Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

VETERANS GUARD BADGE COLLECTION

Date Range From

1942

Date Range To

1946

Materials

PAPER, GLASS, ALUMINUM, BRASS

No. Pieces

1

Height

3.4

Length

56.4

Width

52.6

Description

COLLECTION OF BADGES, FRAMED IN A SHADOW BOX. BADGES ARE MOUNTED ON A WHITE BACKGROUND. COLLECTION CONSISTS OF 16 METAL BADGES OF VARIOUS SIZES, COLOURS, AND MATERIALS, AND FOUR FABRIC SHOULDER PATCHES. THE METAL BADGES EACH HAVE THE IMAGE OF A LION ON ITS HIND LEGS STANDING ON TWO BANNERS THAT READ "VETERANS GUARD OF CANADA". TWO OF THE SHOULDER FLASHES ARE CURVED STRIPS OF RED FELT, AND HAVE "VETERANS GUARD OF CANADA" EMBROIDERED ON THEM IN YELLOW. THE OTHER TWO SHOULDER PATCHES ARE RECTANGULAR, ONE IS RED FELT THAT HAS "VETERANS GUARD" EMBROIDERED ON IT IN YELLOW, AND THE OTHER IS KHAKI WITH "VETERANS GUARD" EMBROIDERED ON IT IN BLACK. WRITTEN IN CALLIGARPHY AT TOP OF COLLECTION IS "VETERANS GUARD OF CANADA CAMP 133 LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA NOV 1942-JUN 1946". COLLECTION HAS RED AND BLACK MATTES, AND A BLACK METAL FRAME.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

