A quest to find the wreckage of a crashed WW2 P-38 Lightning in the woods north of Ottawa… During World War Two the German Luftwaffe nicknamed it der Gabelschwanz-Teufel, or “ the fork-tailed devil”. The American built Lockheed P-38 Lightning was aptly nick-named due to its distinctive twin-engine booms and central pilot pod paired with exceptional flight characteristics. The P-38 was a formidable opponent for the Luftwaffe in Europe and for the Japanese in the Pacific, who referred to it as “two planes, one pilot”. Developed as a twin engined high altitude interceptor to attack hostile aircr ..read more

My sketch of how the rail yard roundhouse may have looked off HuntClub Road in 1915. A piece of Ottawa history hidden for over 100 years off Hunt Club Road was redeveloped recently to make room for a new hotel and restaurants. It was grand vision for a new concept in Ottawa living called “Rideau Yard” and it was the nucleus of a town that never was. Part of this grand scheme for a new “resort town” south of downtown Ottawa was a large railway roundhouse, which was built and its remnants quietly survived for over a hundred years until the new hotel was built. A composite map over ..read more

Once a top-secret military installation during the Cold War, the now well-known “Diefenbunker” in Carp, Ontario was built as part of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s “Continuity of Government” plan to protect various members of government during a nuclear attack. Many of these once-secret Emergency Government Facilities were constructed across Canada, the largest of them being the Carp bunker, built 40km outside of downtown Ottawa. But, there is another… Construction of the “Diefenbunker” in Carp, Ontario. (Image: West Carleton Online File Photo) The Carp bunker is just one of 50 that were re ..read more

Google Streetview of Shirley’s Bay complex. About fifteen kilometres west of downtown Ottawa is a secure facility that resembles the Hawkins Lab from “Stranger Things”…a guarded gate, weird radar dishes and a large red and white antennae. The sign out front in a typical government format lists the following being on site: Communications Research Centre Canada Certification and Engineering Bureau Donald Florida Laboratory Defence Research and Development Canada Canadian Forces Electronic Warfare Centre Canadian Joint Warfare Centre Sign at the entrance to the Shirley’s Bay facility. (Google Map ..read more

AUTHOR’S NOTE: It has been a year since my last post, for which I apologize, but with recent events, I was not really into creating new Ottawa Rewind content, but I now feel recharged and ready to explore more intriguing history mysteries again…enjoy this latest post! -AK OOPART. The Roebuck bone needle case with close-up views of the opening, showing triangular chuck marks and lathe marks on the neck of the case. Photo: Canadian Museum of History. OOPART. It sounds like a character from a Super Mario Brothers or Pokemon game, but OOPART is actually an acronym for “Out Of Place ARTifact”, whic ..read more

During the peak of the Cold War in the 1950s and 60s, Ottawa was the scene of some high-level, top secret operations involving the latest designs for fighter jets, rockets and computer technology. Most of the research for these “secret weapons” occurred at the National Research Council out on Montreal Road. Shrouded in secrecy, two large spherical structures were assembled that looked like something from a science fiction movie of the time. These were Ottawa’s Top Secret Balls, designed for classified experimentation for the Canada’s ill-fated Avro Arrow program. ARROW HEADS A group of scienti ..read more

A stroll in the forest is great for the mind and soul, soaking in the sounds and sights of nature while escaping the absurdities of life, and sometimes you even stumble across something unexpected. It wasn’t a dead body, or a $50 bill, but rather an unusual arrangement of boulders and an “Ontario Well” post. Curious as to what was once situated on this forested hill overlooking the Jock River near Woodroffe Avenue, I returned home and started investigating, leading me on an adventure through time to uncover The Lost Chapel. A post marked with “Ontario Well Tag” in the midst of the forest… The ..read more

  Most music listeners are familiar with the catalogue of songs produced by the legendary “Bee Gees”, from their 1960s ballads to their disco driven escapades of the 1970s. Yet, many may not be familiar with the secluded recording studio northeast of Ottawa that the Bee Gees used to record some of their recognizable disco hits. The Police, David Bowie Rush, Celine Dion and many other A-listers all used the facility to record and produce their greatest hits. Now all but a memory, let’s take a look at this secluded studio where the Bee Gees recorded, and lived, to record their 1976 platinu ..read more

Ottawa holds a number of secrets beneath its streets, from tunnels to vaults with many other concealed subterranean features, but one hidden feature I find to be particularly interesting. It is the legend of a far stretching cavern with waterfalls, stalagmites and a century old connection to one of Canada’s largest soft drink companies. It is the Legend Of Pooley’s Cave. Before the National Capital Commission “re-imagined” downtown Ottawa in 1960 and started terraforming the historic downtown core of the city, there were a number of unique elements that have sadly been lost forever. The entire ..read more

A successful businessman from South of Ottawa had just built a brand new brick house for his young family, boasting the finest of Edwardian features. It was sitting waiting for them to take occupancy when Hudson Allison and his family returned from attending a Board Meeting in England. Mr. Allison was the epitome of success who seemed to make all the right decisions, with perhaps one exception…he bought tickets to come home on Titanic. TITANIC HOUSE Titanic in Southhampton before its tragic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. As we approach the 110th Anniversary of the tragic sinking of Ti ..read more