Documentary recounts POW camps in southern Alberta during Second World War

By Mo Cranker on November 13, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

A documentary chronicling the lives of prisoners of war in southeastern Alberta was recently released on Youtube as part of the TELUS Originals documentary series.

The film is called Secret Alberta: POWs on the Prairies and runs for 15 minutes. It was directed by Corey Lee.

“It keeps with that secret theme and it tells stories that a lot of people are unaware of,” said Lee. “It reveals that during World War Two there were four POW camps in Alberta and two in southern Alberta.

“These were two giant camps in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge and the film looks at how the prisoners impacted the communities they were in.”

Lee says the prisoners had interesting lives while living in southern Alberta.

“They had that impact and they interacted with people in the community,” he said. “It’s something like 12-15 per cent of these German POWs returned after the war and became Canadian citizens.

“Many of the prisoners have family members in the area that continue to live on in the area to this day.”

Lee was contacted by a production agency working for TELUS and he said he was excited for the opportunity.

“I felt like I was a good fit for this,” he said. “I’m a fan of the stories and the era.”

Lee says the documentary is a positive story.

“Obviously war is war, but this is a positive story,” he said. “The focus is on the camps and these were mainly conscripted soldiers captured in Africa and it tells a bit about their journey over here.

“It talks a lot about the geography of the camp and life at the camps.”

The video is 15 minutes long and can be viewed for free at — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZS-1v-kE8

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