Battle of Bowmanville
Battle of Bowmanville | |||||||
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Part of World War II | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
Veteran's 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, 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]
The camp residents 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 Veteran's 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. 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.[2]
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.[3] 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.[5]
References
- ↑ "Behind barbed wire in Canadian PoW camps - CBC Archives". Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Prisoners: Battle of Bowmanville". Time Magazine. 26 October 1942. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ↑ "An insult to our military history". Toronto Sun. 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Prisoners: Battle of Bowmanville". Time Magazine. 26 October 1942. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ↑ "Behind barbed wire in Canadian PoW camps - CBC Archives". Retrieved 2018-06-29.
Coordinates: 43°55′37″N 78°40′00″W / 43.92694°N 78.66667°W