Hello!
This is a short post based on the Henderson Collection of artifacts and documents about German Prisoners of War in Canada during the Second World War, and the Veterans Guard of Canada who looked after them.
Bob Henderson is still actively collecting! If you want to get in touch with him please do. You can email him at homefront @ sasktel.net. Do not leave any spaces in the address – I just did that to stop robots from spamming Mr. Henderson.
No slide show for you this week, but here’s some info about where you can find the ones I’ve done so far.
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The Prisoner of war shirt
The German PoWs in Canada had a lot to think about and a lot of time to think as well.
While some were non-combatants, for example from the Merchant Marine, the big numbers of PoWs who were brought to the Lethbridge and Medicine Hat camps were soldiers. On the one hand some of them believed quite strongly that as long as the war was on, they had an obligation to keep fighting in whatever way they could. That included a duty to escape.
Others, perhaps more pragmatic, figured out that they were so far from any way home that escape wasn’t a realistic option. (There were a small number of exceptions.)
Even so, to make sure any stray prisoners would be easy to identify, their uniform was a shirt with a big red dot on the back.
Red circle shirt for Prisoners of War in Canada
I asked Bob Henderson for his thoughts on PoW uniforms. Did every PoW have the red circle shirt? It seems like a lot of shirts to make, especially while Canada was fighting a war and needed labour and materials elsewhere.
Here’s what Bob has to say.
“PoW shirts, trousers, cap, boots (and undergarments if required) were provided to each PoW on his arrival in Canada, probably at their original camp site.
“I haven’t seen an issue policy, but would expect three shirts and two pair of trousers and belt to be replaced as wear and tear wore them out. Examination of turned-in kit for intentional damage (a form of sabotage) was watched for. Salvable kit was cleaned and reissued to other PoW. Winter kit was also made available.
“In the timber camps, the forest companies were required to provide coveralls, work gloves, etc. equivalent to civilian bush workers. Intentional sabotage of coveralls was apparent.
“Military uniforms were allowed to be sent from Germany, along with earned medals, and were worn by officer rank during special events (group photos) and German holidays.
“These can be noted on PoW postcards from the camps.”
If you have information or items related to the German Prisoners of War in Canada or the Veterans Guard of Canada, please do get in touch with Bob.