Group looks for practice First World War trenches in Victoria

A unique search has been conducted on Vancouver Island for any archaeological legacy of the First World War.

A stretch of Dallas Road may be a pleasant green space now, but a century ago, practice trenches were dug in the area, where soldiers trained on before they were sent to the Western Front.

A group of interested locals spent part of the weekend trying to find those trenches.

Richard Linzey with “Victoria, Mobilize!” says the group draws attention to what happened in Victoria during the First World War.

Linzey says there is bleak photographic evidence showing trenches filled with soldiers, practicing going over the top.

The group is using resistivity technique, which measures the moisture in the ground, to figure out where the trenches were dug.

“We can then map what is going on under the ground,” says Linzey. “What it will show is the alignment of trenches and bunkers. It will show up just because of the moisture the ground is holding.”

It is a non-destructive investigation, and no digging was done.

Linzey says it is a technique rarely used in British Columbia, but is “an intriguing way of discovering the historical period during the First World War.”

There were dozens of curious Victorians following the group’s work on Sunday, but Linzey says most people have no idea they are walking over the training ground used during the Great War.

“For many men, this was the last that they saw of Victoria, a quiet park on Dallas Road, before they embarked for the Western Front,” says Linzey.