Battle of Bowmanville
Part of the American Theater of World War II
Date October 10–12, 1942 Location Camp 30 in Bowmanville, Ontario 43°55′37″N 78°40′00″W / 43.92694°N 78.66667°W / 43.92694; -78.66667 Result Revolt failed
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]

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^[2]). 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.^[3]

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.^[4] Another prisoner was stabbed with a bayonet, but survived.^[5] A number of other prisoners and guards were injured during the revolt, often in hand-to-hand combat.^[6]

References