Re: “Lighthouse survived war and disasters,” Sept. 4.
Peter Johnson and John Walls’ otherwise-admirable article refers to “the alleged enemy attack on Estevan Lighthouse in June 1942.”
Beyond mere allegation, it is a well-documented historical fact that Imperial Japanese Navy submarine 1-26 did surface off B.C.’s coast on June 20, 1942, and fired 21 artillery shells from its 5.5-inch deck gun at Estevan Point.
However, the sub’s actual intended target was not the lighthouse, but the Royal Canadian Navy’s powerful radar/radio-detection-finding station further inland near the small Nootka village of Hesquiat.
Subsequent investigation recovered two unexploded shells marked with Japanese lettering, which confirmed the attackers’ nationality.
Sidney Allinson
Colwood
