There were 40 known prisoner-of-war camps across Canada during World War II, although this number also includes internment camps that held Canadians of German and Japanese descent. Several reliable sources indicate that there were only 25 or 26 camps holding exclusively prisoners from foreign countries, nearly all from Germany.
The camps were identified by letters at first, then by numbers.Tremblay, Robert, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, et al. "Histoires oubliées – Interprogrammes : Des prisonniers spéciaux" Interlude. Aired: 20 July 2008, 14h47 to 15h00. In addition to the main camps there were branch camps and labour camps. The prisoners were given various tasks; many worked in the forests as logging crews or on nearby farms; they were paid a nominal amount for their labour. Approximately 11,000 were thus employed by 1945.
The largest number of military prisoners of war was recorded as 33,798 by several sources. In addition to POWs, some civilian internees were held in the camps and some estimates include such prisoners.
All POWs were protected by the conditions of the Geneva Convention. There are claims that conditions in the Canadian camps tended to be better than average, and many times better than the conditions of the barracks that Canadian troops were kept in. They were guarded by the Veterans Guard of Canada, mostly men who had been soldiers during WW I. It is believed by some that the lenient treatment foiled many escape attempts before they even started. It is told that a group of German prisoners returned to Ozada camp after escaping because of encountering a grizzly bear. Starting in 1945, all POWs were released and returned to their home countries. None were allowed to remain in Canada, but some later returned as immigrants.
CampPlaceProvinceRelative LocationSpecific LocationPeriod10ChathamOntario260 km southwest of Toronto19441945–194610FingalOntario40 km south of London1945–194620 (C)GravenhurstOntario170 km north of Toronto1940–194621 (F)EspanolaOntario330 km NNW of Toronto1940–194322 (M)MimicoOntario15 km west of Toronto1940–194423 (Q)Monteith (near Iroquois Falls)Ontario700 km north of Toronto1940–194630BowmanvilleOntario65 km ENE of Toronto2020 Lambs Road, Clarington, ON1941–194531 (F)KingstonOntario145 km SSW of Ottawa1940–194332 (H)HullQuebec10 km north of Ottawa1941–194733 (F)PetawawaOntario130 km WNW of Ottawa1942–194640 (A)FarnhamQuebec50 km ESE of Montreal825 Rue Principale O, Farnham, QC1940–19411942–19431944–194642 (N)Newington (Sherbrooke)Quebec130 km east of Montreal990 Rue Bowen S, Sherbrooke, QC 1942–194643 Ile Ste Helene, MontrealQuebec1940–194344Feller College / Grande LigneQuebec56 km southeast of Montreal1943–194645SorelQuebec65 km NNE of Montreal1945–194670 (B)Fredericton (Ripples)New Brunswick20 km east of Fredericton 2999 NB-10, Sheffield Parish, NB1941–1945100 (W)NeysOntario1100 km northwest of Toronto1944–19431944-1946101 (X)AnglerOntario800 km northwest of Toronto1941–1946130SeebeAlberta100 km west of Calgary1939–1946132Medicine HatAlberta260 km ESE of Calgary2055 21 Ave SE, Medicine Hat, AB1943–1945133OzadaAlberta130 km west of Calgary1942133LethbridgeAlberta160 km southeast of Calgary1942–1946?ChisholmAlberta180 km N of Edmonton?135WainwrightAlberta190 km ESE of Edmonton1945–1946(R)Red RockOntarioLake Superior1940–1941?WhitewaterManitoba300 km NW of WinnipegRiding Mountain National Park1943–1945N/AWainfleetOntarioClose to Port Colborne1943–1945
German prisoners Georg Hees
See also List of World War I prisoner-of-war camps in Canada Lac Saint-Jean
References
External links
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