Battle of Bowmanville | |||||||
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Part of the American Theater of World War II | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Canada | 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]
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]
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
The Commando Order was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German Armed Forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summarily executed without trial, even if in proper uniforms or if they attempted to surrender. Any commando or small group of commandos or a similar unit, agents, and saboteurs not in proper uniforms who fell into the hands of the German forces by some means other than direct combat, were to be handed over immediately to the Sicherheitsdienst for immediate execution.
Operation Basalt was a small British raid conducted during World War II on Sark during the German occupation of the Channel Islands.
Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately 75 km (47 mi) east of Toronto, and 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a town in 1858, but later incorporated with the neighbouring townships of Clarke and Darlington in 1974 forming the Town of Newcastle, which was renamed in 1994 to the Municipality of Clarington. Bowmanville is part of the Greater Toronto Area.
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The Bowmanville POW camp also known as Camp 30 was a Canadian-run POW camp for German soldiers during World War II located in the community of Bowmanville, Ontario in Clarington, Ontario, Canada. In September 2013, the camp was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
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The Veterans Guard of Canada was a citizen militia supporting the Canadian Army during the Second World War, tasked with defending mainland Canada. They were modelled after the British Home Guard.