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In
a letter to Major-General L.R. LaFleche, Minister of National War
Services, on 29 January 1943, the Minister of Lands for British
Columbia, A. Wells Gray, wrote that
“It
is a notable fact, that no sooner were a few of these alternative
service workers in camps in the Province, then a wide variety
of interests were inquiring as to the possibility of securing
their services. We have been approached by various mills, logging
operators, the E. and N. Railway, by C.A. Cotterell, General Superintendent
of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Vancouver, by the Lumber and
Shingle Manufacturers' Association, the British Columbia Loggers'
Association, and even by taxi firms. The services of these men
were urgently requested for harvesting crops in the Fraser Valley
and for harvesting the fruit crop in the Okanagan. It was proposed
that they should be returned to the Prairies for the harvest there,
and most of them being farmers, we had urgent requests for harvest
leaves. The representations have been progressively more urgent
and pressing as the employment situation has become more aggravated
during recent months.” [Toews, 109]
One
of the COs' most urgent duties was fighting fires. A summary of
CO work in the winter of 1942-1943 summarizes how important their
presence was.
“The
Alternative Service Workers extinguished or assisted [in extinguishing]
89 fires in the Vancouver Forest District. Exceedingly satisfactory
results marked their efforts on outbreaks attacked while still
small. These crews attacked 72 small fires (1 acre or less) with
such success that the average spread per fire was only ¼
acre. Any one of these fires was potentially a destroyer which
could have gained 4-inch [10 cm] headlines …. This is a real testimony
for well-trained and equipped suppression crews standing by on
the alert in the emergency.” [ASM, 286]
Minister
Gray used an example of the COs efficient fire fighting in a letter
to Justice A.M. Manson, Chairman of the Mobilization Board, Division
“K”.
“By
way of illustration in this regard, it might be noted that the
average elapsed time between report of a fire and departure of
a fully equipped crew from the trained camps last summer was less
than three minutes. A surprise test of a trained “stand-by” crew
gave the following results:
Test
fire started
3:00 pm
Smoke
reported by lookout
3:03 pm
Crew
started for fire
3:05 pm
Arrived
at fire (11 miles by road) 3:22
pm
Fire
extinguished
3:27 pm
Crew
arrived back at camp
3:54 pm
This
‘preparedness feature' constitutes the principle value of these
camps and it cannot be compensated for under any other manpower
plan…. They [the CO workers] have served a function of great national
importance and will continue to do so in these camps. The need
is as urgent as ever and they cannot be replaced.” [ASM,
287]
Faithfulness
is the measure of the success for the CO, not work accomplished.
Even so, the praise from supervisors and the Canadian government
proves that COs were able to remain true to their consciences and
perform valuable services.
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