There were German POW’s at both Fawcett Lake and Chisholm Mills. They had arrived from the main Lethbridge Camp in the winter of 1943. By the remembrances of the local old timers they were treated well and for the most part happy, but the fact remained that they were prisoners.
Longing for freedom, a German Air Force Officer named Klaus Conrad, escaped with a comrade from the Wainwright Camp. They made their way 450 km to the POW camp at Fawcett Lake where the prisoners hid them for several days. Soon, however, they heard that the police were on their tail and began the overland trek of 60 km to Chisholm, where a second set of prisoners were being held.
They were welcomed here and were hidden until a specially loaded freight car could send them on their way. They made a harrowing journey to the US where they were arrested because mistaken identity of a pocket watch.