Bay Street Armoury is located at 715

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District, Toronto, Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Economy of Canada, Canada's financial services indust ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. The Bay Street Drill Hall was completed in 1915. It was created to provide training facilities for local militia units such as the Fifth Regiment of artillery, as well as to provide a home for two newly formed units, the 50th Gordon Highlanders of Canada and HQ Military District No. 11. The Armoury was designed by architect William Ridgway Wilson, (1863-1957). In its earlier years the armoury had more extensive use for public events as modern public facilities in Victoria had not yet been built. It was designated a historic building in 1989. it is a two-storey

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

with

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

elements, built during the 1896 to 1918 period when over 100 drill halls and armouries were erected across Canada; its scale reflects the dramatic increase in

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

participation following Canada's performance during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

Units

The units stationed at the Bay Street Armoury are the 89th Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron,

5th (British Columbia) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA The 5th (British Columbia) Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery is a Canadian Army Reserve artillery regiment based at the Bay Street Armoury in Victoria, British Columbia. It is part of the 3rd Canadian Division's 39 Canadian Brigade Group. ...

, and

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The regiment is in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Courtenay, British Columbia. It is part of the 3 ...

. Units that formally worked at the Bay Street Armoury included 11 (Victoria) Service Battalion (renamed 39 Service Battalion), 11 (Victoria) Medical Company (renamed 11 (Victoria) Field Ambulance), and 11 (Victoria) Military Police Platoon (renamed 12 Military Police Platoon). These units moved to Ashton Armory in 1994.

5th (BC) Artillery Regiment Museum

The 5th (BC) Artillery Regiment Museum is located in the armoury. The museum's artefacts reflect the history of

and associated units from 1861 to the present day. Exhibits include

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the ear ...

and cannons, uniforms, band instruments, medals, weapons, insignia, photographs and more. The museum is open on Tuesday evenings.

References

External links

5th (BC) Artillery Regiment Museum
* Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) and Regimental Museum Armouries in Canada Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) Buildings and structures in Victoria, British Columbia National Historic Sites in British Columbia Government buildings completed in 1915 Tudor Revival architecture in Canada Buildings and structures on the National Historic Sites of Canada register {{BritishColumbia-struct-stub

Units

5th (BC) Artillery Regiment Museum

See also

References

External links