Military History of BC

Early History to 1914

Prior to 1858, the HBC administered the territory that would become BC and relied on the Royal Navy for military support. The HBC established a number of trading posts, including FORT VICTORIA on VANCOUVER ISLAND in 1843. The Royal Navy sent HMS Pandora to Fort Victoria during the Oregon boundary dispute in 1846 (see OREGON TREATY), and in 1848 HMS Constance used ESQUIMALT harbour as a temporary base. To allay the security concerns of settlers on Vancouver Island, Gov James DOUGLAS established in 1851 the Victoria Voltigeurs, a small unit of volunteers, mostly French-Canadian voyageurs. In 1852, and again in 1854, the unit accompanied Royal Navy sailors and marines on punitive actions against aboriginal villages on the coast.

Following the discovery of gold on the FRASER R in 1857 (see GOLD RUSH, FRASER R), the British took direct control of Vancouver Island and the mainland from the HBC. The Voltigeurs were disbanded and the British sent out 2 detachments (225 men) of ROYAL ENGINEERS under Col Richard MOODY. The Engineers established the new capital of NEW WESTMINSTER and constructed parts of the CARIBOO WAGON ROAD from YALE to the Cariboo goldfields (see GOLD RUSH, CARIBOO) before they were withdrawn at the end of 1863. Meanwhile, in 1862, the Royal Navy moved the headquarters of its Pacific Squadron from Chile to Esquimalt, where it remained until the Canadian government took over in 1906.

In 1860 the VICTORIA PIONEER RIFLES was formed by 45 former black slaves who had taken refuge on Vancouver Island; it disbanded in 1864. In Nov 1863 the New Westminster Volunteer Rifles (NWVR), formed largely from Royal Engineers who had remained in the colony, was established to defend the capital and the mainland against invasion and to keep peace among miners, settlers, traders and aboriginals. A corresponding unit, the Victoria Rifle Corps, was created the following summer on the Island. During the so-called CHILCOTIN WAR, the NWVR were called out to bring in the fugitives. Trouble of a different kind was anticipated in 1866 when Irish Americans seeking the independence of Ireland, known as Fenians, threatened British possessions in N America and carried out attacks on the Canadas and the Maritime colonies. On the Pacific Coast, George Train urged Fenians in San Francisco to take over BC. Reacting to the threat, New Westminster municipal council authorized on 16 June 1866 the formation of the Home Guards to support the NWVR. On the same day the Seymour Artillery Company was formed and several former Royal Engineers with artillery training were recruited. By 1867 armaments and supplies had arrived from Britain to train these volunteers. However, the Fenian threat soon died away.

In 1871 BC entered CONFEDERATION and came under the authority of Military District 11. The Canadian government had decided to establish militia units instead of maintaining a standing army. Under the Militia Act of 1868, provision was made to pay members 50 cents a day for training 8–16 days a year. Uniforms, guns and funds were all in short supply and dependent on local leaders and initiatives. The emphasis of defence policy shifted from rifle units to artillery to protect harbours and vital locations such as New Westminster, Victoria and NANAIMO (a source of COAL for the Royal Navy). By 1883 the BC Provisional Regiment of Garrison Artillery, a brigade of artillery with headquarters in Victoria, had been established on the coast, including the Seymour Battery in New Westminster, the oldest continuous militia unit in BC. With the completion of the CPR in 1885, gun batteries were placed in BURRARD INLET to protect the railway.

In 1893 the BC Battalion of Garrison Artillery became the 5th BC Regiment of Garrison Artillery (BCRGA). Then in July 1899 the 2nd Battalion of the 5th BCRGA was converted to a rifle battalion, the 6th Battalion Duke of Connaughts Own Rifles (DCORs) with 2 companies in New Westminster and 4 companies in VANCOUVER. That same year, 24 DCOR members fought with the Royal Canadian Regiment in the Boer War as part of the first Canadian contingent to S Africa. Two other contingents later saw service there with the Lord Strathcona Horse and the South African Constabulary.

