GORDON HEAD -  BUILDINGS snd INFRASTRUCTURE


 
 
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Photo 1. Nov. 12, 1942: Gordon Head Guard house  and main gate. Across the road is the Officer's Training Centre of Western Canada as it was known.  (LAC photo# PA188817
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Photo 2. Jul 22, 1943. Guardhouse and the addition of a standby generator shack and fire pump shelter. (LAC photo # PA188816)
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Photo 3. Nov 12, 1942: Taken from a point half way between the Operations building and the DF shack. The Ops building is at the right side of the photo, (LAC photo # PA188815)
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Photo #4. Nov 12,1942: Taken from the DF shack, and looking towards the  Operations building in  the background.   (LAC photo # PA188813)

The Operations Building at Gordon Head stood on the corner of a former daffodil farm, on land that is now part of the University of Victoria. With the arrival of spring, the daffodils came popping from the ground in the thousands. They stretched from the walls of the Ops building out past the DF shack and into the distance. These daffodils were however, stunted from years of neglect, but nevertheless, it was a  thrilling sight to see especially to those from eastern Canada who had never dreamed of flowers blooming outdoors in February. 

The WRENS at the station gathered the daffodils when they were still buds, packed them in damp paper handkerchiefs in empty one pound chocolate boxes and mailed them home to their mothers. 
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Photo #5. Nov 12, 1942: DF shack. The small building to its right is not an outhouse. Rather, it the  shelter for the guard stationed beside the DF building. (LAC photo# PA 193140
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Photo # 6. Jul 22, 1943. DF shack. Note the potato patch in front of the building Although its a little hard to see, the DF sense aerial is suspended in the middle of the Adcock array. (LAC photo# PA 193105)
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Photo #7. Jul 22, 1943. Operations building as seen from the south west. (LAC photo #PA193103) 
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Photo 8 , Nov 12, 1942 : Operations building -  view of northwest corner. Gordon Head site where the station was built was not the RCN's first choice of location. When sold off  by the Department of National Defence in 1959, the 25 hectare property that the station occupied became a substantial part of the University of Victoria campus (LAC photo #PA193146) 
Download any image in this table to enlarge. 

 
gordon_head_blueprint_s.jpg Blueprint of the Operations Building. Click on thumbnail  to enlarge. The blueprint for the RCN building was found in a LAC file that was supposed to cover the 1946-1954 period for a different piece of land other than the station was eventually built on. It was in that file, because War Assets Disposal was advised they could sell the land and building and they (War Assets) asked for a copy of the drawings. (Provided by Tom Brent)
gordon_head_aerial_pa184977_s.jpg This aerial photo shows the relationship between the Gordon Head Operations building circled at the left and the Department of Transport facility circled at the right. 
(As of March 2018, the D.O.T building is in quite a state of disrepair) The closeness of these two structures has sometimes resulted in their mis-identification. See Note 1 below photos. In the middle of this photo is the Officers Training Centre of Western Canada. It was completed in the autumn of 1940. Click on thumbnail to enlarge. (LAC photo# PA184977)
gordon_head_property_blueprint_s.jpg This blueprint shows the orientation of the Operations Building relative to the DF shack. The Ops building is in the upper left corner while the DF shack is in the very centre.This property was located between Finnerty Road, Sinclair Road, Haro Road and Dawson Road (labeled "Oak Bay Municipal Line" on the drawing) Click on thumbnail to enlarge. 

 
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After the Operations Building was moved from its original site to this location in 1967, it served as a Day Care Centre and later on, as a furniture warehouse. Although the relationship between the nearby Army Camp and the University of Victoria  had been well known for some time, it was only when plans for the 2001 Gordon Head Reunion were initiated that a connection with the Naval Station became of some specific interest. This connection was very pleasantly recognized for those attending the Reunion at a reception sponsored by the University of Victoria Alumni Association. 
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As of 2018, the former Operations Building is being used as office space by the University of Victoria. 
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The former Gordon Head Operations Building as it appears in 2018.  The entrance has been altered.  Although three external walls of the building have been altered, what is currently the West side (middle photo) is unaltered except for removal of the chimney. The window pattern matches to what is shown on the blueprint. (All photos in this table by Tom Brent).

 
 
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Gordon Head had two important neighbours during the war yeas -  namely marine radio station VAK run by the Department of Transport and the Officers Training Centre of Western Canada,.  VAK operated in the above building until its closure in 1967.  After closure,  the building served as the printing centre for the University of Victoria for many years. It is located at 2260 McCoy Road, Saanich  BC (Photo by Tom Brent) 
Marine station VAK in its heyday. (LAC photo) 

 
 
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Original (estimated) position of the Gordom Head Operations building at Google coordinates 48.466183, -123.307715
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Current location of the Gordon Head Operations building at Google coordinates 48.469120, -123.308566
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Current location of station VAK at Google coordinates 48.469335, -123.313819
All Google Maps coordinates researched by Tom Brent
NOTE 1

The former Department of Transport building,  circled on the right side in the aerial photo,  has been misidentified as the Maritime Naval Communications Centre.  It is an error which has propagated itself to web sites and record centres. The web site  http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1931 is just one place where the error is in evidence. Radio historian Tom Brent, provides some background information to support this claim.

"The site from which the RCN conducted 'Y' intelligence operations (circled on the left) was known as the Gordon Head Special Wireless Station.  This misidentified building was built by the Department of Transport for the new Victoria marine radio station in the winter of 1939-40. Starting in 1907, Victoria marine radio (VAK) had been at Gonzales Hill (closer to Victoria) but in 1939 a decision was made to move it to Gordon Head. The tower I circled on the right-hand side of the air photo was part of this station as built in 1940. VAK Victoria marine radio operated from 1940 until 1967 and never had any signals intelligence role nor any involvement with the Royal Canadian Navy.

The big issue here and something that can hopefully be straightened out one day, is that this Department of Transport building has been incorrectly identified as the site of the RCN's Gordon Head "Y" station. A number of online sites  as well as documents issued by governmental organizations mistakenly identify it as being the location of the RCN Signals Intelligence station. However, after meeting with local officials  they are now clear on the error that has been made and are working to correct the mistake."

Credits and References:

1) Tom Brent <navyradiocom(at)gmail.com>
2) LAC - Library and Archives Canada
3) Aerial photo  http://archives.library.uvic.ca/featured_collections/changing_face_uvic_campus/page02.html
4) Dorothy Robertson, WREN : Extracts from "I go (Not) Down To The Sea in Ships". Used with permission.
 


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Apr 10/18