Camp Wainwright

The history of the area known as Camp Wainwright goes back many years before the arrival of the Army. For centuries, the great herds of buffalo, elk and antelope roamed, following closely by nomadic tribes of Plains Indians, chiefly Blackfoot and Cree. There are, in fact, some Indian hunting campsites (near Chap Hill) within the Camp boundaries, which remain for future archaeologists. However the best-known incident occurred in 1909, when the Wainwright Buffalo Herd we established in Buffalo National Park, the boundary of which coincided almost exactly to that of the Camp today.

Upon possession of the Buffalo National Park by Department of National Defense (DND) in 1940, it was converted to a training establishment for the Canadian Army, and became known as Camp Wainwright. In 1945-1946, the Camp was used, as a prisoner of was facility where over 1,000 German Officers were interned. Camp Wainwright has been extensively developed over the years and is now one of the primary training areas in Canada, regularly hosting international excersises. The town site at Camp Wainwright, located adjacent to the Town of Wainwright, is named Denwood after James Dawson’s original town site.

On the 8th of July 1940, a little less than one year after the closure of Buffalo National Park, Dr. Middlemass, then the Mayor of Wainwright, traveled to Ottawa and persuaded the Department of National Defense to take over the vacant park as a military training area. In 1941, the first troops arrived to establish a permanent camp. Camp Wainwright was used extensively by 6th Infantry Division, including the Kisks Force (Aleutions) throughout 1943 - 1944.

Throughout this period, all troops were quartered under canvas. In 1944, it was decided to site a POW Camp here, and in December 1944, the first of some 1700 German Officer POW’s arrived. These German Officers remained until July 1946, during which time but two of them escaped. These two bold individuals were recaptured some weeks later, but not until they had reached Texas!

From 1946 to 1950, both the Regular Army and the Militia used the training area for training on a regular basis. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Camp Wainwright was used to train 25th Infantry Brigade - Canada’s Army commitment to the UN’s Commonwealth Contingent. It was at this time in 1952, that the first large scale building project for Camp was launched and the basic Camp layout established as it is today. There were two further phases of development planned, but these were cancelled in favor of building Camp Gagetown.

Since the Korean War, the Camp has remained the main training area in the West for the Canadian Army. Today, Camp Wainwright with it’s 609 square kilometers and 25 weapon ranges, from pistol to artillery, tank and fighter bombing, is used extensively all year round by formations and units of both the Regular Force and Militia. Indeed, it is the principle “training home” of 1st Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (LFWA). The Army is not the only beneficiary of Camp Wainwright’s training areas; Air Force squadrons of all types - high performance jets, transport aircraft, Search and Rescue units, and helicopters all use the airspace, ranges and airfields routinely. Cadets are also regular users not to mention the extensive British Army training of upwards of three Battalion groups annually using the training area over the past 20 years.

And what lies ahead? The Camp has been steadily expanding in tasking and use since 1977. Whatever Canada’s Army training needs are in the future, Camp Wainwright will meet those demands in both peace and war as she has done since 1940.

Monumental Hill displays of historical military vehicles and a POW Camp Watch Tower.

Camp Wainwright

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