Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

ARMY MEDS... FASTBALL

Date

1946

Materials

FELT, COTTON, PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

16.9

Width

13.4

Description

PATCH, SHIELD SHAPED, GREY. DEPICTS MAN IN BASEBALL UNIFORM ABOUT TO THROW A PITCH IN YELLOW. A SMALLER RED SHIELD DEPICTS A SNAKE ON A ROD WITH A KING'S CROWN FLANKED BY MAPLE LEAVES IN YELLOW. MARKED, "ARMY MEDS, LETHBRIDGE 1946, ROYAL CANADIAN, ARMY MEDICAL CORPS, FASTBALL" BACK OF PATCH IS PEELING OFF. ROUND, ORANGE STICKER ADHERED TO BACK MARKED "25.-"

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

SPORTS

MILITARY

History

ACCORDING TO KEVIN MACLEAN, THE BADGE WAS DISCOVERED, "ON 3 APRIL 2010 AS PART OF HIS ATTENDANCE AT AN EASTER MILITARIA/FIREARM SHOW AT THE STAMPEDE GROUNDS IN CALGARY. HE PAID $25 FOR THE BADGE FROM ONE OF THE SHOW'S DEALERS. ON RETURN HOME, HE FOUND A BASEBALL-RELATED REFERENCE TO THE "ARMY MEDICOS" IN THE 1946 LETHBRIDGE HERALD. THE REFERENCE ATTRIBUTES THE TEAM'S MEMBERSHIP TO "THE LOCAL POW CAMP." FOR MORE 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.

Catalogue Number

P20100020001

Acquisition Date

2010-05

Collection

Museum

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