It was a great place to live, work and play.
The Vancouver Wireless Station in East Ladner has been gone for decades, but those who were stationed and resided there maintain fond memories of the heritage site, which still has a few reminders of its past.
"It was a good place. They did a good job putting up the signage to give reminders of the place, but a lot of people still don't know it's open to the public," said Bill Rogers, who was stationed in the Army Signal Corps at the wireless station and lived there with his family.
Jean Brown, who was a teacher at the station's school, agreed, saying it was a special community.
Rogers and Brown were each recently given a Friends of Heritage Award by Mayor Lois Jackson - Rogers for providing valuable information regarding the Vancouver Wireless Station and Brown for gathering many photographs.
In 1941, what's now the Boundary Bay Airport was established as an air training field under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. As the Second World War escalated, the airport would be home to a fighter squadron and even bombers.
By war's end in 1945, the RCAF had no further use for the facility and closed it. The site was later transferred to the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in the late 1940s and became a signals intelligence station under the name Vancouver Wireless Station. It was the start of the Cold War and personnel at the station played a key role in gathering communications from the Soviet Union and its fleet.
To the north of the station, a gated 40-hectare residential community was developed. It included homes and such amenities as a grocery store, social clubs, gymnasium and a sports field. Street lights and sidewalks were added in 1950. The roads were paved in 1951 and some 2,000 trees and flowering shrubs were planted, the legacy of which still exists today.
The vibrant community eventually grew to over 120 buildings with other additions like a school and chapel.
When the armed forces were unified in 1968, the station's name changed to CFS Ladner. The station closed in 1971, due to the installation of nearby power lines in Ladner that made gathering signals difficult, said Rogers.
The buildings in the residential community were moved away, leaving the foundations and streets as remnants. It would be years later when the adjacent airport would re-open for commercial aviation and flight schools.
In 2009, the long-vacant residential community was added to Delta's Heritage Register. It's now primarily enjoyed by dog walkers and those out for a stroll
Noting that at one point almost 300 people lived there, including men, women and children, Rogers, who now lives in Ladner, is glad the site has been preserved.
Looking back, he said there was good interaction between the station's residents and the wider community of Ladner.
"We never had any problems with any of the other people in Ladner. I remember at one point there was a complaint about a bus from the wireless station going into Ladner and the mayor said they could send the bus to New Westminster for people to shop, but the Ladner merchants didn't want that," said Rogers.
"Everybody got married with someone from Ladner. I met my wife Joan, who lived in Ladner. We still live there."
Rogers, who bikes through the site almost every day, said it seemed very much like communal living with two mess halls in the residential community.
"We partied together, ate together. We'd do our shopping in Ladner but other than that we had everything we needed," he said.
Brown, who resided in Ladner but worked as a school teacher at the base in the 1960s, said she enjoyed the camaraderie.
"The army was wonderful as far as the school was concerned. We'd have field trips and the skating rink was there. The parents would go skating with us. You felt very secure on the base."
Commenting on the information signs placed throughout the site, Brown noted, "I walk my dog out there almost every day and I'm always pleased when people say, 'Oh, I didn't know this was a Canadian Forces base.'"
She said she'd still be working there had the base not relocated.
"Working with the (Delta heritage) committee brought back so many good memories. I was only there for seven years, but it was a wonderful place to work and teach, and the people were friendly.
"It was secure. Nobody could get in, so you didn't have to worry about the children at all... sometimes they'd run across the old runways and lots of times we had parents with us."
Brown laughed that every time a superintendent of schools would try to make a surprise visit, she always had advance warning from a guard at the gate.
Her school taught grades 1 to 6, while older children would be bussed to Delta Manor.
"It was a wonderful life, wonderful people and a very good time. I must say that working on this project brought back all those wonderful memories."
A consultant's report for Delta noted the site still has significant historic value for its links to the Second World War military operations and the industrial development of Delta, although none of the original buildings remain.
"The Vancouver Wireless Community is historically significant as a rare surviving Canadian example of a purpose-built community from the postwar era and as a symbol of Canada's wartime and military experience," stated the report from Donald Luxton and Associates.
The wireless station's operations relocated to Masset, B.C.
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
