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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
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Russian ‘gaymes’ spur many local conversations
Mike Reed, logistics supervisor for Esquimalt Public Works, and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins lean on one of two captured German cannons from the First World War that are part of the war memorial in Memorial Park. The cannons are to be refurbished to their original condition and colours.
Experts weigh in on political, social side of Olympics Christine van Reeuwyk News staff
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
War trophies recall army past First World War cannons in Esquimalt tell a colourful story Daniel Palmer News staff
Look closely at the smaller of the two 77 mm field guns in Esquimalt’s Memorial Park and its battle-weary wounds begin to show. The punctured metal hints at shots fired by the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles before they overwhelmed the Germans at Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. The regiment, made up of mostly Victoria-based soldiers, seized the anti-tank gun as one of nearly 400 war trophies that would eventually make their way into the hands of Canadian municipalities following the First World War. “This is a storm trooper gun,” says
the
WING’S
Mike Reed with Esquimalt’s public works department. “The Germans put smaller wheels on it and stripped the unnecessary pieces so troops could pull to the frontline and embed it tighter to the ground.” Across the park sits a similar weapon, one equipped with larger wheels and shielding. The German 77 mm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art Field Gun was taken at the second battle of Cambai on Sept. 29, 1918. The cannons comprise two of only three known First World War German field guns in the province, says Colin Wyatt with the Ashton Armoury and Museum in Saanich. “Most of these guns went back into scrap at the beginning of the Second World War,” Wyatt says. Three-quarters of Canada’s war trophy guns were melted down for scrap metal as the war machine ramped up once again, including two
similar weapons on the grounds of the B.C. legislature in 1941 (see photo). “Apparently, there was another gun at Beacon Hill Park and one in Oak Bay, but Esquimalt’s are the only two that were saved when we incorporated them as part of our war memorial,” Reed says. On Feb. 11, public works staff removed the guns to begin glassbeaded blasting and refurbishment of corroded metal parts in the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War in August. “In the last number of years, we’ve seen the Naval Centennial, the Esquimalt Centennial and now we’re looking at the First World War centennial leading up to the 150th anniversary of Canada,” said Mayor Barb Desjardins.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights have dominated conversations about the Olympic Winter Games in Russia, a country with strict anti-gay laws. With the Games well underway, the controversy isn’t expected to die down. “I fully anticipate that some athletes will make a display of solidarity with gay people in the community of Russia,” said Tom Hawthorn, a guest lecturer with the University of Victoria’s Department of Writing. The veteran journalist and longtime sportswriter’s lectures at UVic explore the history of the Olympics, and protests including those focused on Russia’s legislation banning gay “propaganda.” “The International Olympic Committee is clear that sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation. The Games themselves should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and of course athletes,” the IOC said in a July 2013 statement after Russia implemented the law. “We would oppose ... any move that would jeopardize this principle.” A number of human rights organizations worldwide called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics because of laws precluding open acknowledgement of gay identities, the display of rainbow flags and public displays of affection between same-sex couples. “There’s so much dialogue going on around criminalizing of homosexuality in Russia,” said Daphne Shaed, Camosun College Student Society’s women’s director and community activist for LGBT rights.
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PLEASE SEE:
Great War plaque, Page A9
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Russian law prevails, Page A11
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