Victoria Mutiny Commemoration
December 21, 1918: Mutineers March down Fort Street in Victoria.
Honour the Resisters of the 259th Battalion
When: Sunday, December 21, 2014
7:30 AM – Memorial Walk, departing from Carnarvon Park (2801 Henderson Rd, at Carnarvon Street, in Oak Bay), following the route of the 259 Battalion
9:00 AM – Ceremony at corner of Fort and Quadra Street (location of 1918 Mutiny)
On the morning of Dec. 21st, 1918, French-Canadian conscripts in the 259th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force mutinied at the corner of Fort and Quadra streets in downtown Victoria. They refused to embark for service in a new war, as the Conservative government of Canada committed troops to aid the White Russian forces fighting the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. The war on the Western Front had ended six weeks earlier. So sending conscripts to fight in the Russian Far East had dubious legal grounds.
But at the point of the bayonet, the mutinous men were forced to embark for Russia. The ringleaders were shackled together on a ship, sent to Vladivostok and given sentences of between 30 days and 3 years imprisonment with hard labour for their act of resistance.
In 2014, on the 96th anniversary of the mutiny, we are gathering for the annual commemoration to remember this forgotten moment in the history of Victoria, Canada and the world.
The event has two parts:
1. A ceremony at the corner of Fort and Quadra streets (9:00AM) to honour these men’s resistance to imperialism and to demand a formal apology from the Canadian government for the families and a full pardon for the French-Canadian soldiers wrongfully convicted of mutiny at Victoria.
2. A commemorative walk will leave at dawn (7:30AM) from Carnarvon Park (2801 Henderson Road, at Carnarvon Street in Oak Bay) to the ceremony at Fort and Quadra streets. Highlights will be provided along the route. After the ceremony, the walk will proceed to the Rither’s Wharf (near Ogden Point), followed by brunch at a local cafe. Transportation for people with mobility issues who would like to participate in the walk is being accommodated. Please email afar@telus.net.
Sponsored by the Victoria Peace Committee
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