Battle of Bowmanville

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]

Many German soldiers were wounded, some severely. Fähnrich Volkmar König from U-99 was shot in the back.^[3]

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