A massive clean-up project at a B.C. naval base has unearthed dozens of lost artifacts of Canadian sailors – some from as early as the First World War.

Crews at CFB Esquimalt on Vancouver Island have been dredging contaminated soil below the water of the Esquimalt Harbour as part of an ongoing $160-million remediation project.

The Royal Canadian Navy knew it would find polluted soil – in past decades it was acceptable for sailors to throw garbage and miscellaneous items overboard – but it didn’t bank on finding century-old personal effects like diving knives, wedding rings, identification cards and clay tobacco pipes.

“Certainly we knew there was a lot of debris down there, but we certainly did not intend to find some of those small, interesting historical items,” said Michael Bodman of the Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project. “Usually when we do dredging it’s a bulk process, so you can imagine a big clamshell excavator would remove that material, and to find a small artifact out of that is quite an amazing find.”

Some of the artifacts date back as early as 1914

Also discovered were thousands of boot soles, apparently unwanted by sailors arriving home after the Second World War, left behind after the leather disintegrated.

Officials say it was a happy accident that the artifacts were discovered, and that each one tells a tale.

“The Navy’s been in the harbour for over 150 years, so there’s a number of these items that tell the story of the men and women and the sailors of the Navy that have been here over the years,” said Duane Freeman, Senior Environment Officer for CFB Esquimalt.

The most personal item unearthed? A sailor’s perfectly preserved wallet, including an ID card, belonging to Norman John Boulton – a crew member of HMCS Cornwallis.

“It looks like it could be an ID card today,” said Freeman. “He probably lost his wallet over the side around 1955, 1956.”

After the spectacular find, naval officials are now focused on reuniting the items with their rightful owners or their families.

One coffee cup dropped overboard in the 80s has been returned, but thousands of other items still remain in limbo.

Artifacts that can’t be returned will be catalogued and put on display in naval museums.

Anyone who believes an item belongs to them or their families can call CFB Esquimalt Public Affairs at 250-363-4006.