Time line of Bowerman's
and Harris'
life vs what was happening on the wireless stations.
Which stations these two operators manned can be gleaned from their notes and
photos.
| Year |
Jack Bowerman |
Coast Station Activities |
Lofty Harris |
| 1886 |
March 01--born in Basingstoke, England |
|
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| 1893 |
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November 9--born in Weymouth, Nova Scotia. |
| 1906 |
|
Pacific Wireless opens their Gonzales Hill
(Victoria) Station. Point Grey, Cape Lazo, Gonzales are chosen for Government Coast Station locations. |
|
| 1907 |
Telegraph operator for the
British Post Office. |
In the summer Estevan and Pachena are
confirmed as locations. Site construction at Estevan Point, Cape
Lazo, Pachena Point and Gonzales/Victoria. |
|
| 1908 |
Seconded to the Hampshire
Yeomanry Regiment as a telegraphist. |
In early January all the stations, except
Cape Lazo, are operational. Cape Lazo comes on line later in
the year. |
|
| 1909 |
Moves from England to Victoria, BC.
Accepts position with United Wireless and eventually- |
C. P. Edwards, of the Dominion
Government Wireless Office, arrives from Ottawa to arrange for the
Prince Rupert, Triangle and Queen Charlotte Island coast station locations. Duplex
housing built at Pachena and Estevan Points. |
|
| 1910 |
-gets laid off. Signed on with a
halibut schooner for a few months. |
Dead Tree Point, Ikeda Head, Triangle
Island & Digby Island radio stations are on the air.
Operators are now under the authority of the Naval department and
have the rank of Warrant Officers. C. P. Edwards becomes a Lt.
Commander. |
|
| 1911 |
Joins Government Wireless Service on May
11. Familiarization at Victoria, then posted to Pachena Point
for 4 months, then on to Estevan Point. |
|
|
| 1912 |
Jack transfers to Triangle Island in
September. |
Estevan Point's gasoline engine driven generator is replaced
by a diesel to supply power to the new 2 kW transmitter. |
Lofty' arrives at his first station, Dead Tree,
in March. |
| 1913 |
at Triangle Island |
Alert Bay Radio on the air in the spring. |
Transfers out to Digby in June. |
| 1914 |
In the spring Jack transfers to Alert Bay,
and later in the year moves to Digby Island. |
|
Moves down to Alert Bay in February but by March
is on Triangle Island. |
| 1915 |
at Digby Island |
British government requires
all their vessels over 3000 tons to be radio equipped. |
In August Lofty moves down to Point Grey. |
| 1916 |
at Digby Island (Jack is 30
years old.) |
|
|
| 1917 |
at Digby Island. In
the early spring, Jack transfers to Eastern Canada for WW1 duties. |
|
After two years at Point Grey, Lofty shifts over
to Pachena in October for a week or two then is up to Estevan. |
| 1918 |
This included duties in the
Ottawa Workshop; construction and operating at Bird Rocks; at
Montreal assisting |
Pachena Point's traffic has dwindled due to
Estevan Point's excellent coverage along the west coast and
corresponding long
reach into the Pacific Ocean. |
Leaves Estevan in February 1918 and shifts up to
the Ikeda Station. |
| 1919 |
with ship inspection duties; eight months on the HMT Oceana; several months at Barrington Passage Wireless.
He also spent 3 months at Morley, Alberta installing radios into aircraft. |
Triangle Lighthouse shut down but Wireless Station stays. Bull Harbour approved as
the new location for Triangle's radio operations. |
Departs Ikeda August. |
| 1920 |
Jack reports to Point Grey in October as Officer in Charge. |
Pachena Point radio closed down . Ikeda shuts down at the end of September. Its equipment
removed for re-installation at a new station, Bull Harbour. |
|
| 1921 |
at Point Grey |
At the end of June Bull Harbour Radio begins operations.
Triangle Island Radio closes down in June. |
|
| 1922 |
at Point Grey |
Pachena Point re-opens as a direction
finding station. Estevan transmit power increased to 15 kW
with a Navy transmitter. |
|
| 1923 |
Jack transferred to Estevan Point Radio. |
2 kW Poulsen Arc Transmitters installed at
Alert Bay and Point Grey in '23/'24. Station in the Merchant's
Exchange building in Vancouver installed and operational. Stations begin
upgrading from spark to vacuum tube transmitters. |
Lofty is in Bull Harbour. 30 years of age. |
| 1924 |
at Estevan Point |
New site at Merry Island light
station. Equipment was low power giving coverage in the
Sunshine Coast area. |
Lofty is in Bull Harbour. |
| 1925 |
Jack relocated to Vancouver as the Radio
Inspector for B.C. (Jack is 39 years old.) |
|
Lofty is in Bull Harbour. |
| 1930 |
|
|
Lofty departs Bull Harbour |
| 1938 |
Moved to Victoria as the District (BC)
Superintendent of Radio, replacing the retiring E.J.Haughton. |
|
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|
| 1946 |
July 03--Receives Order of the British Empire
(OBE) for his work. |
Sometime in this era Victoria Radio moves
from Gonzales northwards about 10km to the Gordon Head area.
Building turned over the the Cubs/Scouts. |
|
| |
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|
| 1951 |
Retires at 65 years of age. |
|
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| 1958 |
|
Pachena Point Radio Station shut down. |
|
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|
Dead Tree Radio moves to Sandspit, QCI, and is
housed with the aeradio station at the airport. Call sign is VAZ. |
|
| |
|
Estevan Point Radio relocated to Tofino
airport and becomes Tofino Coast Guard
Radio. Call sign remains VAE. |
|
| 1967 |
|
Victoria Radio moves 20km westward to the
community of Sooke, BC. Call sign kept as VAK. |
|
| 1978 |
|
Tofino Radio moves to Ucluelet and is
amalgamated with the Vessel Traffic Radio. Call sign is still
VAE. |
|
| |
|
Low, medium and high frequency coast station
traffic falls off due to the proliferation of satellite
communication systems fitted into vessels. |
|
| 1981 |
Jack passes away in his 95th year. |
|
|
| 1990's |
|
Victoria Radio (VAK) and Vancouver Radio
(VAI) move to Patricia Bay and are amalgamated with Vessel Traffic.
Almost all coastal radio traffic is now carried out on very high frequency
(VHF) via line of sight distances from mountain top sites scattered
along the British Columbia coastal confluence zone. Deep sea
is via communication satellites. Shipping have a normal telephone
number and can be reached by anyone using a home phone. |
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