Historica Canada Education Portal

This activity is based on exploring the role of Camp X during the Second World War. Camp X was a secret spy training school located on the Whitby-Oshawa border in Ontario. The camp trained hundreds of allied secret agents for working behind enemy lines.

Based on Howard Gardner's theories on multiple intelligences, this activity gives students a choice on how they wish to present the information they have researched, and also to showcase their particular intelligence.

Commonly known as Camp X, the paramilitary training installation was officially known by various names: S 25 -1 -1 by the RCMP, Project-J by the Canadian military, and STS-103 (Special Training School 103) by the SOE (Special Operations Executive), a branch of the British MI-6.

It was established 6 December 1941, on the border of Whitby/Oshawa, Ontario, Canada through the British Security Co-Ordination (BSC) and the Government of Canada.

The BSC’s chief, Sir William Stephenson, was a Canadian from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and a close confidant of the British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, who had instructed him to create "the clenched fist that would provide the knockout blow" to the Axis powers. One of Stephenson’s successes was Camp X.

The Camp was first opened for the purpose of training American COI (forerunner to the CIA) agents who would be dropped in behind enemy lines as spies and saboteurs at a time when the U.S. was forbidden by an Act of Congress to be involved in the Second World War. One of the unique features of Camp X was Hydra. Given its name by its operators, Hydra was the most sophisticated telecommunications centre of its time and was instrumental in coding/decoding information vital to the allied war effort.

The Camp was an excellent location for the transfer of code due to the topography of the land. Lake Ontario made it an excellent site where signals would arrive distinctly and rapidly from the U.K. Hydra had direct access to Ottawa, New York, and Washington.

Camp X trained over five hundred Allied secret agents. They trained in a variety of special techniques such as silent killing, sabotage, Partisan work, recruitment methods for the resistance movement, demolition, map reading, weaponry, and Morse Code. 

Time Allowance: 1-4 hours

Procedures:
1. Library Research and Final Product:

Have students go to their school library and do research on Camp X. This multiple intelligence activity gives students a choice on how to present the information they have researched and lets them showcase their particular talents (see attached worksheet below).

Students will be required to collect 4 pages of handwritten notes and include at least 4 sources in the bibliography which includes at least two electronic sources. They will take home their information and create a portfolio which includes work from four different areas. They have five intelligence categories to choose from: logical, intrapersonal, linguistic, spatial/visual and musical/rhythmic.

More information about this activity is provided in the attached worksheet.

Optional Extensions:

Field Trip: Take a trip to Oshawa, Ontario and visit the many sights pertaining to World War Two.

Robert Stuart Aeronautical Collection and Camp X Exhibit:

See the largest collection of Camp X artifacts in the world!
Oshawa Airport South Field, 1000 Stevenson Rd. N., Oshawa, ON. L1J 5P5 Tel. 905-436-6325

Oshawa Military Museum: 

Artifacts from 1812-1945 and the largest collection of working military vehicles in Canada!
Oshawa Airport South Field, 1000 Stevenson Rd. N., Oshawa, ON. L1J 5P5 Tel. 905- 728-6199

Camp X monument and the remains of Camp X at Intrepid Park:

Visit the mural dedicated to Camp X and Oshawa’s impressive War Memorial on Simcoe Street at Memorial Park.

Parkwood Estate and Gardens:

The home of Colonel Sam McLaughlin.
270 Simcoe Street North, Oshawa, ON. L1G 4T5
Tel. 905-433-4311

Guest Speaker:

Invite a guest speaker to your school. Contact The Memory Project to find out if there are any veterans in your area to visit your classroom and speak about Canada's military history. 

Durovecz, Andrew. My Secret Mission. Toronto: Lugus Publications, 1996.

Gardner, Howard. How Kids are Smart: Multiple Intelligences in the Class. 1995.

Gelleny, Joseph. Almost. Port Perry: Blake Books Distribution, 2000.

Hodgson, Lynn Phillip. Inside - Camp X. Port Perry: Blake Books Distribution, 1999, 2002.