Amherst Internment Camp, Virtual Reward 4.0
The Amherst internment camp in Nova Scotia was the largest such camp in Canada during the First World War, with a maximum capacity of about 850 men. In total, there were 24 internment camps and receiving stations across the country. While most camps housed “enemy aliens, the majority of internees at Amherst were German prisoners of war. This included hundreds of German sailors from the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which was sunk by a British cruiser in 1915. Its most famous internee, however, was Russian socialist Leon Trotsky, who was held prisoner at Amherst in April 1917.
The old Malleable Iron Foundry on the corner of Hickman and Park Streets became the home of the Camp. The vacant factory had several large buildings and was close to the rail line. Today the site is home to the Casey Concrete plant. A number of years ago, a group of Ukrainians laid a memorial plaque at the Casey site. Ukrainians were the next largest group of people that were interned at the camp. The camp was also made up individuals who were immigrants with a German, Ukrainian, Croatian, or Russian background.
The prisoners at the Amherst internment camp were housed in a building just over 400 m long and 30 m wide. The camp also included a hospital, a medical inspection room, officers’ quarters, soldiers’ barracks (265 guards were needed to staff the camp), a recreation room, a mess hall and washrooms.
Those that died in the Amherst Camp were buried in the local Amherst cemetery. Then in 1970 they were disinterred and their remains sent to Kitchener Ontario for burial along with all prisoners of war remains from across the Country. A monument was erected in the Amherst Cemetery with the names of 11 men of the 13 men who died in the camp.
To claim the Virtual Reward, post a picture of yourself and/or an object with the front or back of the monument that list the names of the men who died at the camp with your log. Inappropriate pictures or no pictures will result in logs being deleted.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.