Seaforth Highlanders of Canada soldiers on the HMCS Skeena, Mill Bay, Vancouver Island, 3 July 1933. The Battalion is leaving Heal's Camp on Vancouver Island where the Brigade Camp was held from 1 to 4 July, 1933. The HMCS Skeena was a River-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1931-1944. She was similar to the Royal Navy's A-class and wore initially the pennant D59, changed in 1940 to I59. She was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company at Woolston, Hampshire. Commissioned at Portsmouth on 10 Jun 1931, she arrived at Halifax with Saguenay on 03 Jul 1931 and proceeded to Esquimalt the following month. Skeena and her sister HMCS Saguenay were the first ships specifically built for the Royal Canadian Navy. She arrived in Halifax on 3 July 1931. Skeena rescued 65 survivors of the British merchant ship Manipur, sunk by U-57 off Cape Wrath on 17 July 1940. On 2 September 1940 she rescued 19 survivors of the British merchant ship Thornlea, sunk by U-46 in the North Atlantic. On 23 November 1940 she rescued 6 survivors of the Norwegian merchant ship Bruce, damaged by U-100 and 9 survivors of the Norwegian merchant ship Salonica, sunk by U-100 nearby. Skeena was assigned to North Atlantic convoy Escort Group C-3 escorting convoys ON 93, HX 191, ONS 104, SC 90, ON 115, HX 202, ON 121, SC 98, ON 131, HX 210, ON 141, SC 109, ONS 152 prior to refit in January 1943.[2] On 31 July 1942, Skeena recorded her first victory with HMCS Wetaskiwin when they depth charged and sank U-588 while escorting ON 115 at 49°59'N 36°36'W. Skeena was lost in a storm on the night of 24 October 1944. She was anchored off Reykjavík, Iceland and dragged her anchor and grounded in 50-foot (15 m) waves off Viðey Island with the loss of 15 crewmembers. Her hulk was written off and sold to Iceland interests in June 1945; she was then raised and broken up. Her propeller was salvaged and used in a memorial near the Viðey Island ferry terminal. From the Regimental History, page 28: "Once at the tented camp at Heal's Range, the battalion would be exercised in drill, section and platoon tactics, administration, and sometimes a demonstration would be put on by a platoon of men from the permanent force demonstrating some feature in field craft. Scattered in groups would be the specialist platoons-the signallers transmitting messages in morse code by lamp or Fuller phone, the stretcher bearers working on some unwilling "casualty", the pipes and drums filling the air with their martial music as they worked singly or as a group under the sharp eye of Pipe Major Gillies, or the recently organized [in 1929] machine-gun platoon working on their Vickers guns under Lt. H. E. F. Clark. Generally an afternoon would be set aside for sports and a morning for church parade. In the evenings the men were usually allowed to go to Victoria, although a camp sing-song, barbecue or other entertainment might be available to keep everyone within the camp lines. It was a time, too, of inter-regimental visits among the units from Vancouver and Victoria among which there was a keen but friendly rivalry throughout the entire period." The Heal’s Rifle Range Heal’s Rifle Range was once a seasonal lake and marsh. This beautiful valley was well known by local First Nations as a good place to find tule reeds, to weave mats and capes. Portions of this valley, later known as Sections 126, 82 and 83, were purchased from the HBC in 1860 by Fred and Charlie Heal, sons of John Heal. They both farmed and leased the land. The Sisters of St. Ann also purchased some of the Heal property and grew vegetables there for St. Joseph’s Hospital. In 1915 a proposal suggested that the land be developed as a military range for the Army, partly as a solution to serious unemployment in the region. The regions’ mayors and reeves wrote to their MP with urgent requests to create jobs for locals. The range began operation in 1916. The reality of war was always present at Heal’s: many soldiers trained in weaponry there, and far too many did not return. On Sept 10, 1915, the Daily Colonist noted that “Mr. Samuel Cameron, foreman of Heal’s Range, has received a ‘Missing in Action’ report for his son Kenneth, member of 50th Gordon Highlanders, 16th Division [sic Battalion], 1st Contingent”. Heal’s Range remained an active military range throughout the years, seeing militia and cadet use after the war, and was used for grenade training in WW II. By the 1960’s, local gun clubs also used the range for weekend events and tournaments. The range was also used for events during the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Presently owned by DND, the range is often in use today.