From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
This photo of a bombed out car in 1932 has been bugging me ever since a reader posted it on my FB page a few weeks ago. So this week I made a trip to the Vancouver Public Library to find out its back story.
It turns out that the unfortunate car was owned by Wally Woolridge, a 38-year-old movie projectionist. Wally finished his shift at 7:30 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre, got in his car, turned on his lights, and was then hurled 20 feet in the air through the roof of his car. He landed on the gravel several feet away concussed, deafened and with blood pouring from both ears.
The “dynamite” bomb was powerful enough to break windows in nearby buildings. Wally’s life was saved because the bomb was placed at the back of the driver’s seat and the backrest deflected the explosion. His heavy coat softened his fall.
“I think I know who did it. I could put my finger on the man if I wanted to,” Wally told a reporter, adding that he wasn’t going to name names. “I can tell you one thing, though. It’s the work of racketeers. The thing tonight is just another episode in the story of bombings which have been taking place all over the continent during the last few months.”
Clearly you had to be pretty brave to see a movie in the ‘30s.
Wally was an active member of the B.C. Projectionists’ Society which was affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. According to the paper, the “recognized group” was caught up in a war with “the rebels” a breakaway group of non-union employees. The attempt on Wally’s life followed a spate of stink bombs that previously found their way to the non-union Royal Theatre (the former Pantages).
Either murderers were incredibly incompetent back then or Wally was just very lucky, because it was the third attempt on his life. A year before he was the victim of another failed car bomb while driving along Hastings Street, and just weeks later shots were fired at him as he came home from work late one night. His telephone line had been cut.
On March 20, 1933 the Royal Theatre was torn apart by a bomb, its lobby and ticket office destroyed. W.P. Nichols, who lived in a suite above the theatre, was jolted from his bed. Despite the bad blood between theatre employees, police decided it was not a result of labour unrest, but simply a personal grudge.
For instructions on how to make a stink bomb: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Stink-Bomb
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