Before Juan de Fuca Arena, there was a horse racing track. In 1942, the land became part of the effort to protect Esquimalt Harbour.
The war memorial stands where a Bofors gun once stood. The gun was built to shoot at planes. It was put there after a submarine fired on the lighthouse at Estevan Point, north of Tofino. The gun was gone by 1956. The Royal Canadian Legion held a ceremony to dedicate the memorial in 1975.
At Hatley Castle tomorrow, a free film about the old Royal Roads Military College starts around 11:45 a.m. in the Grant Building. Fort Rodd Hill is free to visit from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can pick up and examine objects from wartime there.