Nearly 160 community members gathered on Monday night (Nov. 10) to learn about a powerful yet little-known chapter of Canadian history.<\/p>\n
On the western shore of Okanagan Lake, Kelowna’s Commando Bay was a training ground for a top-secret World War II operation that helped restore civil rights for Chinese Canadians. On Monday night, attendees learned about his piece of history in a presentation by genealogist Linda Yip’s presentation ‘Commando Bay and the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – How Okanagan Changed the World.’<\/p>\n
In 1944, 13 Chinese Canadian soldiers trained at Commando Bay preparing for covert missions in Asia. Although all but one were born in Canada, they were denied citizenship and the right to vote. Their courage and loyalty during wartime directly influenced the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1947) and the restoration of voting rights for Chinese Canadians (1948).<\/p>\n
Yip’s presentation featured rare archival photographs and declassified British military documents, which can be traced to the story of Operation Oblivion, a clandestine mission of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) under Winston Churchill’s “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”<\/p>\n
“By remembering Commando Bay and the heroes of Operation Oblivion, we not only honour their sacrifice but also strengthen our connection between past and present generations,” said Kelowna Chinese United Association (KCUA) president Rexian Tan. The event drew educators, veterans’ groups, students, and civic leaders from across the Okanagan.<\/p>\n
Many attendees voiced support for creating a permanent heritage marker or interpretive plague at Commando Bay to commemorate this pivotal chapter in Canadian and Okanagan history.<\/p>\n
The event was hosted by the Kelowna Chinese United Association (KCUA) and in collaboration with community partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attendees voiced support for creating a permanent heritage marker at Commando Bay <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":159837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-regional-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n