POW camp to be preserved

[DNO]

Camp 30 was used for German POW's in the Second World War. It is located east of Toronto near the town of Bowmanville. I've gone to the site a few times. A developer bought the property a few years ago and the site was threatened with demolition.

The local council finally realized what it had and has acted to save at least part of the camp. Though happy to hear the news, I was saddened to see the photo attached to the article in the link. Last time I was there, about 4 years ago, there was no graffiti and all the windows were still intact. The vandalism in the last few years is shocking

www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/07/16/historic-pow-site-in-ontario-to-get-new-lease-on-life.html

 

[p51]

Wow, brick buildings. All the ones here in the US were plywood and tarpaper, which is why almost none of those buildings exist today.

 

[scotrace]

It looks like they were built for another purpose before they were switched to POW housing, thus the sturdier construction.

 

[AmateisGal]

It looks like they were built for another purpose before they were switched to POW housing, thus the sturdier construction.

If the camps in Canada were anything like the ones in the US, then a lot of unused/abandoned buildings were repurposed for housing the POWs, especially branch camps, i.e. work camps set up in locations away from the main camps so towns could use POWs as laborers. And like p51 said above, those built from the ground up (the main camps) were made of tar paper and plywood.

It's really a shame not more of these POW camps were preserved, but after the war, lumber was at a premium and thus, the wood from the camps was used for other purposes.

 

[scotrace]

And perhaps there was a desire to erase the memories of the war from sight?

 

[AmateisGal]

And perhaps there was a desire to erase the memories of the war from sight?

Perhaps, but I've never run across anyone who held that point of view. It was a "the war is over, we've got things to do" mentality instead. I never have had a person tell me they were glad they were demolished. In fact, everyone I've spoken to or who have talked to me after one of my speaking engagements has very fond memories of the POWs.

 

[p51]

I think it was 1996 or 97, I went to this training base and saw several plywood shacks: http://www.samhouston.army.mil/bullistraining/ I was told that they'd housed German and Italian POWs in WW2. I bet that was great for the morale for the Air Force and Army personnel who used them in modern times. But I do wonder if any of them exist today...

 

[DNO]

The site was a school for 'not quite delinquent' boys from 1927 until it was converted to a POW camp in 1941. That accounts for the more solid construction. There were plenty of other camps that were just plywood and canvas. I believe the three story structure in the centre was used for the most senior POWs, including Generals Ravenstein and Schmitt as well as the U-Boat captain, Otto Kretschmer. All-in-all, over 800 German officers, many of very senior rank, were held there. It's an interesting place and I'm glad they're finally going to act to save it.

 

[DNO]

I dug out a book on Camp 30 that I found a while ago. It was privately printed in 1989. The building in the centre of the photo was actually the mess hall and it's where the prisoners barricaded themselves during the so-called 'Battle of Bowmanville'.

 

[Monsoon]

I think it was 1996 or 97, I went to this training base and saw several plywood shacks: http://www.samhouston.army.mil/bullistraining/ I was told that they'd housed German and Italian POWs in WW2. I bet that was great for the morale for the Air Force and Army personnel who used them in modern times. But I do wonder if any of them exist today...

Splinter City at Sheppard AFB, TX.

There were wooden barracks that were used during the Korean War. I know that in the early 1980s, they were still using them for Airmen with the comment, "We'll be tearing these down any time now and putting up new barracks."

Meanwhile, in the 1990s, they were still being used for Medical Officers going thru their "Charm School".

 

[MisterCairo]

I know Bowmanville as the place as a kid where we got our Afghan hound puppy, Tara, from, there was a breeder there in the early 70s, and as the largest part now of "Clarington", the amalgamated municipality growing east of Toronto.

Funny that there is a great piece of Second World War history right there!