During and after the Boer War, militia units sprang up all over BC. In 1910 the 104th Regiment, Westminster Fusiliers of Canada, was formed from 2 companies of the DCORs. Militia units in Vancouver included the DCORs, 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada (1911); 11th Regiment, Irish Fusiliers (1913); 6th Field Engineers (North Vancouver); and the 18th Field Ambulance. In Victoria there were the 88th Regiment, Victoria Fusiliers (1912); the 50th Regiment, Gordon Highlanders (1913); and the 5th Field Regiment (artillery). Elsewhere in the province, the 102nd Rocky Mountain Rangers was formed, moving from NELSON to KAMLOOPS by 1912, and there were the Okanagan Mounted Rifles, the 30th BC Horse, Earl Grey's Own Rifles in PRINCE RUPERT and various rifle companies in the KOOTENAY.

By 1914, 3 naval vessels were stationed at Esquimalt: HMCS Rainbow and 2 smaller vessels, the Alberine and the Shearwater. On 3 Aug 1914, the rumoured presence of 2 German cruisers off Cape Flattery caused Premier Richard McBRIDE to purchase 2 SUBMARINES from a Seattle shipbuilding company. Three days later the province transferred the submarines to federal control, but they remained on the West Coast until June 1917. The Admiralty also leased 3 fishing boats, equipping them with torpedoes to patrol coast waters.

British Columbians in WWI: 1914–18

WWI began in Aug 1914 when Germany marched into neutral Belgium. Britain declared war against Germany on 4 Aug and 2 days later Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden offered to send an expeditionary force overseas to aid Britain. Sir Sam Hughes, minister of militia and defence, called for 25,000 volunteers, but outraged by reported German atrocities against the Belgians, 33,000 Canadians enlisted within a month. These early recruits were gathered at Valcartier, QC, and formed into battalions of soldiers from various militia units.

The first contingent overseas in 1914 included 2 predominantly BC battalions. The 7th Battalion, commanded by Lt Col Hart-McHarg of the Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles (DCORs), with Maj Victor ODLUM of the 11th Irish Fusiliers second-in-command, contained units from the DCORs, the 11th Fusiliers from Vancouver, the 88th Fusiliers from Victoria, the 102nd Rocky Mountain Rangers, the 104th Fusiliers from New Westminster, MISSION and CHILLIWACK and the W Kootenay detachment. Meanwhile, half of the 16th Canadian Scottish Battalion, and its commander Lt Col (later Maj Gen) R.G.E. Leckie, came from the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada based in Vancouver. The 50th Gordon Highlanders in Victoria, commanded by Arthur CURRIE at the outbreak of the war, contributed another 25% to the 16th Battalion. Both battalions served with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), that went into action in Apr 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres where the Germans first used poison gas. The 16th, along with the 10th Battalion (Calgary), took part in the counterattack against German positions at Kitchener Wood on 22 Apr, for which members of both battalions were rewarded with the symbol of an oak cluster. They were the only Canadian battalions to win this honour during the war.

The 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (Okanagan Mounted Rifles and 30th BC Horse) went overseas in June 1915, while the 29th Battalion of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, known as "Tobin's Tigers" after its commander Henry TOBIN, was formed with drafts of men from the 11th Irish Fusiliers, the DCORs, the Seaforths and the 104th Westminsters. The 29th first saw action in Apr 1916 at St Eloi near Ypres where the Allies tunnelled under the German lines and blew huge craters, then tried to occupy them. The craters filled with water and the 29th spent a miserable time trying to hold them before relief arrived. The 29th distinguished itself at the Somme in Sept 1916 with the capture of Sugar Trench and Courcelette.

The 4th Canadian Division, containing the 47th (Westminster) Battalion, the 54th (Kootenay) Battalion, the 72nd (Seaforths) Battalion and the 102nd (Northern BC) Battalion first saw action at the Somme in Oct 1916. The 102nd captured sections of Regina Trench on 11 Nov. Several other BC battalions went overseas as distinct units or were broken up to provide reinforcements for other battalions. The 104th Westminster Fusiliers, for example, raised 6,500 men from New Westminster and the FRASER VALLEY and supplied drafts of recruits to other battalions. Men who were too old or too young for overseas service stayed home to guard bridges, railway, reservoirs and other strategic points, and to patrol the 24 internment camps established throughout BC for the incarceration of "enemy aliens," mostly German and Austro–Hungarian immigrants. Other local units supplying men to the front included the 6th Canadian Field Company (N VANCOUVER), Royal Canadian Engineers, the 18th Field Ambulance (Vancouver), and the 8 Provost (military police) from Vancouver, along with 3 artillery regiments. British Columbians also served in railway (see STEWART, John W.), tunnelling and forestry battalions. The Canadian Forestry Corps provided timber for building railways and trenches. On one occasion the 250 men of the 70th Company from REVELSTOKE cut more lumber in a 10-hour day—156,000 board ft—than any other company during the war.

