Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

STEEL

No. Pieces

1

Length

46.0

Diameter

15.7

Description

OVERSIZED STEEL LADLE. HANDLE IS RIVETED IN 3 PLACES TO ROUND BOWL. HANDLE IS STRAIGHT EXCEPT FOR AT TOP WHERE IT CURVES TO FORM A HOOK. BOTH SIDES OF HANDLE ARE CONVEX. LADLE IS WORN, PITTED AND SCRATCHED THROUGHOUT; THERE IS ALSO MINOR INACTIVE RUST ON BOWL. THERE ARE ACCRETIONS IN BOWL IN A CIRCULAR PATTERN.

Subjects

FOOD PROCESSING T&E

FOOD SERVICE T&E

Historical Association

MILITARY

DOMESTIC

History

PURCHASED ON E-BAY BY DONOR FOR MUSEUM COLLECTION FEBRUARY 15, 2004, ALONG WITH SKIMMER P20040005002-GA. DONOR WAS HIGHEST BIDDER FOR PAIR AT $10.50 CANADIAN. SELLER, GERRY FLECKNEY, BOUGHT ITEMS AT GARAGE SALE IN LETHBRIDGE ABOUT 3 YEARS PRIOR. FLECKNEY COULD NOT RECALL WHICH HOME ITEMS WERE PURCHASED FROM, BUT OWNER CLAIMED THEY HAD BELONGED TO HER HUSBAND WHO WORKED IN LETHBRIDGE'S PRISONER OF WAR CAMP 133 KITCHEN. FLECKNEY HAD PURCHASED ITEMS TO DECORATE HIS KITCHEN, AND WAS IN THE PROCESS OF DOWNSIZING WHEN HE SOLD THEM ON E-BAY. DONOR IS CURRENT COLLECTION TECHNICIAN AT GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES (SEE PREVIOUS DONATIONS FOR DONOR HISTORY). *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.

Catalogue Number

P20040005001

Acquisition Date

2004-03

Collection

Museum

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