Hi Ho! Off to War We Go!

This Queen Anne style home was built in 1907 for Dr. Thomas Jeffs and Minnie Jeffs. The Jeffs came from Ontario to Vancouver in 1890.

When World War I was declared, Vancouver and the rest of the province were alarmed with the presence of the German cruisers Leipzig and Nuremberg off the coast. Bank gold reserves were sent to Seattle and to Winnipeg and arrangements were made to buy all stocks of currency if the city was raided. Armed protection was demanded for the harbour, which was eventually made a closed port. Small coast defence guns were mounted on concrete emplacements at Siwash Rock in Stanley Park.

August 8, 1914, the BC militia was placed on active service - two days after the rest of Canada. Vancouver's first contribution to the war effort was a detachment of 350 men sent to guard the port of Prince Rupert.

Local units were held under arms until September 12, when British naval forces arrived in the North Pacific. The emergency was over.

Dr. Jeffs was a physician and coroner who also served as an alderman in 1906 and the police commissioner in 1907. The Grandview neighbourhood features many houses like this but this one is unique because the turret is on the inside of the lot rather than on the corner. This allows for a spectacular view of the city, mountains and harbour.

Recruiting for the 1st Contingent, Canadian Expeditionary Force continued during this time. In 10 days, Vancouver contributed its full share. British Columbia had more officers on the rolls than any other province and more men than any other military districts except the 2nd Divisional Area (central Ontario) and MD No. 10 (Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined). Throughout the war, BC contributed more volunteers in proportion to its population than any other province.

The first detachment, 75 British reservists, left Vancouver on August 19 for active service. Three days later 46 officers and 1022 men left in two special trains. There were 25 officers and 516 men from the Seaforths, 14 officers and 350 men from the Fusiliers, two officers and 50 men from the 18th Field Ambulance, one officer and six men from the Corps of Guides. August 26, 20 officers and 350 men from the 6th Regiment, DCOR and a detachment of the 6th Field Company of the Engineers left with a large number of Victoria volunteers.

This house was divided into suites as early as 1922 - a year before Thomas Jeffs died - and the construction of larger homes was occurring in Shaughnessy. 

These detachments included the bulk of the peacetime militiamen and almost all the militia officers. What remained was a recruiting cadre who were funnelling volunteers into the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) where they were trained and assigned to battalions. Little concern was made when organizing these groups as to where the men were originally from.

In the 1st Contingent, most of the Vancouver men found themselves in either the 7th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hart-McHarg with Major Victor W. Odlum second-in-command, or the 16th Battalion commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. Edwards Leckie. 

The restoration of the exterior as well as the development of the townhouses, was completed in 2013.

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

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

The Rock and The Freighter

This serene lady sits in the Devonian Harbour Park outside Stanley Park.

As you might have gathered I am returning to my file on Stanley Park today. I was unsure of how to proceed with this entry and then,thanks to The History of Vancouver website I found something interesting.

On March 6, 1945 a 10,000 ton freighter, Greenhill Park, became the cause of the most explosive and disastrous event in our port's history when it exploded.

Eight longshoremen died in this explosion, nineteen others were injured and seven firemen ended up in hospital. As far west as Thurlow and north as Dunsmuir windows were blown out from the force; entire office blocks had barely a pane of glass left. Considering it was near the end of World War II some thought that the Japanese were bombing the city. But that's not what was happening.

According to the article I read Greenhill Park had as its main cargo, sodium chlorate as well as other merchandise. Including barrels of alcohol. Other stuff was packed in front of the booze to hide it but it didn't take long for the longshoremen to figure out it was there and then to clear a narrow passageway to the liquor. One by one the men came down to have a drink or fill a bottle to take home.

The problem arose when the last man, who had already consumed a bit of the ill gotten spirits, came down and couldn't see the passageway clearly. He lit a match. Liquor had spilled out from the barrels and the passeway was filled with fumes. The explosion was immediate and that man was killed instantly.

Four explosions tore through the Greehill Park, leaving a gaping hole in her side and killing eight men working aboard her at the time.

A two month report was conductecd at the time of the explosion in which it was concluded that "improper stowage of combustible, dangerous and explosive material ... and the ignition thereof by a lighted match." Since the true events of what happened were not known it was an educated guess.

But in 1980 a reporter at The Province newspaper received a letter from a man who had been in hospital in 1957 with a man who was on the Greenhill Park that day. In fact he was the only other person in the hold and saw what happened. For twelve years he didn't say a word but passed his story on that day and the recepient of the tale waited twenty three years to pass it on.

A tug hauled the Greenhill Park to Siwash Rock and beached it there. In June of 1946 Greenhill Park had been repaired and renamed S.S. Phaex II and sailed out of Vancouver. In 1967 it was the Lagos Michigan and sold for scrap. Imagine keeping track of the history of a freighter. Interesting.

This is Siwash Rock. According to Indian legend this fifty to sixty foot rock is a tribute to Skalsh the Unselfish. Skalsh was turned to stone by Q'UAS the Transformer as a reward for his unselfishness.

According to Wikepedia about 32 million years ago a volcanic dike formed in the sedimentary rock that forms the sandstone and mudstone foundation of the park. Through a fissure in the Earth's crust magma was forced to the surface and formed the basalt stack. This stack is more resistant to erosion than the softer sandstone that makes up a lot of the park. This is also the only such stack in Vancouver.

(Just a note. Mariners originally called it Nine Pin Rock due to its resemblence, vague though it is, to a bowling pin.)

 Not too far from Siwash Rock is a place that you can look out and see the fabulous view. That is as long as you aren't the nervous type.

This is secure. It isn't a suspension bridge - I am terrified of those - and when you make it across you will be rewarded with views like this.

Well worth the short trip I would say.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

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