Chaos descended on Wasaga Beach on August 21, 1948. At around 11 p.m., close to a hundred belligerent young people, believed to be members of rival Toronto gangs, piled into one another with fists and boots near Davie’s Dancing Club, breaking bones and leaving trails of blood behind. Smaller bands split off from the main group, randomly attacking bystanders and looting local stores. Completely overwhelmed, the Wasaga police called for reinforcements. With the help of constables from Barrie, Collingwood, and Elmvale, local police finally subdued the insurgents at 3 a.m., and 13 youths were jailed on a litany of charges ranging from assault and obstructing police to possessing beer illegally.

According to a report in the Toronto Daily Star on August 23, the trouble had started when members of the Tipp Gang, whose usual haunt was in Toronto’s Queen and Bathurst Street area, arrived in “truckloads” with the clear intention of fighting a pitched battle with the Beanery Gang, their rivals and near neighbours in Toronto.

Warring gang members were not the only ones nursing their wounds in the aftermath of the battle. Midway employee Victor Kehoe, who had confronted a group of brawlers, ended up with a black eye, cigar burns on his neck, and gashes on his head. J.R. Murray, a “mild-mannered” visitor from Cleveland, Ohio, was jumped by 15 rowdies as he sat on the porch of the Wasaga Inn enjoying a quiet drink with friends. He was left with a bruised jaw and a couple of missing front teeth.

He plaintively told reporters that he “never knew Canada was like this.”

 

Read the full article on the TVO website.