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There were 40 known prisoner-of-war camps across Canada during World War II. The camps were identified by letters at first, then by numbers.[1] The prisoners were given various tasks; many worked in the forests as logging crews. In addition to the main camps there were branch camps and labour camps.

The largest number of prisoners of war was recorded as 33,798. (One source claims that at its peak, Canada interned 35,046 prisoners of war and Japanese-Canadians.[2]) There were an additional 6,437 civil internees, members of the merchant marine and refugees.[citation needed]

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. It is believed by some that this treatment foiled many escape attempts before they even started. Notably, it is told that group of German prisoners returned to Ozada camp after escaping because of encountering a grizzly bear.[3]

Camp Place Province Location Period
10 Chatham Ontario 260 km southwest of Toronto 1944
1945-1946
10 Fingal Ontario 40 km south of London 1945-1946
20 (C) Gravenhurst Ontario 170 km north of Toronto 1940-1946
21 (F) Espanola Ontario 330 km NNW of Toronto 1940-1943
22 (M) Mimico Ontario 15 km west of Toronto 1940-1944
23 (Q) Monteith (near Iroquois Falls) Ontario 700 km north of Toronto 1940-1946
30 Bowmanville Ontario 65 km ENE of Toronto 1941-1945
31 (F) Kingston Ontario 145 km SSW of Ottawa 1940-1943
32 (H) Hull Quebec 10 km north of Ottawa 1941-(?)
33 (F) Petawawa Ontario 130 km WNW of Ottawa 1942-1946
40 (A) Farnham Quebec 50 km ESE of Montreal 1940-1941
1942-1943
1944-1946
42 (N) Newington (Sherbrooke) Quebec 130 km east of Montreal 1942-1946
44 Feller College / Grande Ligne Quebec 275 km northeast of Montreal 1943-1946
45 Sorel Quebec 65 km NNE of Montreal 1945-1946
70 (B) Fredericton (Ripples) New Brunswick 20 km east of Fredericton 1941-1945
100 (W) Neys Ontario 1100 km northwest of Toronto 1944-1943
1944-1946
101 Angler Ontario 800 km northwest of Toronto 1941-1946
130 Seebe Alberta 100 km west of Calgary 1939-1946
132 Medicine Hat Alberta 260 km ESE of Calgary 1943-1945
133 Ozada Alberta 130 km west of Calgary 1942
133 Lethbridge Alberta 160 km southeast of Calgary 1942-1946
135 Wainwright Alberta 190 km ESE of Edmonton 1945-1946
(R) Red Rock Ontario Lake Superior 1940-1941
N/A Wainfleet Ontario Close to Port Colborne 1943-1945

References[]

  1. Tremblay, Robert, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, et all. "Histoires oubliées – Interprogrammes : Des prisonniers spéciaux" Interlude. Aired: 20 July 2008, 14h47 to 15h00.
  2. Chisholm, B., and Gutsche, A. Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods, Lynx Images, 1998, p. 161
  3. "HOMELAND STORIES: Enemies Within". ReadingAndRemembrance.ca. http://www.readingandremembrance.ca/forms/2010/EnemiesWithin_Homeland%20Stories.pdf. 

External links[]

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