THE "VETERAN SAILOR" - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
N 48° 25.395 W 123° 22.170
10U E 472663 N 5363410
Captain John Mason was the subject for Artist Nathan Scott's Veteran Sailor statue.
Waymark Code: WM17D9M
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 01/30/2023
Views: 10
Mason served in the Navy during the Second World War and the Korean War. The “square rig” uniform on the sailor statue was worn as a non-commissioned member of the Royal Canadian Navy in 1942. The HMCS Naden headband on his cap is the previous name of CFB Esquimalt, the Royal Canadian Navy`s main base on the Pacific coast.
The newspaper in the Veteran Sailor's hand is of note as it is the front page from ‘The Daily Colonist’, with an image of King George. Nathan used the actual V-E Day extra edition newspaper headlines as his main source.
The statue was commissioned by the Homecoming Statue Committee that was led by then Hon. Capt(N) Cedric Steele MSM CM. The force behind the addition of the statue were RAdm (Ret'd) Ken Summers who was a co- Chair along with Cedric Steele of the Homecoming Statue Committee. The statue was funded by public donations, the sale of commemorative bricks for the site and the sale of miniature statues.
Mason enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve at age 18 in December 1942 as a Stoker 2nd Class and served until he was discharged in 1945. He re-enlisted in 1949 and returned to the Navy as an officer. He later served during the Korean War onboard HMS Kenya. In 1958 onboard HMCS Chaudèrre, he was the first Engineering Officer to become Command Qualified. In July 1964, he took command of HMCS Algonquin, being the first officer of the Engineering Specialization in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy to command a destroyer. In 1972, he was posted to the Defence staff in London, England, and in 1976 to the Canadian Embassy in Oslo as the Naval Attaché for Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Retiring in 1978 at the rank of Captain.
Location description: Located in a Memorial plaza beside Wharf St that overlooks Victoria's Inner Harbour.
Statue's Subject: Capt. John Mason
Artist: Nathan Scott
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Visit Instructions:
Photo of the statue with person sitting on bench next to the statue, standing next to the statue or other-wise interacting appropriately with the statue(face of person does not need to show, gps does not need to be in photo).
Extra credit for having fun!!!