A history of the militia gunners of Victoria to 1956
Date
1974
Authors
Lovatt, Ronald
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Abstract
The first militia artillery unit to be formed west of Ontario, Canada, assembled in Victoria, British Columbia in 1878. The operational role of the Victoria Battery of Garrison Artillery was the defence of Victoria and Esquimalt from sea-borne attack. Various changes in title, organisation and equipment occurred in the following years, but the primary operational role remained consistent until 1956 when coast artillery was disbanded. This thesis traces the history of the militia artillerymen of Victoria from their colonial military ancestry to the disbandment of coast artillery.
At present there is no comprehensive history of the militia gunners of Victoria. An account of their early history to 1885 is recorded in Professor R.H. Roy's article titled "The Early Militia and Defence of British Columbia, 1871-1885." The theme of this article was extended by Peter Guy Silverman in his M.A. thesis "A History of the Militia and Defences of British Columbia 1871-1914 ... Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson refers to the history of militia artillery in his comprehensive two volume history, The Gunners of Canada. These sources and others refer to the militia gunners of Victoria in support of wider historic themes. Any attempt to piece together a history of the militia gunners of Victoria from them reveals considerable gaps in the historical record.
This thesis attempts to provide a single comprehensive history of the militia gunners of Victoria to 1956. In doing so it illuminates. one aspect of the history of the Victoria region, contributes to the history of the defence of British Columbia, and describes the history of one militia unit within the broader military history of Canada and, to a lesser extent, the British Empire.
Because of the original nature of the topic, the greater part of the research for _this paper has been among primary sources. In addition to the usual local archival records, recourse. was made to public and military records in England and to the very large, uncatalogued collection of documents, photographs, diaries and records held by the 5th(British Columbia) Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery. Some valuable records were consulted at Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Park, where traces of the defences are open to public view. Much of the research involved personal interviews to elicit confirmation of a suspected situation, or to throw new light upon a dark corner of research.