may have been cushy, the residents did not forget they were captive.

One attempt tells of an experience that ended with the escaping German Commander finding a local farm and asking to be taken back to Camp 30, where he said he was ‘provided a comfortable life’.

Many similar half hearted escapes of this nature (that end in asking a local to drive them back) have also been reported.

Another more elaborate escape made by prisoners Otto Kretschmer and Wolfgang Heyda was named Operation Kiebitz.

Pushed by Hitler himself to retrieve his favourite U-Boat Commanders, this attempt was known about and watched by authorities, in hopes of capturing another U-boat (& its crew) off the east coast of Canada.

The POW’s spent a long time trying to dig as far as they could(with tin cans!) in the direction of the St. Lawrence – where Hitler was to have his rescue team waiting. They ended up rising in farmland, not far from Lake Ontario.

When they surfaced, they were expected to walk, and jump trains for more than 1,400 km to the furthest reaches of the east coast to be met by said U-Boat.

Extensive tunnels were dug during this epic break out attempt, and nearly 70 years later, hidden dirt piles from the excavations were discovered in the attic of building 4, untouched for three quarters of a century.

You can read the fascinating account of this escape attempt at Wikipedia.

THE BATTLE OF BOWMANVILLE

In October of 1942, after a German ‘crank up’ in the war, 100 POW’s were asked to volunteer to be