Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

KIT BAG

Date

1946

Materials

CANVAS, LEATHER, ROPE

No. Pieces

1

Length

69.0

Width

49.0

Description

BROWNISH-YELLOW CANVAS. THERE IS A STRIP OF WHITE CANVAS DOWN ONE SIDE AND BOTTOM IS MADE OF SAME WHITE CANVAS. OPPOSITE TO STRIP OF WHITE CANVAS IS A BROWN LEATHER HANDLE, HELD ON WITH D-RINGS. AT TOP OF BAG WHERE WHITE AND YELLOW CANVAS MEET IS A SHORT SPLIT IN BAG WITH A TRIANGULAR BROWN LEATHER REINFORCEMENT AT BOTTOM. ACROSS TOP OF BAG ARE BRASS GROMMETS WITH ROPE STRUNG THROUGH. PRINTED ON ONE SIDE OF BAG, AT CENTER, IS "695950". STAMPED INSIDE BAG IS "C" WITH AN UPWARDS ARROW IN THE CENTER. BAG IS STAINED AND DIRTY WITH LARGE WHITE ACCRETIONS. LEATHER HANDLE IS CRACKED AND WORN, D-RINGS ARE CORRODED. IN 2007, LOCAL CONSERVATOR JULIET GRAHAM WAS CONTRACTED TO WASH THE BAG'S CANVAS BODY IN ORDER TO REMOVE BIRD EXCREMENT ON THE SURFACE OF THE BAG. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE TREATMENT, REFER TO THE DONATION'S PERMANENT FILE.

