Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BOARD- PRISONER OF WAR

Date Range From

1944

Date Range To

1946

Materials

WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Height

2.2

Length

43.1

Width

42.7

Description

SQUARE WOODEN CHESS BOARD HINGED IN THE CENTRE. CHECKERBOARD PATTERN IN A LIGHT AND A DARK SHADE OF STAINED WOOD PIECES. WHEN FOLDED IN HALF, BOARD FASTENS WITH A HOOK AROUND A SMALL NAIL HEAD. CORNERS WORN, BACK IS COVERED WITH LIGHT BROWN PAPER. BOTTOM MARKED IN INK "DEL PATCHING". BOARD WAS TREATED BY CONSERVATOR DAVID DALEY ON 9 APRIL 2008. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TREATMENT, PLEASE REFER TO PERMANENT FILE.

Subjects

GAME

Historical Association

MILITARY

LEISURE

History

DONOR PURCHASED ITEMS FROM A POW WORKING AT THE LETHBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION DURING WORLD WAR TWO. DONOR WORKED AT THE FARM IN 1946, WHEN POWS WERE ALSO HIRED AS LABOURERS DURING THE LABOUR SHORTAGE. DONOR PURCHASED CHESS SET FROM A YOUNG GERMAN MAN WHO HE WOULD PLAY CHESS WITH ON THEIR WORK BREAKS. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE P19980013002-GA. *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

P19980013003

Acquisition Date

1998-03

Collection

Museum

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