The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Out VOL. 18 NO. 4 SEPTEMBER 2000 HISTORY- THE NEWSLETTER OF THE WEST VANCOUVER HtSTORICAL SOCIETY INCIDENT AT ESTEVAN What Really Did Happen in June , 1942? Our speaker for the September meeting is Donald Graham who has been a director of our Society for several years. Don, a historian and author of two books about west coast lighthouses and their keepers, became a lightkeeper in B. C.. in 1976 (0er serving as Cultural Conservation Co-ordinatorfor the province of Saskatchewan. He, his wife Elaine, and their two sons, then set up home in various BC lightstations, ending up at Point Atkinson. He is presently active in promoting the maintenance and preservation of that facility. At 9:25 p.m. on June 20th, 1942, some twenty-five 5.5 inch shells rained down around Estevan Point Lighthouse, halfway up Vancouver Island's west coast. Ottawa's official version, which shocked the local population and galvanized the coastal defenses, proclaimed that a Japanese 1 class submarine had surfaced and shelled the station - an action which underscored (according to Prime Minister Mackenzie King) "...the extent of the danger with which all parts of the world are confronted and at this time our own part in particular." When lightkeeper and historian, Don Graham set out to document the affair in the course of researching a two-volume history of B.C.'s lighthouses and their keepers, the response of these elderly "wicks" was unanimous and derisive. "It wasn't the Japs who shelled Estevan, and it wasn't a submarine". If not, then who? With the help of a sympathetic M.P. who unearthed the paper trail, and the recollections of others on the scene that night, the incident lends itself to a much different, more sinister interpretation. Don Graham will share his experience in seeking an answer to this ominous, on-going riddle, and speculate upon who did shell Estevan, at our upcoming general meeting in September. Estevan Point Lighthouse The Next General Meeting Will be held on Wednesday September 27th, 2000, at 7:00 pm in the Activity Room of the West Vancouver Seniors' Activity Centre, 685-21st Street (parking off Fulton Avenue, between 21st and 22nd Streets). All Visitors are Welcome , ^ 1 PHOTO: Don Graham What's Inside: The Future of the Arts in West Van.....2 Peter Hall Talks About Dundarave.........3 Society News.............................4 Alarms & Excursions - The Story of B.C.'s Artillery.............. 6 Tom Taylor's First Job...................7