This week in Prince George history, May 15-21:
May 21, 1942: Prince George will be bombed by the Japanese within the year, assistant provincial fire marshall William Oswald told local firemen and officials during a meeting on May 18, 1942, The Citizen reported.
"Whether you like it or not, I am here to tell you that you are going to be bombed this year. You have things here the Japanese don't want you to have," Oswald said. "You have a railway line capable of carrying serial supplies to the west, and you have an airport. It is not now a case of 'if' but 'when' for the bombings."
The Battle of Britain was fought by the air force and the firemen and "the battle of B.C. is going to be dealt with by the firemen and trained volunteers."
Oswald said the district could be hit by 600- to 1,000-pound bombs, as well as thousands of incendiary "calling cards."
These calling cards are small explosives containing flammable phosphorous, Oswald said, and are powerful enough to "blow off an arm when picked up."
"You must drill the children in school, that following an air raid nothing must be picked up or touched. Just the pressure of a finger... may be enough to set it off," Oswald said.
Oswald also warned residents that in Asia, the Japanese airdropped poisoned candies and chocolates to kill children as a weapon to break people's morale.
Following an air raid, residents should wet everything down to prevent the spread of fires, and any incendiary material should be dropped into a bucket of water using a spiked pick and left out on the road to be picked up, Oswald said.
Provincial fire marshall, R.A. Walker added that British firefighters "wrote one of the greatest chapters into the history of the battle of London," fighting 400 major fires in a single day.
(ITALIC) Thankfully, Canada would never come under direct attack by Japanese bombers (although some Japanese submarines did attack the Estevan Point lighthouse on Vancouver Island with their deck guns). The Japanese also launched approximately 9,000 balloons carrying incendiary bombs towards North America. But only about 1,000 of the balloons reached North America - from Mexico to Canada - setting a few fires when they detonated, and killing six people at a picnic near Bly, Oregon in 1945.
But this story shows the degree of fear people faced as the Second World War broadened the scope of warfare. (END ITALIC)
May 17, 1916: The Citizen received a letter from the former pre-emption inspector for the region, Mr. Wallace, from the front lines of the First World War. Wallace enlisted at the outbreak of the war, The Citizen reported.
The Citizen ran an except from the letter, which was written on March 22, 1916.
"I have been six months at the front today and have come through so far without hurt, though we have had some pretty warm times. I used to think Fort George in the spring time was the last word in muddiness, but it is a Sahara compared with what we endured all through the long winter," Wallace wrote.
"Many a time the trenches have been thigh-deep in mud and water and of course, once wet you stayed wet for days until you were relieved and went back with the reserve. The regiment is at present doing its turn in the the front line, and even as I write the enemy's shells are whistling overhead and bursting not far away.
"I somehow think that the war will be over this summer, and I hope to be back in the west in the fall. Remember me to all my old Fort George friends."
(ITALIC) I have tried to determine who the mysterious Mr. Wallace was, and what became of him. This is what I found: (END ITALIC)
The Prince George Cenotaph also doesn't name any First World War casualties with the surname Wallace, so it's likely that the Mr. Wallace who wrote the letter survived the war.
The 1915 annual year-end report to the Minister of Lands mentions of the resignation of "G. Wallace, the Inspector for the Fort George and Cariboo Districts, who enlisted and is now at the front..."
The 1913 report to the minister mentioned G.I. Wallace was appointed to the job on April 18, 1913, and was busy traveling the region inspecting 225 claims throughout the region. Wallace's report on his findings is a fascinating look at a state of communities in the region at the time, but that's a story for another day.
According to Library and Archives Canada documents, George Isadore Wallace, 41, enlisted on Dec. 22, 1914 in Victoria. His listed occupation was civil servant, and he had previously served in the 2nd Special Service Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment in South Africa from 1899-1901.
He was born in Blackheath, London, England, and his next of kin was his mother in England. No current address was included on the enlistment form, so it is impossible to say if this is the same Wallace who wrote the letter. However, of the 602 Wallaces who served in the First World War that Library and Archives Canada has enlistment records for, George Isadore is the only one who had the initials G.I.
And, according to the Canadian Great War Project records, Cpl. George Isadore Wallace served with the 2nd Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles - a Victoria-based regiment which arrived in France on Sept. 22, 1915, exactly six months before Mr. Wallace's letter was written. The regiment left Montreal aboard the Megantic on June 21, 1915 and arrived in England on June 21, 1915 with 28 officers and 605 enlisted men.
George Isadore Wallace survived the war. He died at the age of 73 on Sept. 24, 1946 and is buried in Colwood on Vancouver Island.
(ITALIC) Unfortunately Wallace would have to endure almost 2 1/2 more years of wet, mud and terror before the end of the First World War. You have to salute the courage of a man who, after facing the horrors of war once in his 20s, would sign up in his 40s to fight another. Most of the men he'd be fighting beside and against were half his age.
Whether George Isadore Wallace was the letter writer or not, I'm glad to see he survived. Hopefully he had some good, peaceful years after the war.
As an aside, this story comes from the oldest newspaper in the Prince George Citizen digital archives. (END ITALIC)
