know what was going on here. There were piles of headstones on the side of the cemetery. Perhaps they were replaced with new ones?
 
This is also home to the Vancouver Crematorium. Scottish born Victoria Cross recepient Robert Shankland was cremated and his ashes scattered at the cemetery in 1968.

I hope you find the beauty around you.


TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Mountain VView Cemetery, Victoria Cross,Scottish NNightingale,Harry Jerome,walk,history,