Eaton Internment Camp
Encyclopedia
Although short-lived, the Eaton Internment Camp was one of twenty-six official internment
facilities created in Canada to accommodate prisoners of war during the period 1914-20. It was the only facility of its kind in the province of Saskatchewan
.
Under the War Measures Act
(1914), 8,579 enemy aliens — nationals of countries at war with Canada — were interned in Canada during World War I
as prisoners of war. Primarily immigrant settlers of Ukrainian
origin, they were sent to prisoner of war camps—most located in the Canadian hinterland—where they would work on government public projects as military conscript labour. Toward the end of the war however, the majority of internees were conditionally released to industry, the result of the growing labour shortage. This led to some camps being dismantled, others consolidated, as well as to the relocation of those internees considered undesirable.
As part of this relocation process, sixty-five internees were sent in October 1918 to an internment facility at Munson, Alberta where they laboured on the railway. However the outbreak of the 1918 flu pandemic (Spanish Influenza) and disciplinary issues forced the relocation of the Munson camp. On February 25, 1919, the internees were removed to a hastily constructed camp on the site of the railway siding at Eaton, Saskatchewan. It was thought that the move would placate the inmate population. It had little effect. Growing resistance among the internees and lack of confidence in the military guard prompted authorities to abandon the Eaton siding location for more secure facilities. On March 21, twenty-four days after the facility was initially established, the internees were transported by rail to a military installation at Amherst, Nova Scotia where they were to be processed for deportation. The Eaton Internment Camp was dismantled shortly after that.
The site of the original camp is on the grounds of the present-day Saskatchewan Railway Museum
, situated at the junction of Highway 60 and the Canadian National Railway, four kilometers southwest of Saskatoon. In 2005, as part of a national campaign to seek official acknowledgement and redress for the World War I internment of Ukrainians and others, the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage
, an academic unit at the University of Saskatchewan
, in association with the Saskatchewan Railway Museum commissioned and unveiled on the original site a bronze and tindal-stone memorial. The monument entitled “Fortitude” was sculpted by Saskatchewan artist Grant McConnell.
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
facilities created in Canada to accommodate prisoners of war during the period 1914-20. It was the only facility of its kind in the province of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
.
War Measures Act
The War Measures Act was a Canadian statute that allowed the government to assume sweeping emergency powers in the event of "war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended"...
(1914), 8,579 enemy aliens — nationals of countries at war with Canada — were interned in Canada during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as prisoners of war. Primarily immigrant settlers of Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
origin, they were sent to prisoner of war camps—most located in the Canadian hinterland—where they would work on government public projects as military conscript labour. Toward the end of the war however, the majority of internees were conditionally released to industry, the result of the growing labour shortage. This led to some camps being dismantled, others consolidated, as well as to the relocation of those internees considered undesirable.
As part of this relocation process, sixty-five internees were sent in October 1918 to an internment facility at Munson, Alberta where they laboured on the railway. However the outbreak of the 1918 flu pandemic (Spanish Influenza) and disciplinary issues forced the relocation of the Munson camp. On February 25, 1919, the internees were removed to a hastily constructed camp on the site of the railway siding at Eaton, Saskatchewan. It was thought that the move would placate the inmate population. It had little effect. Growing resistance among the internees and lack of confidence in the military guard prompted authorities to abandon the Eaton siding location for more secure facilities. On March 21, twenty-four days after the facility was initially established, the internees were transported by rail to a military installation at Amherst, Nova Scotia where they were to be processed for deportation. The Eaton Internment Camp was dismantled shortly after that.
The site of the original camp is on the grounds of the present-day Saskatchewan Railway Museum
Saskatchewan Railway Museum
The Saskatchewan Railway Museum is a railway museum located west of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the intersection of the Pike Lake Highway and the Canadian National Railway tracks...
, situated at the junction of Highway 60 and the Canadian National Railway, four kilometers southwest of Saskatoon. In 2005, as part of a national campaign to seek official acknowledgement and redress for the World War I internment of Ukrainians and others, the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage
Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage
The Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage is an academic unit of St Thomas More College, a liberal arts college federated with the University of Saskatchewan...
, an academic unit at the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
, in association with the Saskatchewan Railway Museum commissioned and unveiled on the original site a bronze and tindal-stone memorial. The monument entitled “Fortitude” was sculpted by Saskatchewan artist Grant McConnell.
Sources
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Canadian_internment
- Bohdan Kordan, Enemy Aliens, Prisoners of War: Internment in Canada during the Great War. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002.
- Bohdan Kordan and Craig Mahovsky, A Bare and Impolitic Right: Internment and Ukrainian-Canadian Redress. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004.
- http://www.stmcollege.ca/historic_site.html