Point Atkinson Battery Searchlight Bunker — West Vancouver, BC
Posted by: 
Dunbar Loop
N 49° 19.835 W 123° 15.780
10U E 480891 N 5464239
By 1941 it was clear that Canada had to turn its attention to the Pacific Theatre in the World War II conflict. One of the remaining traces is the system of batteries to help protect the Port of Vancouver from attack.
Waymark Code: WM10MR1
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 05/29/2019
Views: 4
With increasing hostilities happening in the Pacific Theatre, Canada was finally faced with investing in a defensive system along its West Coast.
Once the Japanese empire attacked America's Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 Canada faced a shared enemy that might attack and land on the Pacific Coastline of the Dominion. Canada went through a very similar approach as did the Americans.
First, the Federal Government rounded up all Japanese citizens and descendants who lived within 100 miles of the Coast and sent them to internment camps throughout Western Canada.
Second, with rather limited budgets, the army developed a system of observation batteries around English Bay, the entrance to the nation's most important West Coast port. These batteries dotted highlands on the edges of Vancouver, including Point Atkinson.
The Point Atkinson Battery operated just for the wartime effort - 1942 until 1945. And it never faced any attack from enemies. Nevertheless, the importance of providing a constant vigil at the entrance to the Port of Vancouver remained its priority.
As the Point Atkinson Battery, was in a system of batteries around English Bay, it shared its duties with batteries at Point Grey, Ferguson Point, First Narrows, Siwash Rock, and Steveston. None of these sites has been preserved and only in recent years, they have recognized through historic signage.