Camp 31 - Fort Henry - Kingston, Ontario
Posted by: mTn_biKer65
N 44° 13.840 W 076° 27.595
18T E 383406 N 4898529
During World War II, Fort Henry became Camp 31, a Prisoner of War camp for enemy merchant seamen, soldiers, sailors and airmen.
Waymark Code: WMG770
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 01/23/2013
Views: 25
Fort Henry was used as a Prisoner of War Camp from 1939 to 1945. The first detainees were civilians bused from Montreal in Sept. 1939. The first guards manning the fort were soldiers from the Princess of Wales' Own Rifles, based in Kingston and living in the fort's redoubt.
In June 1940, captured merchant seamen arrived by train and were marched to the fort. Most of the roughly 600 prisoners were teenagers removed from German merchant ships. The Veterans Guard of Canada took over the watch from the Princess of Wales' Own Rifles troops in August 1940. The Veterans Guard were made up mainly of experienced veterans from the First World War.
German soldiers from the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine were also detained at Camp 31.
The POW camp closed in 1945, and its prisoners were moved to another camp in Ontario.
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