I am happy to say that I will be presenting at the Fourth Symposium of Environmental Historians of Southern Ontario this Saturday (March 22, 2014). The University of Toronto, with support from NiCHE, is hosting the event which will be focusing on energy and forestry. I will be presenting some of my research about PoWsContinue reading “Fourth Symposium of Environmental Historians of Southern Ontario”
Category Archives: Prisoner of War
Interactive Exhibit – Making Progress
If anyone had told me in my undergrad that I would be building a foam and paper model as part of my PhD coursework, I’m sure I would have thought they were crazy. However, here I am, building a scale replica of a PoW camp in an attempt to make an interactive exhibit. I haveContinue reading “Interactive Exhibit – Making Progress”
All Bottled Up
Among the many pastimes of German prisoners of war interned in Canada was the building of ships in bottles. Ranging from simple sailing vessels to elaborate models of five-masted barques, ships in bottles were often traded or sold to other PoWs, guards, camp staff, and civilians. While PoWs in smaller camps built them for theirContinue reading “All Bottled Up”
Interactive Model of a PoW Camp!
Well I finally settled on a project for my Interactive Exhibit Design class: an interactive model of the prisoner of war camp in Riding Mountain National Park. Having created a digital model of the camp last semester, I wanted to incorporate that work into something that could theoretically be used for a public display. Here’sContinue reading “Interactive Model of a PoW Camp!”
Postcard from a Future Escapee – Heinz Gummert
Picture postcards were quite popular with PoWs as it offered them a chance to show their families how they were doing as they waited out the end of the war in Canada. As these photographs were taken by photographers approved by the Canadian military, they also served an important propaganda by demonstrating that the prisonersContinue reading “Postcard from a Future Escapee – Heinz Gummert”
PoWs who Died in Canada – Johann Schäfer
Johann Schäfer was one of the thousands of German soldiers captured in the North African Campaign. A member of the German Afrika Korps, Schäfer was in his early twenties when his war ended in 1941 or 1942. Following a brief period in a primitive internment camp in North Africa, Schäfer and his comrades found themselvesContinue reading “PoWs who Died in Canada – Johann Schäfer”
A Long Way From Home
Tucked away in a corner of Kitchener’s Woodland Cemetery lies the final resting place of 187 German Prisoners of War who died in Canada during their internment. One hundred and forty-eight of these men were German PoWs from the Second World War while the remaining thirty-nine were civilian prisoners from the First World War. ThoseContinue reading “A Long Way From Home”
Next Project – Interactive Exhibit Design
This semester I am taking a Interactive Exhibit Design course in which each student designs and creates an interactive exhibit of any shape or form. At the moment, I have two ideas for my project and I’m going to share my first (more on the second later). I am always looking at new ways ofContinue reading “Next Project – Interactive Exhibit Design”
Reconstructing the Past
From October 1943 to October 1945, over 400 German prisoners of war (PoWs) were employed in a woodcutting operation in Manitoba’s Riding Mountain National Park. Housed in a newly built camp on the shore of Whitewater Lake, the PoWs had better living conditions than the majority of civilians living around the park. When the buildingsContinue reading “Reconstructing the Past”
GIS Day at Western!
Tomorrow, Josh MacFadyen and I will be presenting at Western’s Map and Data Centre for its GIS Day event! If you are interested in learning more about Geographic Information Systems and how we can use use GIS in historical research, come out to see our presentation! The morning’s events begin at 9:30 and Josh andContinue reading “GIS Day at Western!”
POWs in Canada 