Canada had no air force, but 22,800 Canadians served in the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Canadians dominated the list of top air aces out of all proportion to their numbers. Of the 27 Allied aces who had 30 or more hits, 10 were Canadians. Lt Col Raymond COLLISHAW from Nanaimo, serving with the RNAS, ranked third with 60 hits. An unknown number of British Columbians served in the Royal Navy, mostly on convoy duty protecting merchant ships from German U-boats in the Atlantic. About 300 CHINESE and 225 JAPANESE served in the CEF, many from Vancouver and Victoria. Most served in battalions from Alberta and Ontario because they were refused entry to BC-raised battalions. An unknown number of Chinese from BC served overseas with the Chinese Labour Corps, which performed tasks such as digging trenches and carrying supplies to the front. About 4,000 aboriginal men from across Canada served overseas, including every eligible male between 20 and 35 from the OKANAGAN Head of the Lake band. Several BC women served as nurses and in the Red Cross and other volunteer agencies.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge in Apr 1917 was Canada's most memorable victory in WWI and the first major Allied victory of the war. All 4 Canadian divisions participated in the attack on Vimy Ridge, which dominated the Douai Plain near Arras and was considered impregnable. The 1st Canadian Division had been commanded since Sept 1915 by Maj Gen Arthur Currie, a SIDNEY real estate developer considered the best divisional commander on the Western Front by British Prime Minister Lloyd George. The Canadian Corps was commanded by Lt Gen Sir Julian Byng, who along with Currie and Brig Gen Andrew McNaughton, in command of the artillery, used aircraft observation and reconaissance patrols to pinpoint enemy guns and neutralize them by counter-battery fire. Currie and McNaughton also perfected the creeping barrage in which artillery and machine gun fire moved steadily ahead of the advancing infantry. Most of Vimy Ridge was taken on 9 Apr, Easter Monday. However the 4th Division, including the 54th (Kootenay), the 72nd (Seaforths) and the 47th (Westminsters) suffered heavy casualties from a section of trench at Hill 145 which guns had spared in the expectation that it be used later as headquarters by the Canadians. Hill 145 finally was taken on 13 Apr in a blinding snowstorm. Canada achieved international recognition with the capture of Vimy Ridge. Currie was knighted and promoted to lt gen to become the first Canadian commander of the Canadian Corps.

Currie's first battle as Corps Commander was at Hill 70, Lens, in Aug 1917 where the Canadians captured the hill and beat back 17 German counterattacks, at the cost of many casualties. The Canadians' next major battle was at Passchendaele, Third Battle of Ypres, in Oct–Nov 1917, which came to epitomize the horrors of WWI. Broken drainage systems combined with autumn rains to create a sea of mud where unburied bodies littered the battlefield and wounded men and horses drowned in the mire. The 72nd (Seaforths) captured the strongly held Crest Farm on 30 Oct and the 7th Battalion (1st BC) captured one of the final objectives on 10 Nov. The Canadians suffered 15,654 casualties at Passchendaele.

Canada's last major offensive of the war, known as the "Hundred Days," began on 18 Aug 1918, referred to by German Gen Ludendorff as "the Black Day of the German Army in the history of this war." The Canadians advanced over 12 km, taking numerous prisoners and enemy guns. Currie had developed a fighting force second to none on the Western Front. "Wherever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into their line," wrote Lloyd George, "they prepared for the worst." The Canadians broke the heavily defended Hindenburg Line near Arras on 2 Sept, a day on which 7 Canadians won the VICTORIA CROSS (VC), a record unmatched by any other country in the British Empire. Canadians continued to distinguish themselves at several more engagements throughout the autumn; early on the morning of 11 Nov, the 13th Brigade, commanded by Brig Gen J.A. Clark, former commander of the 72nd (Seaforths), liberated Mons, Belgium and at 11 am, an armistice ended the war. Since late Aug Canadians had fought 37 km through the toughest German defences, suffering 30,000 casualties while capturing 19,000 prisoners, 370 guns and 2,000 machine guns. The 16th Canadian Scottish were awarded 4 VCs, more than any other battalion in the CEF; the 7th (1st BC Battalion) won 3 VCs. Of the 620,000 Canadians who served with the CEF, 55,570 came from BC, the highest per capita rate of enlistment in the country. Canada suffered close to a quarter of a million casualties in the war. Of the 61,661 deaths, 6,225 were British Columbians.

