As of April 1946, almost 9,000 German combatant POWs, Enemy Merchant Seamen (EMS), and Civilian Internees were employed in logging and pulpwood operations in Ontario alone. And hundreds, if not thousands, more had spent some time in a bush camp between July 1943 and July 1946. The majority of these bush camps were operated byContinue reading “A Day in the Life of a POW Woodcutter”
Tag Archives: Labour Project
When Interests Collide: POWs and Beer
“Lethbridge Ale” from the House of Lethbridge, “Royal Stout” from Lethbridge Breweries Limited, and “Calgary Beer Export Lager” from Calgary Brewing & Malting Co. These three beer labels are not only a part of Lethbridge’s and Calgary’s beer history but part of Canada’s internment history as well. These labels are souvenirs kept by German prisonerContinue reading “When Interests Collide: POWs and Beer”
POWs and “the good ol’ hockey game”
On first glance, it may seem a simple photo of a hockey game and soldiers looking on. But on a closer look, something stands out – the soldiers are not Canadian. They are German. This picture, which I was very pleased to add to my collection, is a relatively rare photo of German POWs atContinue reading “POWs and “the good ol’ hockey game””
From Port Colborne to Detroit
You would be hard-pressed to find a PoW camp or labour project in Canada that did not have an attempted escape attempt or, in a few isolated cases, a successful escape. The labour project run by the Erie Peat Co. employing Enemy Merchant Seamen (EMS) near Port Colborne, Ontario was no exception. Having opened inContinue reading “From Port Colborne to Detroit”
Intelligence Roundup – Cake, a Flower Pot, and “The Last Wood-Cutter”
Stumbling across this in my search for intelligence reports regarding the VE-Day announcement in Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge, I wanted to share. Unsure of how PoWs would react to news of the German surrender, intelligence personnel at Medicine Hat’s Camp 132 asked a group of PoWs their thoughts as they were being transferred to aContinue reading “Intelligence Roundup – Cake, a Flower Pot, and “The Last Wood-Cutter””
POWs in Canada 