Prisoner of War Camps in Northern Ontario

[Bill Krejca]

Interesting account, i believe I had read it before, very detailed.

For many years after the war, it was very common to find remnants of boom breakaway cut logs piled up along the shore at the southern end of Whitefish Bay, LOW (from the Alfred Inlet camp cuttings). The fellow (Oscar Brusven), (who was the manager of the Turtle Portage Camp, where we stayed), for years thereafter, frequently filled his boat with the logs, which he brought back and made into firewood. He was always careful to pick only logs which were on rocky shores, as the logs which had drifted onto sandy beaches were impregnated with sand, which could ruin his saw. Lots of memories.

Bill

[Yellowfin123]

i saw a documentary where a german tank commander said his time in pow camp on lotw were the best years of his life!! they could even have guns to go hunting sometimes as long as they stayed within 5 miles of camp

[fwaltman]

Sorry to post to an old thread, but I have a story on this subject.

My Grandfather worked on the Algoma Central RR during WWII. My mother used to tell us how she and her siblings would sometimes have a chocolate bar to share when none of her friends did. Turns out my Grandfather would trade with the guards at the POW camp at/near Hawk Junction who in turn would trade with the POWs, who had Red Cross Packages.

Fast forward to 2007. My father and I were sitting in a brewery in Düsseldorf, Germany (Uerige for the beer lovers) and the table we were at was reserved and the people showed up and kicked us out. An old gentleman at a nearby table waved to us and pointed at the empty chairs at his table, inviting us to join him.

He didn't speak any English and my German was pretty rudimentary but that was fine. Somehow the conversation worked around to my mother was from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He smiled and said "I've been there."

That seemed unusual but it turns out he was in the German Merchant Marine* during the war, had been captured and sent to the POW camp at Hawk Junction.

He then said in early 1945 he actually escaped from the camp and made his way to the Soo. He basically lived on the streets, begging and occasionally stealing food. After a while he tried to turn himself in at the police station but they didn't believe him. Eventually, the did but by then the war (in Europe) was over.

It just goes to show the world really is darn small

Thanks for listening...

*This is what he said. I don't know enough to know if it could be true or he was just trying to disguise that he was in the German Navy/Army.

[Carnhzkr]

Originally Posted by fwaltman

Sorry to post to an old thread, but I have a story on this subject.

My Grandfather worked on the Algoma Central RR during WWII. My mother used to tell us how she and her siblings would sometimes have a chocolate bar to share when none of her friends did. Turns out my Grandfather would trade with the guards at the POW camp at/near Hawk Junction who in turn would trade with the POWs, who had Red Cross Packages.

Fast forward to 2007. My father and I were sitting in a brewery in Düsseldorf, Germany (Uerige for the beer lovers) and the table we were at was reserved and the people showed up and kicked us out. An old gentleman at a nearby table waved to us and pointed at the empty chairs at his table, inviting us to join him.

He didn't speak any English and my German was pretty rudimentary but that was fine. Somehow the conversation worked around to my mother was from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He smiled and said "I've been there."

That seemed unusual but it turns out he was in the German Merchant Marine* during the war, had been captured and sent to the POW camp at Hawk Junction.

He then said in early 1945 he actually escaped from the camp and made his way to the Soo. He basically lived on the streets, begging and occasionally stealing food. After a while he tried to turn himself in at the police station but they didn't believe him. Eventually, the did but by then the war (in Europe) was over.

It just goes to show the world really is darn small

Thanks for listening...

*This is what he said. I don't know enough to know if it could be true or he was just trying to disguise that he was in the German Navy/Army.

Thanks for the story, fwaltman. My son and i just returned from a trip at Lost Island Lodge on the eastern side of Lac Seul. The map the lodge provided has two camps shown, one near Devils Elbow, as previously noted in this thread, and another on Lost Lake. We asked the camp owner about them and was told there's nothing remaining at either location. Interesting topic.

[Bill Krejca]

Originally Posted by Carnhzkr

Thanks for the story, fwaltman. My son and i just returned from a trip at Lost Island Lodge on the eastern side of Lac Seul. The map the lodge provided has two camps shown, one near Devils Elbow, as previously noted in this thread, and another on Lost Lake. We asked the camp owner about them and was told there's nothing remaining at either location. Interesting topic.

Pretty much nothing to see at maybe most of the sites. It is my understanding that as soon as a site was vacated, local folks helped themselves in dismantling and carrying off just about everything which could be of use. I am not saying this in a derogatory sense, as, for the most part, the government had no plans, nor funds to salvage very much; there may be some exceptions of which I am not aware. The site at Alfred Inlet, with which I am familiar, had not much of anything to identify it, when I first viewed it in the late 1940's. By 1980, or so, the only identifying mark was an absence of any taller trees, and an abundance of blueberries and poison ivy.

Bill

[Obabikon]

The one in Obabikon Lake, you can still see foundations. They basically look like 1-2' high dirt piles built in a perfect square.

[FrankLeigh]

Originally Posted by powsincanada

As I've come across a few similar posts on the topic, I hope it is okay to post this here.

I'm doing my PhD in history, looking at the lives of German PoWs and their guards employed in bush camps in Northern Ontario (and the rest of the country as well) and am hoping you can provide with some more information about camps you may have come across.

I am particularly interested in any stories you may have, photographs of the sites (old or new), and any information you might have on the locations of some of these camps. While I have hundreds of pages of documents pertaining to what happened in the camps, the locations (with the exception of the railway siding or the odd mention of a lake) were not preserved in the archives. I should mention I already have the locations of the five camps (some sources say six, but only five employed PoWs) on Lake of the Woods as well as some of those in the Regan, Minataree, and Mapgie areas.

For those you aren't aware, here's a brief history: Canada accepted its first German soldiers from the UK in 1940 and although PoWs were initially held in stereotypical PoW camps with barbed wire fences and guard towers, in 1943 the Canadian government authorized their use to help boost the lumber and agricultural areas. From 1943 to 1946, there were roughly 150 lumber and pulpwood camps scattered throughout Ontario employing thousands of German soldiers. These camps were sometimes newly built or used existing civilian lumber camps but had no barbed wire fences or guard towers - the bush was deemed enough to keep them in camp - this, however, didn't always work. Despite mosquitoes, black flies, and the Canadian winter, most enjoyed the opportunity to work in relative freedom and earn some money. In 1946, the PoWs were transferred back to the UK (and eventually to Germany) but, beginning in the 1950s, some returned as tourists or returned to settle.

That also being said, if you have any questions about PoWs in Canada or you'd like more information about camps you are familiar with, don't hesitate to ask!

If you are interested, you can read more about my research at http://www.powsincanada.wordpress.com

Mike

Several years ago (15 to 20), we were at an outfitters' on Horwood Lake, near Foleyet. One day we followed the river as far as we could to the south, to a waterfalls. Later, in talking to the outfitter, he said that there was a POW camp there during the war. Unfortunately, we did not learn of the camp until our last night, so we did not see it.
When we got home, I did some on-line research and found mention of the camp.
I guess that were dozens of POW camps across Northern Ontario.
Good luck with your research.
Frank