Between the Wars

Following WWI Canada's armed forces once again had primarily a militia role. The numbered battalions of wartime were disbanded and replaced by the non-permanent militia units that existed before the war. The regular army was represented in the West by the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), of which one company was stationed at the Work Point Barracks at Esquimalt. The 16th Canadian Scottish, in Victoria after the war, became in 1920 the Canadian Scottish (Princess Mary's) Regiment, perpetuating the 50th Gordon Highlanders and the 88th Victoria Fusiliers. The Vancouver elements of the 16th Scottish and the 72nd Battalion reverted to the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, while the 54th Kootenay Battalion was redesignated as artillery with various batteries in the Kootenay region. The 7th Battalion, 1st BC Regiment, and the 104th Regiment (Westminster Fusiliers of Canada) were reorganized as the 1st BC Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles) with 6 battalions. In 1924 these 6 battalions were re-organized into 3 separate regiments: the 1st BC Regiment (Duke of Connaughts), the Vancouver Regiment and the Westminster Regiment. The BC Regiment was later designated as an armoured unit as was the BC Dragoons (VERNON and KELOWNA), formerly the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles. The 15th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery, was authorized in Feb 1920 with one battery in Victoria and 5 in Vancouver. In 1924 the Royal Canadian Air Force was formed with Western Air Command headquarters at JERICHO BEACH air station in Vancouver.

In 1937, 400 BC men volunteered to fight with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War against Gen Francisco Franco and his fascist forces.

British Columbians in WWII: 1939–45

Six BC regiments fought as distinct units in WWII: the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada (Vancouver) fought with the 1st Canadian Division as part of the British 8th Army in Sicily and Italy (July 1943–Mar 1945) and with the 1st Canadian Army in the Netherlands (Mar–May 1945). The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Esquimalt) also served with the 1st Canadian Division. The Royal Westminster Regiment and the BC Dragoons, 9th Armoured Regiment, fought in Italy and north west Europe as part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division. The Canadian Scottish Regiment (3rd Canadian Division) and the BC Regiment (4th Canadian Armoured Division) also fought in north west Europe.

The first major action for the Canadian Army took place at Dieppe on 19 Aug 1942. The raid across the English Channel was a disaster; 907 Canadians died and another 3,100 were wounded or taken prisoner. Lt Col Cecil MERRITT, a former Seaforth, commanded the South SK Regiment (SSR) during the raid and won Canada's first Victoria Cross of the war. "C" Company of the SSR was the only Canadian unit to capture its objective during the raid.

The Canadian Army did not see action again until 10 July 1943 when the 1st Canadian Division took part in the invasion of Sicily. The Seaforths, under the command of Lt Col Bert HOFFMEISTER, excelled in the capture of Agira and a model infantry-tank action at Adrano. After capturing Sicily, Allied troops crossed the Messina Straits into Italy and began a long, difficult advance up the peninsula. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, by this time commanded by Hoffmeister and including the Seaforths, Loyal Edmontons and the Patricias, engaged in very heavy fighting at the Moro R in early Dec 1943. After crossing the Moro they fought their way north to Ortona, the eastern end of the Gustav Line, where the Seaforths and the Edmontons, using a technique called mouseholing to move from house to house, eventually took the town. The Battle of Ortona took 7 days and became known as "Little Stalingrad."

