Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1942

Date Range To

1946

Materials

SILVER, METAL

No. Pieces

1

Length

17.7

Width

2

Description

STERLING SILVER BRACELET; BRACELET BANDS COMPRISED OF METAL LINKS WITH SNAP LOCK CLASP AT END OF ONE CHAIN. CENTER OF BRACELET HAS OVAL STERLING SILVER DISC WITH CREST ON FRONT OF AN EAGLE WITH OUTSTRETCHED WINGS HOLDING A CIRCLE IN ITS FEET, WITH SWASTIKA IN CENTER OF CIRCLE; FRONT HAS INSCRIPTION ON SIDES CREST “CAMP 133”. BACK OF DISC HAS INSCRIPTION “R.J. BORLAND, M2598, STERLING”. CHAINS ATTACHED TO THE CENTER DISC THROUGH HOLES IN SIDES OF DISC. CHAINS AND DISC ARE TARNISHED; INSCRIPTION TEXT ON FRONT AND BACK ARE WORN; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

ADORNMENT

Historical Association

MILITARY

History

THE BRACELET WAS CREATED AT CAMP 133, THE LETHBRIDGE PRISONER OF WAR CAMP DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THE CURATOR OF THE ROYAL ALBERTA MUSEUM’S MILITARY AND POLITICAL HISTORY DEPARTMENT NOTED IN AN EMAIL, ON THE BRACELET, THAT THE EAGLE DID NOT APPEAR TO BE AN OFFICIAL MILITARY SYMBOL. THE EAGLE WAS POSSIBLY FASHIONED BY HAND, OR CAST AS A COPY. HISTORIAN ROBERT HENDERSON ELABORATED, “NO DOUBT A PRIVATE PURCHASE BY THE GUARD—PROBABLY [BY] ROBERT BORLAND [WHO] SAW SERVICE AT LETHBRIDGE. THE NAZI SYMBOL REPRESENTS EARLY [1933+ ERA] NAZI STYLE SYMBOL, PROBABLY OBTAINED FROM A POW IN TRADE OR FRIENDSHIP. THE LETTERING ON IT [WAS] NO DOUBT DONE BY A JEWELLER WITH APPROPRIATE EQUIPMENT, NOT BY A POW WITHIN THE CAMP. WRIST BRACELETS WERE POPULAR ITEMS TO BE GIVEN TO THE GUARDS BY FAMILY OR SWEETHEARTS, OR BY FRIENDS WHEN THE GUARD WAS POSTED AWAY FROM HOME.” 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. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING A COPY OF THE OBITUARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES ON LETHBRIDGE CAMP 133, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20150021000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20150021000

Acquisition Date

2015-06

Collection

Museum

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