Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

FLUGELHORN HELICON

Date

1939

Materials

BRASS, LEAD SOLDER

No. Pieces

1

Length

71.5

Diameter

44.6

Description

BRASS INSTRUMENT WITH 3 VALVES. MOUTHPIECE MISSING. SOLDER REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE TO PIPE BETWEEN MOUTHPIECE & VALVES. VALVES NOT WORKING. NUMEROUS DENTS TO TUBING. ENGRAVED: "OKH 1939" & "J. FRITZ LEHRER GRASLITZ" ON EXTERIOR OF HORN FLARE OR LIP. ALSO MARKED "OKH/1938/ FRITZ LEHRER GRASLITZ". SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

MUSICAL T&E

Historical Association

MILITARY

LEISURE

History

DONOR SAYS HORN WAS ACQUIRED FROM PRISONER OF WAR CAMP IN LETHBRIDGE AFTER W.W.II. & USED FOR A TIME IN LETHBRIDGE CITY BAND UNDER DIRECTION OF FRANK HOSEK. FLUGELHORN WAS PLAYED ACCORDING TO DONOR AS TROOPS MOVED FORWARD BY MOTORCYCLE BORN PLAYER. "OKH" INSCRIBED ON HORN IS ABREVIATION FOR MILITARY HEADQUARTERS FOR ALL GERMAN FORCES. DONOR DESCRIBED INSTRUMENT AS A "HELICON" FROM A TYPE OF INSPIRATIONAL SONG OR POEM OF MYTHOLOGY. IN OCTOBER 2007, FRANK HOSEK, THE ORIGINAL CONDUCTOR OF THE LETHBRIDGE A.C.T. JUNIOR BAND, WAS CONTACTED TO CLARIFY QUESTIONS REGARDING TWO INSTRUMENTS CLAIMED BY BOB FINDLAY TO HAVE USED BEEN BY THE BAND AND INMATES IN CAMP 133. HE STATED, “THE INSTRUMENTS WERE GIVEN TO THE ASSOCIATION OF CANADIAN TRAVELERS (A.C.T.) (WHICH), WANTED TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE (BOYS AND GIRLS) OF LETHBRIDGE. SINCE THERE WAS NO BAND IN LETHBRIDGE AT THE TIME, AND MUSIC WAS NOT TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS, THE ASSOCIATION DECIDED THAT THIS IS WHERE THEY WOULD MAKE THEIR EFFORT.” HOSEK RECALLED THAT THE INSTRUMENTS WERE LEFT BEHIND AT THE CAMP WHEN ITS INTERNEES WERE REPATRIATED BACK TO GERMANY. THE INSTRUMENTS WERE GIVEN TO THE A.C.T. BY FEDERAL AUTHORITIES PRIOR TO THE CAMP’S DISMANTLEMENT AND DEMOLITION. AN EQUIVALENT NUMBER OF INSTRUMENTS WERE ACQUIRED BY THE A.C.T. TO FORM A COMPLETE BAND – EVERYTHING, CLAIMED HOSEK, “FROM A SOUSAPHONE TO A CORNET (TRUMPET)”. HOSEK STATED THAT THE CAMP INSTRUMENTS WERE PROVIDED FOR THE PRISONERS BY THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS. THE FLUGELHORN, HE REMEMBERED CORRECTLY, WAS MADE IN GRASLITZ, GERMANY. SUCH INSTRUMENTS, HE COMMENTED, WERE “MADE IN CIRCULAR FORM” AND FIT OVER THE SHOULDERS OF THE PLAYER. THIS DESIGN ALLOWED PLAYERS THE ABILITY TO FINGER THE INSTRUMENT WITH ONE HAND WHILE, FOR EXAMPLE, STEERING A BICYCLE WITH THE OTHER. AFTER THE A.C.T. ACQUIRED THE INSTRUMENTS, IT HAD TO FIND A TEACHER AND CONDUCTOR. TO THAT END, HOSEK SAID THE ASSOCIATION ADVERTISED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND HE, HAVING JUST RETURNED FROM ACTIVE DUTY IN THE OVERSEAS, “NEEDED A JOB”. AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED BETWEEN HOSEK AND THE ASSOCIATION PERTAINING TO HIS SALARY AND HE THEREAFTER MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE TO BECOME THE BAND’S TEACHER AND CONDUCTOR. LATER, HE DECIDED TO PLACE HIS FATHER, FRANK SR., AS THE BAND’S HEAD LEADER. HOSEK, IN TURN, STARTED A BAND IN COALDALE AND PINCHER CREEK IN ADDITION TO FORMING A SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IN LETHBRIDGE, CONSISTING OF HIS PRIVATE STUDENTS. WHEN THE DUTY OF SPONSORING THE BAND BECAME TOO HEAVY A BURDEN FOR THE A.C.T., THE BAND WAS TAKEN OVER AND SPONSORED BY THE KIWANIS CLUB. HIS FATHER CONTINUED ON AS THE BAND’S DIRECTOR. THE BAND’S DEMISE CAME WHEN INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC WAS INTRODUCED IN THE SCHOOLS. HOSEK BELIEVED THAT INSTRUMENTS’ DONOR, BOB FINDLAY, ”TOOK OVER LEADERSHIP OF THE BAND AFTER HIS FATHER WENT INTO RETIREMENT.” HE THOUGHT THAT THE INSTRUMENTS MAY HAVE BEEN DISCARDED AT HAMILTON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL AFTER THE BAND DISBANDED. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE OF CAMP 133 ACCORDIONS, HE RECALLED, “I HAD FOR A TIME A LARGE CLASS OF ACCORDION STUDENTS. THIS PARTICULAR INSTRUMENT YOU REFER TO MAY HAVE BEEN MIXED UP WITH ALL THE INSTRUMENTS.” PLEASE REFER TO PERMANENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION. *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

P19900049001

Acquisition Date

1990-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail