Some of the items Mr. Cory [Rory Cory, Senior Curator of The Military Museums in Calgary, Alberta] mentioned included artifacts which are now part of the exhibit. Others were not available for loan.
The PoWs in Alberta were given uniforms of blue denim with a big red circle on the back of the jacket. Some of these, I later learned, were made by GWG of Edmonton. We were lucky enough to be able to borrow uniforms from the collections of the Red Deer Museum and the Aerospace Museum in Calgary.
German Prisoner of War Crafts Include Many Ships
Mr. Cory mentioned a number of types of POW art and craft works, including a ship in a glass case, a carved U-boat, a clock, and a marquetry castle. I have since seen a lot of ships, including the ship in a bottle, such as the one shown here. In fact, I even saw one for sale one day in Sidney-by-the-Sea, B.C., in a book and antique store there. Some of the wooden models of ships built by PoWs were amazingly detailed, and all the more amazing considering they were largely done from memory.Veterans Guard Artifacts
Part of the story of the German PoWs in Canada is the role of the Veterans Guard. These were the former First World War Canadian soldiers who came back to serve as guards during the Second World War. Some of their artifacts include uniforms, badges, even a pistol.
As you can probably tell, this exhibit is the result of much co-operation among museums and private collectors, not just in planning and putting it together, but in providing the actual items to go into it, and the stories behind the items.
