Barracks at Lansdowne - Ottawa, Ontario
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Weathervane
N 45° 23.981 W 075° 41.196
18T E 446262 N 5027580
Barracks at Lansdowne is the subject of this artistically decorated utility box located on Bank Street in Ottawa, Ontario.
Waymark Code: WM11T3Z
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 12/14/2019
Views: 1
Inscription on the box:
Barracks at Lansdowne
During the Second World War Lansdowne Park became a training ground for thousands of service-men and women. At war's end, the empty barracks sheltered the homeless.
"Did you know that in the past Lansdowne Park was much more than a sports venue and exhibition space? During both the First and Second World Wars, Lansdowne Park was transformed into a training ground and barracks as seen here in these photographs from Library and Archives Canada and the Canadian War Museum.
After the Second World War, the City of Ottawa decided to lease Lansdowne to the Central Canada Exhibition Association forcing the Canadian Army to vacate the site. Yet during the spring and summer of 1946, as the transition was being planned, Ottawa was facing a major housing crisis, with many returning veterans and their families living in dreadful conditions.
Fed up with the lack of action, on September 24th, 1946, the Veterans’ Housing League, led by Franklin “Frank” Hanratty, broke into several former barracks locations around the city, including Lansdowne, and began moving people into the abandoned barracks. Families who had been living in chicken coops and self-made shelters at the dump found better homes in the former barracks. Hanratty was arrested, but public pressure forced officials to accept that there was a serious shortage of decent housing affecting those who had worked so hard for victory and the families were allowed to stay, and electricity and running water were re-connected. For some, Lansdowne would be home for almost two years: the last three families left the barracks in June 1948."
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We see Canadians hard at work building a large truck destined to the war effort in Europe. Holding a large drill, this workman is surrounded by two others who appear to be cutting metal with a saw as well as with an acetylene torch. Their valued contribution to the needs of the Canadian contingent overseas supported our troops and contributed to the Allied victory against Nazism.