A Truly Ambivalent Collaboration: Canadian-British Wartime Relations and German Prisoners of War, 1940–1945

Abstract

During the Second World War, 34,000 German prisoners of war (POWs) were detained in Canada on behalf of the British government. Quickly, the detention of enemy soldiers on Canadian territory caused tensions between the two Commonwealth Allies, which influenced their collaboration on war captivity. Using Canadian and British archival material, this article examines how different authorities in Ottawa and London handled the German POWs issue. It argues that ambivalence between the two countries drove their relations on war captivity. Transatlantic co-operation was primarily shaped by the promotion of national interests of both nations, as well as their acceptance of mutual support. On the one hand, the Canadian government used this issue to clearly affirm the national sovereignty of Canada. On the other hand, British authorities refrained from including Canadians in the decision-making process and tried to impose their policies on the Dominion. The research shows that Ottawa often refused to follow London’s directives and preferred to adopt its own positions concerning enemy prisoners according to what they defined as national interests. However, the Canadian approach did not mean a rejection of Commonwealth unity. Thus, the German POWs issue reflected the complexity of Ottawa-London wartime relations.