While the fight with Japan never came to Vancouver Island during the Second World War, the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers (PCMR) were ready if the battle for the Pacific made it to Canada's West Coast.
Members of the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group army reserves gathered at the South Vancouver Island Rangers headquarters in Langford on Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the militia, which formed in the aftermath of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour.
"Their original role was coastal watch, so they reported any suspicious activity on the West Coast," said Lt.-Col. Russ Meades, the Group’s commanding officer. "(They) also trained as guerrilla forces in the face of the Japanese threat to, if necessary, fight a delay tactic against Japanese incursion."
At its peak there were 132 companies and 15,000 Canadian Rangers from the coast to as far east as Golden, B.C.
Victoria resident and Nanaimo native Jim Cain, who joined the Rangers as soon as he was eligible at the age of 16, was on hand for the ceremony and recognized for his service.
The war truly felt like it was being fought on the other side of the world, Cain recalled, despite the presence of Japanese naval vessels in nearby Pacific waters.
"We went to the Rangers every week and trained on different things in the woods on Sundays and we were called out on searches," he said.
Prior to the formation of the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers, various citizen militia groups were already in operation around B.C., including one on the Luxton Road site where the SVI Rangers are now based, making this area "hallowed ground,” according to Meades. "It ended up as Number 1 company of PCMR.”
The SVI Rangers were created following the disbanding of the Pacific Coast Rangers and currently acts as a recreational trap and skeet shooting and social club.
The 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group operates in many of the ways that the PCMR did, and continues to monitor remote coastlines of the province.
joel.tansey@goldstreamgazette.com