"The Canadian Bush"

"In the name of all the wood-cutters, I would convey greetings to you and the entire camp. We find ourselves in the midst of the Canadian bush here, in the so-called Riding Mountain National Park. There is no barbed wire here, but instead a definite boundary has been set by red markings on trees. The woods principally leaf, and partly mixed. The ground is slightly hilly and swampy in part.” - Camp Spokesman Leo Manuel, November, 1944.

Among my interests is looking at how the PoWs reacted to and interacted with the environment that surrounded them. Most, if not all, of the PoWs had been captured in the North African desert in 1941 and 1942 and, after a brief internment in Egypt, had been sent to North America. First interned at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, they were moved to the vast Albertan prairie at camps in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. A year or two after their capture, these men were now working in the middle of the Canadian "bush."

Camp medical staff outside of one of the camp buildings.
Note the elk antlers above the door as well as the black bear and dogs.

Free to roam through the immediate area around the camp, PoWs looked to their surroundings in different ways. Among the first, and most popular, activities was hiking through the bush. Though the PoWs were quickly introduced to the dangers of wandering through the bush in the late fall (19 PoWs got lost and were introduced to the Manitoba winter), the continued their wandering until the camp closed in 1945.

Manuel also stated that the area was abundant with game, including wolves, deer, elk, bears, and moose. While some PoWs simply enjoyed listening to the elks bugling and the wolves howling, others picked up antlers shed by deer, elk, and moose as souvenirs. It was not long before nearly every building in the camp featured some form of antlers hanging above the entrances.

Whether PoWs were canoeing in their hand-made dugout canoes, playing with the camp bear, or getting lost while hiking around Whitewater Lake, the "wilderness" defined their experiences and drastically changed the way they thought about Canada and wartime internment. This will be my next project as I return to school in the fall.

Sixty-Eight Years Ago...
March 13, 1944

On this day, tragedy struck the prisoners at the Riding Mountain Labour Project. With cooler temperatures and strong winds, the camp spokesman, Leo Manuel, conferred with his men and decided that the weather was too bad for the prisoners to work. When bringing this up with the camp commander, Colonel James, his request was denied by a visiting officer from the Department of Labour. This officer, Colonel Fordham, ordered the prisoners to work. When Manuel and the prisoners protested this decision, Fordham threatened that if the prisoners did not work, Manuel and his staff would be transferred, canteen privileges would be denied, and a particularly elaborate dessert prepared by the kitchen staff would be cancelled. Under these conditions, Manuel reluctantly ordered his men to work.

While the weather report stated that the temperatures were not overly cold for this time of year and the winds were not particularly strong enough to cause concern, it is needless to say that while cutting down trees, excessive wind was a cause for concern.

Max Neugebauer, who had just celebrated his thirty-third birthday a week before, was one of the men ordered out for work. Married with a wife and family in Munich, Neugebauer had been captured in North Africa like the majority of his comrades.

While cutting down a tree with another prisoner, a sudden gust of wind arose, blowing the falling tree in their direction. Unable to move in time, Neugebauer was struck him on the head, rendering him unconscious, while the other prisoner suffered minor injuries. Taken immediately to the camp hospital, Dr. Fritjof Gress recommended that he be taken to the Dauphin hospital. Escorted by members of the Veterans Guard, Neugebauer was admitted to the Dauphin hospital the same evening.

For three days, Neugebauer remained unconscious. He was never to regain consciousness as in the morning of March 16, 1944, he died of his injuries.

On March 18, 1944, a service was held in Dauphin's St. Viator's Church, attended by a small number of prisoners and members of the Veterans Guard of Canada. His body was buried in the Riverside Cemetery and the Veterans Guard escort fired a salute. A cross handmade by his comrades was placed at the head of the grave.

Manuel had the unfortunate duty of sending a telegram to Neugebauer's wife informing her of the news.

For almost thirty years, Neugebauer's grave stood in stark contrast to those interred around it. In 1970, as part of a program to relocate German PoWs who had died in Canada, his remains were exhumed and relocated to the Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener, Ontario. He remains there to this day alongside 186 of his comrades who died in Canada in the First and Second World War.

For more information on the Woodland Cemetery, check out this article.

Der Lagerführer

One hundred and seventy-five Canadians were employed at the labour camp in Riding Mountain but this number still left a wide variety of occupations open. To fill the gaps, the Canadian officials turned to the PoWs for their assistance in running the camp. Of the 440 PoWs that arrived in October 1943, roughly 400 of them were assigned bush work while the remaining forty were to assist in the day-to-day operation of the camp. One of these men was Leo Manuel.

Stabsfeldwebel Leo Manuel, was the one of the highest-ranking PoWs at the Riding Mountain Park Project. Like the majority of his comrades, Manuel was likely captured in North Africa in the early forties and had been transferred to camps in Ozada and Medicine Hat, Alberta. Relatively little is known about Manuel before he arrived at Riding Mountain but his high rank would soon provide him with an unique opportunity.

The vast majority of German PoW camps in Canada had some form of a German administration in the camp. Each of these camps had a camp leader or spokesman who was responsible for maintaining discipline within the camp, negotiating with the Canadians, and communicating with International Aid Organizations. However, many of these administrative groups were self-appointed and composed of hard-core Nazis determined to ensure that Nazism remained strong among the PoWs.

Orderly, IRC Delegate, Unknown, and Manuel outside Orderly Room

Leo Manuel was selected to serve as the Lagerführer, or camp leader, at Riding Mountain. His allegiance is unknown to me but he was well respected by the majority of the PoWs under his command. Only a few prisoners, mostly pro-Nazis, criticized Manuel and his actions as they believed he was too friendly with the Canadian officials and agreed with many of their demands.

Manuel's work would have been conducted from the camp orderly room (seen in the picture) where he and his staff remained in constant communication with organizations like the International Red Cross, the YMCA, and the Swiss General Consul. In addition, Manuel was instructed by the Spokesman at Medicine Hat to write monthly reports on the happenings at Riding Mountain. Manuel served as an intermediary between the PoWs and the Canadians, negotiating requests with Colonel James.

Manuel would remain the Camp Spokesman until, following disagreements with the Lt. Col. Fordham, the officer in charge of PoW Labour Projects, he resigned in May 1944.