Frank Gower - left VHS for WWII before graduating (1943)
Interviewed by Luke Holland
VHS class of 2012
VHS class of 2012
Mark Hellman came to Victoria High School to introduce a project. Mark came to Mr. Pine to ask if his students would be interested in this very cool idea: the Vic 150 Project was created to gather information about Victoria’s past, particularly from the elders who were educated at Victoria High. Many students from Mr. Pine's classes volunteered to take part. Mark asked us what kind of person we would like to interview, or if the students wanted to interview someone who had a similar personality, so it would be more exciting to be asking the questions. I loved my experience, learning about Victoria from the eyes of another.
On May 15th I walked into school and sat down in my seat in Mr Pine's room. Mr Pine's class in the morning has quite a small population most of the time. I enjoy arriving at school knowing I am going to learn something very interesting about myself and the world I live in. My mornings are occupied by bagels and tea provided by our wonderful teacher. There is nothing better than being warm, fed, and listened to with intent every day at school.
After fifteen minutes Mark Hellman called me out of class and brought me to the Archive room. Frank Gower was sitting on a chair looking very well rested. I shook Frank's hand and sat down with him. Mark brought out some old photos from a year book. It was Frank Gower's yearbook. It was very amazing to see a young seventeen year old Frank looking at an old man from a photograph.
On May 15th I walked into school and sat down in my seat in Mr Pine's room. Mr Pine's class in the morning has quite a small population most of the time. I enjoy arriving at school knowing I am going to learn something very interesting about myself and the world I live in. My mornings are occupied by bagels and tea provided by our wonderful teacher. There is nothing better than being warm, fed, and listened to with intent every day at school.
After fifteen minutes Mark Hellman called me out of class and brought me to the Archive room. Frank Gower was sitting on a chair looking very well rested. I shook Frank's hand and sat down with him. Mark brought out some old photos from a year book. It was Frank Gower's yearbook. It was very amazing to see a young seventeen year old Frank looking at an old man from a photograph.
Luke: Where did your family come from?
Frank: My Father came to Canada in 1892, In Victoria our house was on the corner of Fernwood and Pembroke I was the youngest of 7 children.
Luke: I used to live on Pembroke when I was 4, that is pretty cool we lived on the same street....How did Gower Park get that name?
Frank: We gave that property to the city when my mother past away. It had 18 fruit trees at one point. It was used during the depression.
Frank: My Father came to Canada in 1892, In Victoria our house was on the corner of Fernwood and Pembroke I was the youngest of 7 children.
Luke: I used to live on Pembroke when I was 4, that is pretty cool we lived on the same street....How did Gower Park get that name?
Frank: We gave that property to the city when my mother past away. It had 18 fruit trees at one point. It was used during the depression.
Frank mentioned, growing up on Pembroke; he had many neighbourhood friends whom he would play with daily. They would play at Vic High, very often on the feild.
Luke: I was curious if your Grandparents had any particular stories they would share with you when you were growing up?
Frank: My Grandfather was a miner, he worked in Cornwall, Africa, and South America. He retired in Victoria and died at 96.
Luke: How about your Father?
Frank: My Dad owned a grocery store, selling produce and meat. He traded with the First Nations aswell as the Chinese.
Luke: I was curious if your Grandparents had any particular stories they would share with you when you were growing up?
Frank: My Grandfather was a miner, he worked in Cornwall, Africa, and South America. He retired in Victoria and died at 96.
Luke: How about your Father?
Frank: My Dad owned a grocery store, selling produce and meat. He traded with the First Nations aswell as the Chinese.
During the Depression, Franks father rented two lots, dug them up by hand and planted fruit trees. Not having a constant flow of running water made it difficult at times.
I asked Frank what were his activities to clear his mind when stressed or needing time alone. Frank loved to cycle. Him and his friends would cycle around Victoria and ferrie over to the mainland. “When I had a problem in my head, I would cycle off.”
I asked Frank about his highschool years. He told me all the different schools he went to on his way to Vic High. Many of my friends went to the same schools that he attended back then. Frank went to Springridge Junior High, George Jay, Central Junior and finally Victoria High School.