On 23 May 1944 the 1st Canadian Division, led by the Seaforths, cracked the heavily defended Hitler Line south of Rome. The 2nd Brigade suffered the heaviest single-day losses (162 killed) of any Canadian brigade in the Italian campaign. Only 77 Patricias were left to continue the fighting at the end of the day. Following the breach in the Hitler Line, the 5th Armoured Division, commanded by Maj Gen Hoffmeister, saw its first major action. "A" Company of the Westminster Regiment, led by Maj Jack Mahoney (a Victoria Cross winner), succeeded in establishing a bridgehead across the Melfa R which helped open the door to Rome. In late Aug 1944 the Canadians moved over to attack the heavily defended Gothic Line on the Adriatic coast. The 5th Armoured Division, by this time known as "Hoffie's Mighty Maroon Machine," pulled off in a surprise attack one of the biggest Allied victories of the war by getting behind the enemy's defences. The BC Dragoons, despite heavy losses, proved to be a first-class tank regiment at the Gothic Line and later fighting at Pozzo Alto Ridge, the Lamone Crossing and Conventello–Comacchio. The Royal Westminster Regiment, known as "Corbould Force" after their commander Lt Col Gordon Corbould, was highly successful in every engagement in the war, including Coriano Ridge, Naviglio Canal, Piangipane and the liberation of the Netherlands. (Two of the Westminsters, Sgts Gino Bortolussi and Ron Hurley, were Canadian Armed Forces sprint champions and if not for the war, potential Olympic champions.)

On 6 June 1944, D-Day, the Allies landed in Normandy—the largest invasion in history. "B" Company of the Canadian Scottish, Princess Mary's Regiment (Victoria and Vancouver) landed with the first wave at Juno Beach and advanced farther inland than any other Allied regiment that day. The Canadian Scots fought through Caen to Falaise, suffering over 600 casualties in Normandy, then participated in the clearing of the Channel ports, the Scheldt estuary and the Rhineland and the liberation of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the BC Regiment went into action on 8–9 Aug and suffered a disaster. Its tanks became disoriented in the dark near Estrées-la-Campagne and ran into a German ambush, losing 47 tanks and 39 men. The regiment eventually recovered to participate in the Battles of the Scheldt and the Rhineland, as well as the liberation of the Netherlands. Other BC units playing a vital role in north west Europe included the 6th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (North Vancouver), No. 11 Divisional Signals, the No. 12 Light Field ambulance and No.16 General Hospital, both from Vancouver. Many engineers and other special forces were trained at Camp Chilliwack (est 1942), including a special unit of Chinese Canadians deployed in 1945 as airborne troops in Burma. Other personnel were trained at Camp Vernon and Gordon Head in Victoria. Close to 21,000 British Columbians served in the RCAF, mostly in Bomber Command, as fighter pilots and ground crews, and almost all these airmen received training as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. Wing Commander Vernon "Woody" Woodward of Victoria, rejected by the RCAF, served with the Royal Air Force in N Africa and the Mediterranean, becoming BC's leading fighter pilot with 21 confirmed hits. Almost 2,000 British Columbians also served in the Royal Canadian Navy, escorting convoys of merchant ships across the N Atlantic, and many others served in the Canadian Merchant Marine. Many women from BC volunteered for service in the war: 2,308 served in the RCAF, Women's Division; 2,541 in the Canadian Women Auxiliary Corps; 762 in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service; 44 in the RCN nursing service; and 32 in the RCAF nursing service. By the end of the war, about 85,000 BC men between 18 and 45 had served in the war, the highest proportion of the population of any province in Canada.

On the home front, defence of the West Coast was a top priority, especially following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941 and the appearance offshore of Japanese submarines, one of which was believed to have fired on ESTEVAN POINT lighthouse in June 1942. Prior to Pearl Harbor, 3 minesweepers, a few auxiliary vessels and the boats of the Fishermen's Reserve (see GUMBOOT NAVY) patrolled the coast. By early 1942 they had been supplemented by 3 converted passenger liners from the PRINCE LINE of Canadian National Steamships and another 15 minesweepers. (The 3 Prince liners were later used in the landings in Europe.) To bolster west coast defences the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers was formed. It was an auxiliary corps of about 14,000 men (115 companies), mainly farmers, loggers, fishers and trappers, many of them WWI veterans, who kept watch for subversive activity and provided information to the regular forces. Three RCAF squadrons and the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade, Pacific Command, were sent to the Aleutian Islands in 1942 to counter the Japanese occupation of Kiska. However, the Japanese withdrew from Kiska before the scheduled attack. By mid-1943 there were 3 divisions—21 infantry battalions consisting of 34,316 troops—training in BC and manning coast stations under the command of Maj Gen George PEARKES. In Sept 1942 following the disastrous Dieppe Raid, which he had opposed, Pearkes was transferred back to Canada to take charge of Pacific Command. Regiments such as the Rocky Mountain Rangers and the 11th Irish Fusiliers did not fight overseas as units but trained soldiers for overseas reinforcements and contributed to defence of the coast. Western Air Command, at Jericho Beach, had 18 operational squadrons by Nov 1943 and was used for anti-submarine and bombing reconnaissance along the coast. Training took place at BOUNDARY BAY, ABBOTSFORD, SEA ISLAND and Pat Bay. These planes also shot down Japanese balloons packed with explosives and incendiaries to terrorize civilians and set forest fires. The RAF also opened FLYING BOAT STATIONS along the coast, using the air base at Pat Bay (established in 1939) and later the COMOX base (established in 1944) as training centres.

