Plaque lost for decades that honours six postal workers who died in First World War rediscovered, refurbished, ready to be unveiled Friday
Credit to Author: Gordon McIntyre| Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2019 01:39:15 +0000
“To the Glory of God and in Memory of the Members of the Victoria Post Office Staff who fell in the Great European War,” reads the plaque, honouring six postal employees from 100 years ago.
Memorialized in gold letters on a mahogany carving with Corinthian columns and a peaked roof, now beautifully restored, are:
Their names will appear in public again come Friday, but the plaque itself has been resting out of memory for who knows how long, lost from public view until its recent, chance discovery at the Ashton Armoury Museum in Victoria by volunteers there.
It was likely made in 1919, said Jim Bain of the Van Fraser Heritage Club, an association of retired Canada Post employees in the Metro Vancouver area, because the last person named died in February of that year.
“We’re not quite sure where it came from,” he said, “or how long it’s been in storage.”
The plaque was discovered leaning against a wall in a back storeroom at the armoury museum. The armoury had no record of when it took possession of the plaque, nor how long it had been in storage. No one knows how long since it last hung on a post office wall anywhere.
“Since 1919 the Victoria Post Office moved three times,” Bain said. “The last time the post office moved was in 1974 and we know the plaque wasn’t in that building.
“And we can’t find anyone who remembers it in the building before that (prior to 1952).”
According to Bain, there was a frenzy of plaque-building after the Great War. Plaques made of bronze or other metals were expensive, so craftsman began churning out wooden plaques, such as the mahogany one from Victoria.
Unsure of what to do with it themselves, the armoury contacted Van Fraser, who restored it and will unveil it at a Remembrance Day ceremony Friday at the Canada Post processing centre at the Vancouver airport, an annual event to honour the Canada Post office employees from B.C. who died in the First and Second World wars.
They’re calling this year’s ceremony Unveiling Lost Honours, and it will be attended by families of First World War veterans.
“The plaque has been tucked away for possibly 50 or more years, and we felt it would be good to bring it back,” Bain said.