I asked Frank what were his activities to clear his mind when stressed or needing time alone. Frank loved to cycle. Him and his friends would cycle around Victoria and ferrie over to the mainland. “When I had a problem in my head, I would cycle off.”
I asked Frank about his highschool years. He told me all the different schools he went to on his way to Vic High. Many of my friends went to the same schools that he attended back then. Frank went to Springridge Junior High, George Jay, Central Junior and finally Victoria High School.
Frank was regularly active in sports. He loved soccer, but played rugby, basketball and
many others. The 1943-44 VHS soccer team brought home a lot of trophies and was quite well recognised. Frank is sitting in the back row on the right, beside the boy on the far right. Vic High (just like in the Harry Potter series) had a house system. There were different houses set up in the school. Competitions were held between them just like sport teams. |
One of Franks favourite classes was his Music class, it was more of a music appereciation class. They would listen to records and relax. Every morning at school, the day begun with an assembly. Each student had an assigned seat, so if a spot was missing, all the teachers knew. According to Frank, he was the only boy with long hair at school. Soccer and rubgy games against Oak Bay Highschool were very intense and popular. A rivalry between these two schools is still around today. I asked about girls in highschool. Frank mentioned he didnt pay much attention to them. Sports seemed to be the main cheese in his life at the time.
When the war started. Friends were lost. After Japan entered the war all Japanese were considered the “enemy” and were relocated to internment camps across North America. Frank was friends with many of the Japanese boys. They all played sports together. I cannot imagine my best friends being taken away and treated so terrible.
Luke: When the war started, what were your feelings?
Frank: We were afraid, our friends were being taken away and we couldn’t do anything about it
He spoke about the collection drives, which were like bottle drives except instead of bottles, pots and pans were collected to help the war effort. Pennie drives, in order to raise money were very popular too.
My personal favourite story from the interview was this:
The night everyone turned off all the lights(due to the mandatory blackouts during the war - ed.). Frank cycled up Mt. Tolmie, and watched Victoria turn off the switch. Everything went black: this was to hide buildings from bombing runs. And then he road all the way down Mt. Tolmie in the pitch black darkness!
In school everybody was issued gas masks. Drills were held too, the under the desk drills which they did all through high school.
Luke: When the war started, what were your feelings?
Frank: We were afraid, our friends were being taken away and we couldn’t do anything about it
He spoke about the collection drives, which were like bottle drives except instead of bottles, pots and pans were collected to help the war effort. Pennie drives, in order to raise money were very popular too.
My personal favourite story from the interview was this:
The night everyone turned off all the lights(due to the mandatory blackouts during the war - ed.). Frank cycled up Mt. Tolmie, and watched Victoria turn off the switch. Everything went black: this was to hide buildings from bombing runs. And then he road all the way down Mt. Tolmie in the pitch black darkness!
In school everybody was issued gas masks. Drills were held too, the under the desk drills which they did all through high school.
I asked Frank about his time in The War. He was not able to graduate due to the conflict and was shipped off to train for War. Frank attended advance training in Chiliwack, British Columbia, than secondary training in Calgary. When VE Day came, He volunteered to travel to Vernon to train for the fighting in the East. In Vernon, American officers were in charge. Frank and other soldiers learned how to use American equipment. At this time the Allies belived a land invasion of Japan was the way to end the war, this was what Frank was training for.
Frank returned to Victoria, the war ended and he was able to come home without leaving for the East.
His homeroom teacher/ Rugby coach asked about his future, encouraged him to take language courses, and to go to University. Frank would be the first of his family to go to University for further education.
Frank also talked a little about his brother, Jim, who eventually worked on the Avro Arrow. I thought this was incredible, what a small world.
Frank returned to Victoria, the war ended and he was able to come home without leaving for the East.
His homeroom teacher/ Rugby coach asked about his future, encouraged him to take language courses, and to go to University. Frank would be the first of his family to go to University for further education.
Frank also talked a little about his brother, Jim, who eventually worked on the Avro Arrow. I thought this was incredible, what a small world.
Frank, Mark and I went outside for a group photo, shook hands and it was over.
I learned so many stories, hearing about the war effort, The Depression and seeing a man stare at himself in a yearbook from over 60 years ago blew my mind. This experience will remain with me forever. Luke Holland 2012 Go Back to Home Page |