This column first appeared in the Sept. 22, 1999 edition of The Citizen:
On Sept. 10, 1939, Canada declared war and joined in the Second World War. Fuelled by wartime demands, the disastrous economy improved, but the provincial government was still pressured to undertake major public works projects to create employment.
The Japanese air force bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and after that, fear was widespread that British Columbia could become a target. Urgency intensified when later that month, Japanese ships were sited off the Alaska coast. The citizens of Prince George were asked to refrain from noisy New Year's Eve celebrations that year and to be prepared for a blackout to be enforced at any time. In this city, the alert to block any light emanating from homes was sounded using the whistle at the CNR Roundhouse. The signal was five blasts, repeated three times.
The Citizen announced a regular column would appear, "News of Our Boys On Active Service," to keep everyone informed about the activities of Prince George and district men in the armed forces overseas. Large numbers of Prince George's men responded to the emergency and enlisted for active duty. The sad accompaniment to the column was the announcement of a local son's demise or acknowledgement that he was missing.
The United States Army Engineers began construction of the Alaska Highway as a military supply route on March 8, 1942 and completed it eight months later on Oct. 25.
Along with the rest of the country, Prince George residents coped with shortages as various foods and gasoline could only be purchased using ration coupons.
The city's water supply was chlorinated for the first time in January 1943 at the request of the military camp in Prince George. By summer, Mayor Patterson's concerns switched from water to talk control. Concerned with security, he informed Council that they had a responsibility to help the military by discouraging discussions of military activities by civilians. It was a curious announcement considering that the Citizen carried rather full coverage of news from the front, including a column "War Moves," submitted by a foreign correspondent with details of troop movements in the European theatre. The mayor had four nephews in active service.
Officially, the Second World War ended on Aug. 14, 1945 although the surrender document was signed later on Sept. 2. Over the next months, Prince George had the happy task of hosting many welcome home celebrations for returning servicemen.
All the plans for managing the postwar economy could now be moved from theory to practice. Prominent among expectations in this region was building a highway link to the Peace region.
Dr. Valerie Giles is a Prince George-based writer and researcher. Valerie also writes "Remembering," a local history column, which appears each Saturday in The Citizen.
