Sechelt community archivist Ann Watson stands in front of Rockwood Lodge in Sechelt, holding an air raid warning device that would have been used in case of invasion during World War II. The Chairman of the Air Raid Precautions was William Youngson, who built and owned Rockwood Lodge.
“He was the one who rang this, only once, and that was on Victory over Japan Day, Aug. 14, 1945,” Watson said. “That was the only time it was used, to announce the end of hostilities.”
The piece is part of the Helen Dawe Collection. The device emits a loud clicking sound that would have been heard throughout the village.
Another kind of sound will be heard on Remembrance Day this year. At sunset on Nov. 11, St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Sechelt and St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church in Gibsons will join communities across Canada in ringing their bells 100 times to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.
The bell ringing emulates the moment in 1918 when church bells tolled to mark Armistice Day.
