Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Peter Smith collected research material for his study of the Gordon Head Special W/T Station, which he presented at a reunion of the Station staff held in August 2001 at the University of Victoria. The Station, located at the south east corner of Sinclair and Finnerty Roads, was initially staffed by men of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. In 1944, the men were replaced by women of the Womens Royal Canadian Naval Service (Wrens). The W/T Station (also known as the Y Station) monitored foreign diplomatic and other radio transmissions, and those of the Japanese navy during the last years of World War II, as part of the broader Y intelligence program of the western allies. This intelligence activity provided both directional finding (D/F) information and intercepted messages (W/T) to the Royal Navy, the United States Navy, and to Canadian Naval Service Headquarters. In 1959, the W/T Station property, and the neighbouring Army Camp, was sold by the Department of National Defense to become part of the campus of the University of Victoria.