Category Archives: Prisoner of War

Snapshot from Neys

While picture postcards of German prisoners of war in Canada are not particularly uncommon, examples from certain camps can prove more difficult to find (for more on PoW picture postcards, see my earlier post here). In my experience, images from Camp 100 at Neys, Ontario are among those harder to find. I was therefore quiteContinue reading “Snapshot from Neys”

Prisoner of War Canoes

Today (June 26) marks National Canoe Day so what better way to celebrate than a post on PoW-made canoes! In May 1943, the Canadian government approved the use of prisoner of war labour to help boost the struggling lumber and agricultural industries. From 1943 to 1946, thousands of German PoWs, Enemy Merchant Seamen (EMS), andContinue reading “Prisoner of War Canoes”

“K.G. Lager 133 – Ozada, Kanada 1942”

Camp 133 near Ozada, Alberta seems to have been among the most popular locations for Prisoners of War in Canada to paint during the Second World War. Situated on the Mortley Flats, the camp offered stunning views of the nearby Rocky Mountains and, despite living in tents during a wet summer and cold fall, wasContinue reading ““K.G. Lager 133 – Ozada, Kanada 1942””

Happy New Year 1946

Wishing a Happy New Year to all my readers! In 1945, PoW Willi Nötel gave this Happy New Year card to his fellow PoW and friend Erich Neumann in Camp 132 at Medicine Hat, Alberta. Both the double-sided card and envelope are hand-made, presumably by Nötel, and note he even replicated the postal cancellation onContinue reading “Happy New Year 1946”

Camp 40 (Camp A) – Farnham, Quebec

I whipped this map up for a reader researching his father earlier today and thought I would share. The image shows the layout of the internment Camp at Farnham, Quebec overlaid on some modern satellite imagery from Google. Camp A, as it was initially known, opened in October 1940 and initially held civilian internees andContinue reading “Camp 40 (Camp A) – Farnham, Quebec”

PoW Art – Kurt Siebein

Captured in North Africa, Kurt Siebein was sent to Canada in September 1942. Likely disembarking in New York, after a long train journey, he and his fellow PoWs arrived at Camp 133 at Ozada, Alberta. A temporary tented camp at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Ozada held thousands of German PoWs while the newContinue reading “PoW Art – Kurt Siebein”

PoW Artist Richard Schlicker – Part II

Last year, I wrote a post featuring some artwork by PoW Richard Schlicker. My hopes were that others would come forward with more examples of Schlicker’s artwork and, a year later, the result was just that. Laura stumbled across my blog and emailed me three pictures of paintings from Richard Schlicker that her father purchasedContinue reading “PoW Artist Richard Schlicker – Part II”

A D-Day Prisoner

Today, I received a selection of records and photographs belonging to a former PoW, Leutnant Bernhard Brockmeier. With today being the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings and knowing little about the contents of the records or Brockmeier’s wartime career, I was quite surprised at what I found. Seventy-two years ago today, on June 6,Continue reading “A D-Day Prisoner”