In Times of War: Prince Rupert 1939-1945Immediately following Pearl Harbour, the United States shipping facilities in the Pacific were running at full capacity, but it was still not enough to combat the serious Japanese threat. At this critical juncture, Prince Rupert, located in British Columbia, Canada, was placed at America's disposal, to ship troops and materials to Alaska to fend off the enemy. It was, as many called it, an American Invasion. With Japanese submarines lurking off of Prince Rupert, thousands of Canadian Army, Navy, and Air Force, were posted to man the fort defence system, fly reconnaissance missions, and protect the dry dock and shipyard, all vital to the Pacific war effort. All eyes were peeled for the enemy. The City was truly at war. Drawing from a diverse field of information, making use of published, primary, first hand recollections, and photographs, this book puts the events and developments of these years all together into one definitive source. |
Contents
THE STAGE IS SET | 1 |
THE SHIPBUILDING YEARS | 19 |
DEFENDING PRINCE RUPERT | 45 |
A CANADIAN WARTIME BASE | 85 |
THE ENEMY WITHIN | 107 |
THE AMERICAN INVASION | 115 |
THE SKEENA RIVER HIGHWAY | 133 |
VJ DAY | 143 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 166 |
Common terms and phrases
1942 Prince Rupert Alaska Aleutian American Army arrived attack Avenue barracks base Battery bomb British Columbia building built camp Canada Canadian Army Canadian Science cargo carried charges City and Regional Coast Commanding Company construction Corps crew December defence delivered Department dropped enemy Engineers entrance equipment facilities February feet fire fishing forces guns harbour highway HMCS housed immediately important included installation Island January Japan Japanese July June living located Major March McLane miles military Mount naval Navy November October officer operations Pacific Panama Park person Plan Point Port Edward Prince Rupert City Prince Rupert Daily protected railway Regional Archives renamed reported road Royal Canadian Science and Technology Seattle Second Service ship shipyard signal sold soon stationed submarine supplies Technology Museum Collection Terrace tons took train Transport troops United Vancouver vessel West Winnipeg World