Detention of Second World War Military Prisoners of War and of Enemy Aliens Sent to Canada from Great Britain National Historic Event

Marathon, Ontario
Prisoners of war at Camp 133, Lethbridge, Alberta. All prisoners had large red circles on the backs of their clothing and a red stripe down the pant leg © Fooks, Prairie Prisoners, 60
Prisoners of war at Camp 133
© Fooks, Prairie Prisoners, 60
Prisoners of war at Camp 133, Lethbridge, Alberta. All prisoners had large red circles on the backs of their clothing and a red stripe down the pant leg © Fooks, Prairie Prisoners, 60Members of the Veterans Guard of Canada at Camp 70, Fredericton, New Brunswick © Jones, Both Sides of the WireGerman officers of the Third Reich at Camp 30 Bowmanville, Ontario, 1942 © Lynn Philip Hodgson, “Camp 30, Canada’s historic jewel saved?”
Address : Neys Provincial Park, Marathon, Ontario

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 2011-07-19
Dates:
  • 1940 to 1947 (Significant)

Other Name(s):
  • Detention of Second World War Military Prisoners of War and of Enemy Aliens Sent to Canada from Great Britain  (Designation Name)
Research Report Number: 1986-033, 2009-091

Importance: Important element of Canada's contribution to the Allied war effort and defence strategy

Plaque(s)


Existing plaque: Neys Provincial Park Former Camp 100, Neys Provincial Park, Marathon, Ontario

From 1940 to 1947, Canada detained some 34,000 German combatants, Great Britain’s civilian internees, and enemy merchant mariners in 26 permanent camps and hundreds of smaller work camps across the country. This internment at the request of the British government was important to the Allied war effort, as it kept these men far from the battle zones. At camps like the one here at Neys, detainees provided non-military labour in essential sectors such as agriculture and forestry. Canada’s humane treatment of military prisoners was favourably noted internationally and prompted hundreds of former prisoners to immigrate after the war.