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Page 6 West Vancouver Historical Society November2000 By: Anne Vemon FEATURE PRESENTATION REPORT INCIDENT AT ESTEVAN Don Graham, author, historian and long-time director of your Society, gave us a fascinating talk about the famous "Incident at Estevan" in the World War II year of1942, when the Estevan Lighthouse was shelled. Was it a Japanese submarine or was it "friendly" (U.S.) surface ships which did the deed? Read on and judge for yourself Don began by telling that as a youngster he did not know much about British Columbia, but did know the name of Estevan Point Lighthouse because of all the publicity given to Estevan during the war. In June 1942 the lighthouse was bombarded by a Japanese submarine - the first shots fired in enmity in Canada since the war of 1812 when the British and French fought in Eastern Canada. Years later, when he joined the lightkeeping service in B.C., Don decided to write a book about the importance of lightkeepers and their many lifesaving exploits in B.C.'s history. During his research, Don came across the name of Estevan Point Lighthouse once again and was extremely interested to find that the keeper, with whom he was serving at that time was very friendly with a loug-retired keeper who knew Eliza Lally. (Robert Lally was the lightkeeper at Estevan on that fateful June night in 1942 when he reported the shelling of his station by hostile forces.) The light tower on Estevan Point, over 150 feet in height, is situated on a lonely spot, originally called "Hole-In-The-Wall", on the Hesquiat Peninsula where constant waves come rolling in from the majestic Pacific Ocean. TTie station has seen more than its fair share of local shipwrecks and its keepers have often been called vpon to go to the aid of ships' crews in trouble. It was June 20th, 1942, at 9:15 p.m., just two days before the longest day, and Robert Lally had climbed up the tower and thrown the master switch to set the light in motion. As was his habit, Robert walked around to the beach side of the tower to take a last look at the ocean before turning in for the night. Visibility was good and the sun was just beginning to sink when he saw a warship zigzagging out of a smoke screen. Nothing unusual in that as these waters were home to all types of warship practices in 1942. What WAS very unusual was that the warship began firing shells at the light tower. Thankfully the first shells fell short, giving Robert time to rush to the top of the tower and cut power to the light. From the catwalk in the beacon room he took notes of the action. Lightkeepers carried a notebook and pencil with them at all times as it was imperative they note the time of any weather change. (Robert's meticulous notes were unearthed by Don himself, 40 years after the event, from the files of the Department of National Defense.) Robert noted "flashes from hostile batteries on the horizon" and that "marker shells" fell all around the tower -some close enough to shake the tower and break 3 windows in the lantern. He also saw "a strange white light" but, without binoculars, was unable to identify it further. Shells also landed in the bush and close to Hesquiat, the local Indian village just along the coast. Of course pandemonium errupted. The Indians in Hesquiat poured out of their houses, jumped into their moored boats and canoes, and headed for the more sheltered waters at the head of Hesquiat Harbour. Those unfortunate enough to be caught out fishing, speedily made landfall in the harbour then ran to take shelter in the bush. The radio operator at Estevan sent off a message "We are being shelled" to Naval Headquarters in Victoria. H.Q.s instructed the "Mooloch" to make all speed to Estevan to "evacuate women and children survivors’^ A small patrol vessel, "HMCS Santa Maria" also headed to the lighthouse to give any necessary aid. When the "Mooloch's" crew landed at Hesquiat they found the village completely deserted - not a soul in sight until Robert Lally appeared and "..Suddenly a huge black shape rose through the bubbles and slithered out on the surface..." gave them a graphic account of what had happened. A search party was organised and they found a large yellow-painted shell fragment in one of the tidal pools. The most disturbing fact to come to light was that some time that afternoon the crew of an American halibut boat called the ”Sea Breeze", fishing off the Cape Scott, hailed "HMCS Santa Maria" with the information that "suddenly a huge black shape rose through the bubbles and slithered out on the surface". As soon as the submarine realised it had been seen, it dived, only to be spotted by the American crew again some 20 minutes later, having resurfaced - th^ knew it was a submarine and feared it to be Japanese. Some time after the war ended. Commander Yokota of the Imperial Japanese Navy claimed that he was in command of the "1-26" class submarine which shelled Estevan Point in the long-ago June. His purpose? To spread despondency among the population of British Columbia. While it may have done that to a certain extent, the real results were that the West Coast of Canada did, at last, receive propo- defence fortifications to ensure the safety of British Columbians. All these years later questions still surface regarding the incident at Estevan. Many different points of view have been expressed making it difficult to sort out truth from fiction. Was there really a cruiser as well as a submarine? Was it a move to strengthen the hand of McKenzie King, who introduced legislation to bring in conscription the day before the attack.’’ Why, when over 30 shells were fired at the lighthouse, did not a single one find its target? If you have a view to express about this please write to the Editor. It will be interesting to hear from you.