In 1948, Grandview Heights in northeast Vancouver was developed as a sub-division to provide low rental housing for Veterans after the Second World War. Initially the streets were to be named after wildlife, but this was changed and the streets were named after personalities, battles and events from the two World Wars. The Chair of the Street Naming Sub-Committee was Alderman Halford Hal Wilson, who served as a Major during the Second World War.
The 1st Canadian Special Service Battalion was the Canadian component of a joint Canadian-American organization called the First Special Service Force. Organized as part of the United States Army, and using American equipment, the Force, as it was known, comprised three regiments each of two battalions plus a Service Battalion or echelon. Canadians commanded five of the six battalions and made up roughly one third of the unit’s strength. After six weeks of arduous service in the Italian mountains, the Force was deployed into the Anzio bridgehead, southwest of Rome.
On 1 February 1944 the Force was landed at Anzio where it took over roughly a quarter of the defensive perimeter, a front that extended about seven miles. This was held for 14 weeks until the Force was pulled back into the center of the bridgehead to prepare for the breakout battle in May that would eventually lead to the fall of Rome. Anzio Drive was named in their honour on March 23, 1948.
