| He was knighted by the British Government for services as an ally against the Russian Bolshevik regime. He was a hero in the Estonian War of Independence in 1918-19. In 1924 he came to BC with his wife Helene, 4 of their children and 10 other people. They settled on the south shore of Stuart Lake near Fort St. James and attempted to establish a colony. Pitka, his wife and some of their children became Canadian citizens. But he found it impossible to earn a living in such an isolated location and returned to Estonia in 1930. By 1932 all the other settlers had followed and the colony was abandoned. During the Second World War Admiral Pitka and his 3 sons were arrested by the occupying Russian forces and never seen again. Lady Pitka and her daughters apparently came back to BC in 1949 and settled in Vancouver BC. |
