Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BATTLEDRESS BLOUSE

Date Range From

1942

Date Range To

1945

Materials

WOOL, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Height

48.0

Length

74.0

Width

22.0

Description

BATTLEDRESS BLOUSE, GREEN-BROWN WOOL WITH COLLAR, TWO CHEST POCKETS, AND GREEN-BROWN PATCHES ON BOTH UPPER ARMS READING, "CANADA." BUILT-IN BELT WITH METAL BUCKLE ALONG WAISTLINE OF BLOUSE. WHITE TAG ON RIGHT PROPER INSIDE OF BLOUSE READS, "BATTLE DRESS BLOUSES SERGE, SIZE NO. 12, TIP TOP TAILORS LTD."

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

BLOUSE UNIFORM OWNED AND WORN BY DOUGLAS JAMES WILSON. BORN IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, IN 1926, WILSON JOINED THE CANADIAN ARMY IN APPROXIMATELY 1942. PRIOR TO HIS EMBARKATION OVERSEAS WITH AN INFANTRY REGIMENT, WILSON WAS STRANDED IN POOR WEATHER WHILE ON LEAVE AND, CONSEQUENTLY, DEVELOPED PLEURISY AND PNEUMONIA. HIS TREATMENT REQUIRED THREE MONTHS OF HOSPITALIZATION AND HE WAS NEVER ABLE TO REJOIN HIS UNIT. FOLLOWING HIS REHABILITATION, HE WAS POSTED TO P.O.W. CAMP 133 IN LETHBRIDGE TO ASSIST IN THE GUARDING OF OVER TEN THOUSAND GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR. THIS UNIFORM WAS WORN BY WILSON DURING HIS GUARD WORK. WILSON PASSED AWAY IN AUGUST, 2002, AT AGE 76. FOR DONATION CONTEXT INFO ON THIS P.O.W. CAMP 133-RELATED OBJECT, SEE P20080033001 AND ITS PERMANENT RECORD. *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

P20080033018

Acquisition Date

2008-11

Collection

Museum

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