Grainger Peak was named after Flying Officer Frank Herbert Grainger.
After attending school in Rosedale and graduating from Chilliwack High School, Frank Grainger joined the R.C.A.F. His early flight training was conducted at Boundary Bay and at Claresholm, Alberta. In Claresholm he was awarded his pilot’s wings and commissioned in July 1942. In September he married his high school sweetheart, Joyce Ker of Sardis and was posted to a Coastal Command Squadron located in Scotland. With this unit Frank flew Sunderland aircraft on anti‑submarine patrols. He was transferred to Northern Ireland to serve with 131 Operational Training Unit. His Catalina aircraft crashed at the St. Angelo (VHF) receiving station in the county of Fermanagh. All crewmen and passengers were killed. A pair of candlesticks and plaque were donated in his memory to St. John the Baptist Anglican Church (Ferguson, 2009).
In 1947, geographical features were named by an agency of the federal government, the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical names after receiving a list of names of Canadian servicemen from Chilliwack who were killed during the Second World War From Canada’s Department of National Defence. The names were divided by province and were to be assigned to geographical features close to the place of enlistment (Grainger, 1998, p.82).
Grainger Peak is located about 16 km north of Chehalis Lake and is visible from the Prest Road overpass when travelling north (Grainger, 1998, p.39)
References:
- Grainger, N. (1998). The Mountain Project.Chilliwack, B.C.: Neil Grainger
- Ferguson, P. (2009). Chilliwack War Memorial. Online exhibit retrieved from http://www.chilliwackmuseum.ca/war-memorial/WW2_g_names.html
Photograph caption: Flying Officer Frank Grainger. [Chilliwack Museum and Archives photograph]