MILITARY

COMMEMORATIVE

History

DONOR OBTAINED BADGES AS A YOUNG TEENAGER. AT THE TIME HE WAS A NEWSPAPER STREET SELLER, WHICH GAVE HIM ACCESS TO THE AMERICANS COMING THROUGH THE C.P.R. STATION. DONOR WOULD GO TO STATION AND ASK FOR SPARE MILITARY BADGES, ETCETERA. DONOR WOULD ALSO GO TO INTERNMENT CAMP (133) WHEN THEY HAD SALES TO BUY HANDMADE ITEMS FROM THE INTERNEES. THEY WOULD SELL, AMONG OTHER THINGS, LEAD COPIES OF THEIR BADGES FOR CANTEEN MONEY. DONOR RECALLS WAVING TO INTERNEES FROM FENCE ON HIS VISITS; HE LIVED ONLY BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE CAMP. THESE VETERANS BADGES WERE AMONG THE FIRST ACQUISITIONS OF THE DONOR'S. DONOR PUT BADGES TOGETHER AS A COLLECTION (FRAMED) ABOUT 1990, AND ENTERED IT AT THE LETHBRIDGE EXHIBITION WHERE IT WON AWARDS (SEE PRIZE RIBBONS P20000091007-9-GA). *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF MILITARY OBJECTS, INCLUDING THOSE DONATED BY MIKE PROKOP. INFORMATION ABOUT THE DONOR WAS RETREIVED FROM HIS FUNERAL PROGRAM: "MIKE PROKOP, BELOVED HUSBAND OF LYDIA PROKOP OF LETHBRIDGE PASSED AWAY PEACEFULLY AFTER A LENGTHY ILLNESS ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2004 AT THE AGE OF 71 YEARS... MIKE WORKED MANY YEARS AT LETHBRIDGE BATTERY PRIOR TO OPERATING HIS OWN BUSINESS, GENERAL TOY & HOBBY CRAFT. MIKE WAS A MEMBER OF THE 32ND TECH SQUADRON R.C.E.M.E. AND THE 18TH INDEPENDENT FIELD BATTERY REGIMENT... HE ALSO DEVOTED MANY YEARS TO THE ROYAL CANADIAN SEA CADET CORP AS COMMANDING OFFICER AND BAND INSTRUCTOR. HE WAS A LIFETIME MEMBER OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION SERVING AS POPPY CHAIRMAN AND FIRST VICE." FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, SEE PERMANENT FILE. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING BRIEF HISTORY OF PRISONER OF WAR CAMP 133 WITH INFORMATION FROM THE GALT MUSEUM BROCHURE "LETHBRDGE'S INTERNMENT CAMPS" AND THE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA WEBSITE. DURING WORLD WAR II THERE WERE 40 PRISONER OF WAR (P.O.W.) CAMPS CONSTRUCTED ACROSS CANADA TO HOUSE THE LARGE NUMBER OF INCOMING POWS - ENEMY MILITARY PERSONNEL THAT WERE CAPTURED IN COMBAT. CAMPS WERE BUILT IN ONTARIO, QUEBEC, THE MARITIMES AND ALBERTA. THE CAMPS IN LETHBRIDGE AND MEDICINE HAT WERE THE LARGEST, TOGETHER HOUSING 22,000 MEN. THE LETHBRIDGE CAMP, NO. 133, WAS BUILT IN THE SUMMER OF 1942, AND BY NOVEMBER OF THAT YEAR HOUSED 13,341 PRISONERS. THE CAMP WAS DIVIDED INTO SIX SECTIONS, EACH WITH SIX DORMITORIES, MESS HALLS, KITCHENS, AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES. MEALS WERE IN SHIFTS WITH PRISONERS SERVING AS COOKS. TAILOR, BARBER AND SHOE REPAIR SHOPS WERE ALSO STAFFED BY PRISONERS, AND NON-COMBAT POWS PRACTICED THEIR PRE-WAR PROFESSIONS AS MEDICAL DOCTORS AND DENTISTS. HOUSING AND RATIONS WERE THE SAME STANDARD AS FOR THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES, WHICH SOMETIMES CAUSED RESENTMENT AMONG LETHBRIDGE CIVILIAN RESIDENTS, WHO WERE UNABLE TO OBTAIN MANY OF THE SAME SUPPLIES ON THEIR STRICT WARTIME RATION ALLOWANCES. WITH MANY YOUNG LOCAL MEN AWAY AT WAR, LOCAL FARMERS BEGAN TO REQUEST LABOUR ASSISTANCE FROM THE CAMP, ESPECIALLY FOR THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY. BY 1943 AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED AND SOME OF THE PRISONERS WORKED ON FARMS THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN ALBERTA. MOST OF THESE PRISONERS WENT FROM THE CAMP TO THE FARMS DAILY, BUT SOME WERE KEPT AT 'LODGES' AT THE MORE DISTANT FARMS FOR DAYS AT A TIME, WITH MINIMAL GUARDING. FOR THEIR LABOUR, THE PRISONERS WERE PAID 50 CENTS PER DAY. WITH WAR'S END, CAMP 133 CLOSED IN DECEMBER 1946 AND ITS PRISONERS WERE SENT BACK TO GERMANY. THE AREA WHERE THE CAMP STOOD EVENTUALLY BECAME AN INDUSTRIAL PARK AND PART OF THE FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTRE. THE FOLLOWING BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VETERANS GUARD OF CANADA WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA ONLINE CANADIAN MILITARY HISTORY GATEWAY. THE VETERANS GUARD OF CANADA WAS FORMED IN MAY 1940, DRAWING FROM FIRST WORLD WAR VETERANS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 40 AND 65. THE GUARD PERFORMED BOTH FULL-TIME AND RESERVE SERVICE DURING WORLD WAR II, AND AT ITS MOST ACTIVE POINT IN 1944 ENCOMPASSED 10,000 FULL-TIME MEN WITH ANOTHER 8,000 ON PART-TIME SERVICE. THE MAJORITY SERVED IN CANADA - SOME STANDING GUARD AT POWER PLANTS, FACTORIES, DAMS, BRIDGES, AND OTHER FACILITIES DEEMED ESSENTIAL TO THE WAR EFFORT, MOST SERVING AS GUARDS AT POW AND ENEMY ALIEN INTERNMENT CAMPS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. A FEW COMPANIES ALSO SERVED OVERSEAS IN ENGLAND, THE BAHAMAS, AND GUYANA. THESE WWI VETERANS, THOUGH AGING, WERE CONSIDERED GOOD CANDIDATES FOR GUARD SERVICE GIVEN THEIR PREVIOUS MILITARY TRAINING AND IN SOME CASES, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH BEING PRISONERS OF WAR THEMSELVES. THEY UNDERSTOOD THE PRISONER MENTALITY AND THE REGIMEN OF CONTROLLED LIFE. THE VETERANS GUARD CONTINUED TO SERVE AFTER THE WAR UNTIL IT WAS DISBANDED IN MARCH 1947. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPY OF ONLINE SOURCE MATERIAL.

Catalogue Number

P20000091002

Acquisition Date

2001-07

Collection

Museum

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