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 During World War II, at
the request of Great Britain, the Canadian government interned close to
40,000 German and Italian Prisoners of War (POWs) across the country. The
following is a timeline of events and activities during this unique period in Canadian history.
September 10, 1939
Canada enters WWII and declares war on Germany.
December 1941
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King agrees to accept 4,000 German
POWs from North Africa.
December 7, 1941
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; the United States declares war on Japan
and enters WW II.
January 1942
At a cost of $2.3 million each, Canada builds three permanent internment
camps in Alberta capable of holding 10,000 prisoners each. A list of sites
is provided; Kananaskis (later Seebe), Medicine Hat, and Ozada (later
Lethbridge) are chosen for Internment Camps 130, 132 and 133 respectively.
Late October 1942
The Battle of El Alamein, North Africa, the source of German POWs to
Medicine Hat and Lethbridge internment camps. After stranded German troops
surrender to Australian forces, they are held first in Egypt, and then
shipped by boat to South Africa, Uruguay, Liverpool and New York, before
finally travelling by train from New York to Medicine Hat.
November 1942
By now, more than 16,000 POWs are interned in Canada. By 1943, that number
will rise to more than 21,000. By war’s end, close to 38,000 POWs are in Canadian camps, 25,000 of them in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
July 20, 1944
Operation Valkyrie, a German officer-initiated bomb plot against Adolf
Hitler, fails. The plotters are executed, and Hitler gives a speech ordering
that any soldier finding an officer to be a traitor has the right and duty
to shoot him. In September 1944, this will have repercussions for Karl
Lehmann, a POW in Internment Camp 132 in Medicine Hat.
May 7, 1945
German General Alfred Jodl travels to the Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) detachment in Rheims to seek terms for an end
to the war. At 2:41 a.m. on May 7, he signs an unconditional surrender of
German forces on all fronts, to take effect May 8 at 11:01 p.m.
August 6, 1945
The United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
August 9, 1945
The United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
August 14, 1945
Japan accepts unconditional surrender.
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“Prisoners of war shall
be subject to the laws, regulations, and orders in force in the armed forces
of the detaining Power. Any act of insubordination shall render them liable
to the measures prescribed by such laws, regulations and orders, except as
otherwise provided in this Chapter.”
—Article 45 of Chapter 3
of the Geneva Convention
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