Exploring – Camp 30, Bowmanville

Not too long ago, I decided to finally explore Bowmanville’s famous “Camp 30”. Okay, maybe not famous, but well known enough to the locals. Years earlier, my husband had peaked my interest with childhood stories of old POW tunnels and getting chased off the camp property by guard dogs.

The day I went, Camp 30 was bustling. Tons of people just milling about, walking their dogs, taking pictures. For an abandoned site, this wasn’t what I was used to.

Here's the story. Camp 30 was originally built in 1925 as a training school for delinquent boys. The school was named, “Pine Ridge Boys Training School”. Later, this school would be named in a multi-claimant lawsuit for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse against its residents.

During WWII, the property turned into a POW camp for Nazi German officers. It is said that the Canadian location was perfect for such high ranking military officers because, unlike Europe, the camp would not likely be invaded thereby allowing officers to escape back into battle.

Conditions at Camp 30 were said to be excellent. Sources describe sports facilities, movie nights, lectures from University of Toronto professors, music concerts, and even occasional leave with the promise to return. An ex-POW, Volkmar Koenig, described the camp as “paradise”. It's difficult to believe in "paradise" without freedom, however, I’m sure some prisoners saw their imprisonment as a way to avoid death through war.

Some interesting events occurred at Camp 30 throughout its years. In 1942, officials decided to shackle Camp 30 prisoners after hearing that some Allied POW's had been subject to shackling in European camps. This resulted in the Germans locking themselves in the mess hall (I believe it is the building pictured below) for 3 days where fights with hockey sticks and baseball bats ensued. How fittingly Canadian. The stand off ended with the Germans being water hosed. In 1943, Nazi officials arranged an escape plan for several German prisoners including Otto Kretschmer, a top U-Boat ace in the Nazi army. The Germans arranged for a U-Boat to pick the prisoners up on September 27, 1943, off the coast of New Brunswick. To meet their deadline, the prisoners began digging a tunnel beneath the camp. Tin cans and a crude railway system hauled the dirt out of the tunnel and into the attic of one of the camp buildings. At one point, the ceiling of the building that held the dirt collapsed, however, by this time the camp guards and the RCMP were aware of the Germans' plan and chose not to intercept. Closer to the date of escape, the RCMP finally moved in, collapsed the tunnel and seized the POW’s responsible for implementing the plan. Otto Kretschmer did not escape.

Since the war ended, Camp 30 property has been home to a reform school, a private Catholic school and, most recently, an Islamic school. The Islamic School, “Darul Uloom”, left in the fall of 2008 and the property is now slated for demolition and residential development. In the spring, 2009, one of the buildings succumbed to an arsonist's fire, as pictured below.

For more information, please see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Kretschmer;

http://huntsvilleforester.com/article/42843;

“Escape from Canada”, John Melady, and “Camp 30: Word of Honour”, Hodgson;

and, the films, “Hitler’s Canadians”, and “Escape from Canada”.

Other pics from the abandoned Camp 30:

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