Douglas Day Pin 1985.

Collections

salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

Stay informed about our news, programs, and events by subscribing to eNews.

Enter a keyword below to search the collection. The search will find all records that contain the entered keywords. For example, if you enter "button", the search will return records that contain "button", "button card ", "button hook", etc. If you enter "buttons", the search will not find images that are described with only "button". If you would like to search for multiple terms, please try our Advanced Search.

Search results - click each item for more information

Object Description

Object Name

Pin, Lapel

Object ID

2014.038.004

Title

Douglas Day Pin 1985.

Date

Nov. 1985.

Description

This Douglas Day pin is for Douglas Day 1985. The pin is circular, with a small post and pin back. The pin is white and black enamel, with gold coloured metal. There is an image of a fort, three waves, and a canoe with three people inside it. The words "DOUGLAS DAY" appear at the top, with the date "1985" at the bottom, both outside of a smaller metal circle around the circumference of the pin. The back of the pin has the words 'emblematic, Rodney Ontario, Canada." This pin is presented to "pioneers" at the Township of Langley's Douglas Day Dinner. This Douglas Day pin belonged to Richard (Dick) Straw.

People/Subject

Douglas Day

Douglas Day celebrations held every November in the Township of Langley, B.C., commemorate the founding of the mainland colony of British Columbia by Sir James Douglas at Fort Langley, B.C., on November 19, 1858.

Straw, Richard (Dick)

Richard (Dick) Straw was born in Saskatchewan in 1915 to parents Elizabeth and William Straw. The family moved to Willoughby in 1918 and established a chicken farm. The later address for the property was 20819 85th Avenue (roughly where the south-east side of the overpass is today). Dick's siblings were Kathleen (b. 1913) and Wilfred. Dick attended West Langley School.

Dick received a letter of conscription in the mail in 1942. He trained in Vernon, Vedder Crossing (Chilliwack), and Calgary before sailing to England in December 1942. Dick was trained with the Lee-Enfield rifle, bayonet, and Bren light machine gun once he arrived, and was ordered to join the Canadian Scottish Regiment where he received grenade, tank, and gas chamber training. Dick was a “batman,” or “runner,” who would maintain officer’s equipment, relay orders and messages, and fulfill other various tasks.

Dick Straw served in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He was wounded on the third day of the invasion by two mortar explosions. Shrapnel from the first mortar hit him in the leg, and the second mortar exploded in the air and caused shrapnel to hit him behind the shoulder blade. This piece of shrapnel broke one of Dick’s ribs and lodged in his breastbone. He survived by mustering up enough strength to wander to a nearby medic. He was transferred back to England for operation.

Dick was taken back to Halifax on a hospital ship called the HMCS Lady Nelson in January 1945. From there he took the train to Vancouver and returned home to work on the family farm. Dick worked for the Seal-Kap Farm (where Trinity Western University is now located) for 13 years, but due to his injuries he had to eventually find other work.

Richard Straw joined the local Legion and lived in Walnut Grove before moving to Langley Gardens. He passed away in Langley in 2010 at the age of 94.

Link to Search Results

salishan Place

Stay informed about our news, programs, and events by subscribing to eNews.

Opens in a new window.

Argus v4.4.2.32 - Langley Centennial Museum