2nd Battalion, The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada 3" mortar and crew in 1944 at Gordon Head, Vancouver Island, BC. The Ordnance ML 3-inch mortar was the United Kingdom's [Canada's] standard mortar used by the British Army from the early 1930s to the late 1960s, superseding the Stokes mortar. Although called the '3-inch mortar' by the British Army, its calibre was actually 3.209 in Gordon Head is a seaside neighbourhood in the Greater Victoria municipality of Saanich. During WW II, a Special Wireless Station was established at Gordon Head in June 1940. It played a significant role in the Royal Canadian Navy's radio intelligence operation against the Japanese. Messages were intercepted here and bearings on enemy transmissions were provided using direction finding techniques. The station closed in 1946; however, the building that housed the station still stands in a remote corner of the University of Victoria, having been moved from its original location.