Battle of Bowmanville

Last updated
Battle of Bowmanville
Part of the American Theater of World War II
DateOctober 10–12, 1942
Location 43°55′37″N78°40′00″W / 43.92694°N 78.66667°W / 43.92694; -78.66667
Result Revolt failed
Belligerents
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Units involved
Veterans Guard of Canada
Canadian Army cadet commandos
126 German POWs
Casualties and losses
1 Veteran's Guard injured Several wounded

The Battle of Bowmanville was a 1942 revolt in the Bowmanville prisoner of war camp (Camp 30) in Ontario, Canada. The prisoners, most of whom were higher-ranking German officers, objected to the intended shackling of 100 prisoners. The battle lasted for three days. [1] [2]

Revolt

The residents of Camp 30 were mostly Germans captured by the British and sent to Canada for internment in anticipation of a potential invasion of Britain. They were guarded by the Veterans Guard of Canada. The violence began after 126 prisoners were sent to another camp to be shackled as a reprisal for the chaining of Canadian soldiers captured at Dieppe (itself a reaction to captured plans for the shackling of German POWs [3] ). After a period of hand-to-hand fighting, during which one Canadian guard had his skull fractured, 400 prisoners barricaded themselves in a hall. They remained there for over a day while the guards awaited reinforcements. A group of students at a nearby commando course in Kingston, Ontario arrived on Canadian Thanksgiving, subduing the barricaded prisoners with fire hoses and tear gas. [4]

Three shots were fired during the revolt, two of which wounded PoW Volkmar Koenig, shot by a tower guard after prisoners grabbed a Canadian officer. [5] Another prisoner was stabbed with a bayonet, but survived. [4] A number of other prisoners and guards were injured during the revolt, often in hand-to-hand combat. [1] [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Behind barbed wire in Canadian PoW camps". CBC Archives. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 Durflinger, Serge (27 October 2023). "To war once more". Legion Magazine.
  3. Turcotte, Jean-Michel (January 2018). "Bowmanville, 1942: The 'Shackling Crisis' and the Treatment of German Prisoners of War in Canada". Online Atlas on the History of Humanitarianism and Human Rights.
  4. 1 2 "Prisoners: Battle of Bowmanville". Time . 26 October 1942. Archived from the original on 14 October 2010.
  5. "An insult to our military history". Toronto Sun . 10 November 2014.