The story of Camp Wainwright

A German POW camp in a former Alberta National Park

In 1909, Buffalo National Park opened near Wainwright, Alberta to provide a place to protect the last of the great bison herds of the North American Prairies. It was one of several parks created by the federal government to regenerate the herds.

These regeneration parks included Wawaskesy National Park, Nemiskam National Park (both in Alberta), and Menissawok National Park in Saskatchewan.

A total of 700 plains bison were bought from the Flathead Reservation in Montana and transported by train to Buffalo National Park. For the next 31 years, the park produced 40,000 bison to help rebuild the species.

When the national park closed in 1940, the land was leased to the Department of National Defence by the Alberta Government. For the next five years, it was used as a storage facility and training camp.

In October 1944, the Department of National Defence received reports that there was to be an escape from Camp 44 near Montreal and Camp 130 near Calgary. The decision was made to move POWs to a secure camp that was far from cities and where the prisoners could be monitored closely. Since the training camp near Wainwright was now vacant, it was chosen to be the new location.