Dad was a guard at Camp # 30
My father was a veteran of both world wars, having served in the Royal navy in WW1, and also as a member of the Home Guard in Canada in WW11. His duty in WW11 was as a guard in the Prisoners of War Camps, both in Nipigon and Bowmanville. He also escorted prisoners of war from Halifax to the various camps, and was the bass drummer for the regiment’s band.
During his time in Bowmanville, Camp 30, he was given 4 gifts from prisoners. Whether they were from the same prisoner or from 4 different prisoners I am not sure.
The gifts were
1. A carved wooden pencil box that was a replica of the ship he sailed and was torpedoed on during WW1 – the HMS Louvain (see a separate blog on this )
2. A hand carved marionette/puppet Santa Claus
3. A painting of a scene from the home area of one of the prisoners
4. a painting of Camp 30.
As a child at that time, I remember playing with the marionette and the pencil box. Sadly, only the one painting is to be found today – the home scene. What happened to the other painting and the ship and Santa Claus I cannot say.
The painting is a water colour and signed by the artist.
The signature is relatively clear, and it appears to be C Koeppe, POW 44.
An article in the Toronto Star, dated September 5, 2013 is titled “Fight Is On To Save Historic POW Camp”, stating that Camp 30 is declared by Heritage Canada as one of the top 10 most endangered historic sites in the country.
The two pictures are
A. The painting described above
B.Dad in Nipigon in 1943. The prisoners in this camp were cutting wood.
Note that the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them, then clicking again for very large.
My father was a veteran of both world wars, having served in the Royal navy in WW1, and also as a member of the Home Guard in Canada in WW11. His duty in WW11 was as a guard in the Prisoners of War Camps, both in Nipigon and Bowmanville. He also escorted prisoners of war from Halifax to the various camps, and was the bass drummer for the regiment’s band.
During his time in Bowmanville, Camp 30, he was given 4 gifts from prisoners. Whether they were from the same prisoner or from 4 different prisoners I am not sure.
The gifts were
1. A carved wooden pencil box that was a replica of the ship he sailed and was torpedoed on during WW1 – the HMS Louvain (see a separate blog on this )
2. A hand carved marionette/puppet Santa Claus
3. A painting of a scene from the home area of one of the prisoners
4. a painting of Camp 30.
As a child at that time, I remember playing with the marionette and the pencil box. Sadly, only the one painting is to be found today – the home scene. What happened to the other painting and the ship and Santa Claus I cannot say.
The painting is a water colour and signed by the artist.
The signature is relatively clear, and it appears to be C Koeppe, POW 44.
An article in the Toronto Star, dated September 5, 2013 is titled “Fight Is On To Save Historic POW Camp”, stating that Camp 30 is declared by Heritage Canada as one of the top 10 most endangered historic sites in the country.
The two pictures are
A. The painting described above
B.Dad in Nipigon in 1943. The prisoners in this camp were cutting wood.
Note that the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them, then clicking again for very large.
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