The Korean War

On 25 June 1950, hostilities broke out in Korea when Communist N Korea crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the Republic of Korea, capturing Seoul 3 days later. Canada supported action by the United Nations to halt the N Korean aggression by dispatching 3 destroyers from Esquimalt, assigning an air force squadron to transport duties and recruiting a Canadian Army Special Force (CASF) to be part of UN forces. The CASF was commanded by Brig John ROCKINGHAM, who chose Lt Col Jim Stone to lead the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). Stone, one of the heroes of Ortona, had served with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment during WWII and settled in BC after the war. He held the distinction of being the only soldier in the Canadian Army to rise during the war from the rank of private to commanding officer of his own regiment. Stone's leadership was put to the test in Apr 1951 when the 2nd PPCLI, heavily outnumbered and exposed on both flanks, stopped a major attack by the Communist Chinese at Kapyong. As a result, the battalion received the US Presidential Citation, the only Canadian unit to receive such an honour. The Korean conflict turned static until a truce was signed on 27 July 1953, preserving the border at the 38th parallel. Almost 27,000 Canadians served there at a cost of 309 killed. Three of the highest decorations were won by BC soldiers: Sgt Dick Buxton and Sgt John Richardson of the 1st PPCLI won Distinguished Conduct Medals, as did Pte Wayne Mitchell, a member of the 2nd Battalion PPCLI.

Present Organization of the Militia in BC

With a reduction in military spending in Canada in the 1990s, BC lost its last major contingent of regular land forces in 1996 as both the PPCLI and the Royal Canadian Engineers moved to Edmonton from Chilliwack. Except for a skeleton staff, Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack, which had housed the A6 Canadian Engineer Training Centre and the Royal School of Military Engineering for 50 years, was closed. That left the reserve army, in Mar 1997 redesignated the 39th Canadian Brigade Group, with 14 units totalling about 2,400 reservists: the BC Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), the BC Dragoons, 5 Field Regiment (Royal Canadian Artillery), 15 Field Regiment (Royal Canadian Artillery), 6 Field Engineer Squadron, 44 Field Engineer Squadron, Rocky Mountain Rangers, Royal Westminster Regiment, Seaforth Highlanders, Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's), 11 (Victoria) Service Battalion, 12 (Vancouver) Service Battalion, 11 (Victoria) Medical Company, and 12 (Vancouver) Medical Company. Most of these units include cadets who attend Camp Vernon's Western Canada Army Cadet Summer Training Centre for 2 weeks each summer. Reserve units from BC have contributed substantially to peacekeeping missions abroad.

The Royal Canadian Navy on the West Coast is centred at Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters Esquimalt, along with 2 reserve units—HMCS Malahat (Esquimalt) and HMCS Discovery (Vancouver)—and a sea cadet summer training centre at HMCS Quadra (Comox). During the Cold War, the main responsibility of the RCAF (19 Wing, Comox) on the coast, in addition to SEARCH AND RESCUE, was to conduct anti-submarine aircraft patrols and to monitor Russian missiles. Since 1991 patrols have been reduced, though not abandoned completely. Air cadets receive summer training at ALBERT HEAD and Comox.

by Ken MacLeod
Reading: Douglas Harker, The Dukes: The story of the men who have served in Peace and War with the British Columbia Regiment (DCO): 1883–1973, 1974; Peter Moogk and Maj R.V. Stevenson, Vancouver Defended: A History of the Men and Guns of the Lower Mainland Defences: 1859–1949, 1978; R.H. Roy, Ready for the Fray: The History of the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) 1920–55, 1958; R.H. Roy, The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada: 1919–65, 1969; R.H. Roy, Sinews of Steel: The History of the British Columbia Dragoons, 1965; Jeffery Williams, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, 1914–84: Seventy Years Service, 1992.