living history
While many of the guards were located outside the
with boredom and faced an unknown number of years
camp, there were scouts, unarmed men who were inside
locked behind the fences.
the camp looking for illegal activities. There were also
While the war ended in 1945, the camp did not close
“gophers,” a special patrol inside the camp looking
until 1946. Repatriation had occurred throughout the war,
for tunnels. Escapes did happen, and the newspaper
and those sent home were done so for medical reasons
reported
the
generally
quick
capture and return of prisoners.
No one permanently escaped from
the Lethbridge camp to return to
Germany.
Camp operations were carried
out under the rules of the Geneva
Convention. Overall, the men were
treated well, and prisoners were
fed rations and provided with
housing equivalent to that of the
Canadian Armed Forces. While the
people of Lethbridge and Southern
Alberta dealt with rationing and
View of the PoW Camp taken through the two barbed wire fences that surrounded it, 1943.
limited access to many supplies,
in some cases, the prisoners were
fed better than residents in the area. This certainly led
or were non-combatants, such as doctors or dentists who
to resentment by some locals of the generosity they
accompanied those sent home. However, most did not
believed was accorded to the prisoners. However, while
leave until after the war, and some not for a considerable
the prisoners were well fed and housed, many also dealt
time after the war ended. There were logistics required to
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