Subjects

PERSONAL GEAR

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

KIT BAG OWNED BY CAMP 133 INTERNEE AND P.O.W. ALFRED WEISS. BAG IS ONE OF TWO ISSUED TO WEISS PRIOR TO SCHEDULED DISEMBARKATION FROM CAMP 133, FEB/MAR 1946. HE AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER GERMAN POWS WERE BEING REPATRIATED BACK TO GERMANY VIA ENGLAND AND BAGS WERE ISSUED TO ALL P.O.W.S TO TRANSPORT PERSONAL BELONGINGS. IT WAS ORDERED THAT THE BAGS NOT CARRY MORE THAN 40 POUNDS OF BELONGINGS, HOWEVER MUCH ARGUING PERSUADED THE ALLIED AUTHORITIES TO INCREASE THE WEIGHT TO 60 LBS. THEREAFTER, THE PROBLEM BECAME THAT THE BAGS HAD INSUFFICIENT VOLUME TO HOLD A 60 POUNDS WEIGHT. INTERNEES, INCLUDING WEISS, STOLE CANADIAN POST MAILBAGS FROM THE MAILROOM AND CUT WHITE STRIPS OF CANVAS FROM THE POST BAGS. THE STRIPS WERE THEN USED TO EXPAND THE VOLUME OF THEIR OWN ISSUED BAGS - THE SEWING DONE BY THE INTERNEES THEMSELVES. ALFRED CONSTRUCTED A CUSTOM-MADE HANDLE ON BAG'S BODY FROM SHOE LEATHER. THE TWO ISSUED BAGS WERE CARRIED BY WAY OF SECURING THE TWO BAGS' HANDLES TOGETHER WITH A BELT. THE BAGS WERE MOUNTED OVER ONES SHOULDER - ONE BAG OVER THE CHEST AND THE OTHER OVER THE BACK. WHEN NOT IN USE, THE BAGS DOUBLED AS A SEAT FOR REST IN ENGLAND AND GERMANY. IN ENGLAND, AUTHORITIES ERASED ALFRED'S CANADIAN MARKINGS FROM THE BAG, INCLUDING HIS NAME AND NUMBER - ME23951 (ME = MIDDLE EAST AS HE WAS CAPTURED NEAR EGYPT AND LIBIAN BORDER). MARKING STILL FAINTLY VISIBLE OVER BRITISH APPLIED NO. 695950, OF WHICH ALFRED KNOWS NO SIGNIFICANCE. THE BAG WAS REUSED TO TRANSPORT HIS BELONGINGS, INCLUDING HIS UNIFORMS, BACK TO CANADA WHEN HE IMMIGRATED IN 1951. THE BAG WAS SOON AFTER PUT INTO HIS GARAGE ON HIS FARM BETWEEN PICTURE BUTTE AND NOBLEFORD. THE BAG HAS NOT BEEN USED SINCE HIS SETTLEMENT IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. BEFORE WORLD WAR TWO ALFRED LIVED IN SILESIA AS A FARMER. HE WAS DRAFTED IN 1940 INTO THE GERMAN INFANTRY, BUT AFTER 8 OR 10 DAYS WAS SENT HOME BECAUSE OF HIS FLAT FEET. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, HE WAS RECALLED TO TRAIN IN BERLIN, THIS TIME FOR THE AUFKLÄRUNGS ABTEILUNG 3 (3RD RECONNAISSANCE UNIT), WHICH WAS LATER ASSIGNED TO THE 15TH PANZER DIVISION, PART OF THE FAMOUS DEUTSCHES AFRIKA KORPS. ALFRED WAS ASSIGNED THE POSITION OF EXTRA DRIVER IN AN ARMOURED CAR. AMONG ONE OF THE FIRST GERMAN UNITS IN AFRICA, ALFRED WAS TO SET SAIL FROM NAPLES, ITALY TO THE PORT OF TRIPOLI IN WESTERN LIBYA. A DELAY FORCED THEM TO REMAIN IN NAPLES, AND THE SHIP THAT ALFRED WAS ORIGINALLY TO HAVE BEEN ON WAS SUNK BY THE BRITISH. LANDING IN LIBYA IN FEBRUARY OR MARCH OF 1941, THE SHIP ALFRED WAS ON WAS SUNK THE MORNING AFTER THEY ARRIVED, HAVING ALREADY BEEN UNLOADED AND DISEMBARKED. ALFRED'S UNIT SAW ACTION AT EL AGHEILA, BENGHAZI, MECHILI, EL ADEM, BARDIA, TOBRUK AND SOLLUM. ON NOVEMBER 18, 1941, GERMAN GENERAL AUCHINLECK LAUNCHED OPERATION CRUSADER TO REACH TOBRUK, AND ON THE SAME DAY ALFRED WAS TAKEN PRISONER BY SCOTTISH SOLDIERS (ONE OF 33,000 PRISONERS TO BE CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH FROM NOVEMBER 1941 TO JANUARY 1942). ALFRED FEIGNED DEATH TO TRY TO ESCAPE CAPTURE, BUT THE BRITISH INVESTIGATED THE BODIES AND HE WAS TAKEN. THIS BEGAN NEARLY 6 YEARS OF CAPTIVITY FOR ALFRED. HE WAS IN THE FIRST GROUP OF PRISONERS TO REACH OZADA, A TEMPORARY PRISONER OF WAR CAMP IN THE KANANASKIS, COMPRISED OF A TENT CITY, THAT WAS OPERATED FROM MAY TO DECEMBER OF 1942. ALFRED WAS SENT TO CAMP 133 IN LETHBRIDGE, WHICH HAD A CAPACITY OF 12,500 (ONE OF THE 2 LARGEST IN CANADA). WHILE IMPRISONED ALFRED WORKED ON 44 DIFFERENT FARMS. HE MADE FRIENDS WITH SOME OF THE FARMERS HE WORKED FOR, AND DESCRIBES HIS TIME AS A P.O.W. AS "A PARADISE". IN 1946, THE CPR TRANSPORTED THE PRISONERS, WHO WERE BEING REPATRIATED BACK TO GERMANY, TO THE EAST COAST, WHERE THEY SET SAIL FOR ENGLAND. BEING ONE BOXCAR SHORT, EVERYONE FROM LAST NAME 'WEBER' BACK TO 'Z', WAS SENT BACK TO THE CAMP. AS A RESULT ALFRED ENDED UP STAYING AND HELPING WITH THE SUGAR BEET HARVEST. THE LAST PRISONERS WERE SENT TO ENGLAND IN NOVEMBER 1946 AND RELEASED IN 1947. ALFRED IMMIGRATED BACK TO CANADA IN 1951 WITH THE HELP OF ONE OF THE FARMERS HE HAD BEFRIENDED WHILE HERE AND BECAME A FARMER NEAR PICTURE BUTTE. SEE COLLECTIONS DONATION ARTIFACT/FILE P20080028000 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ALONG WITH ARCHIVAL DONATIONS BY DONOR. SEE ALSO PERMANENT FILE FOR "FROM LIBYA TO LETHBRIDGE: LIFE IN THE DESERTS", TERM PAPER WRITTEN BY U OF L STUDENT GORM HANSEN. *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

P20040008000

Acquisition Date

2004-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail