During WW2, I heard my parents talking about a POW camp several miles east of here [Bowmanville]. They mentioned that the German prisoners were being allowed to leave the camp , & walk down to Lake Ontario & back.....unescorted.
I found this hard to believe....Quite some years later i found out that it was true!
continue on.
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"a bed of roses"
definition:
per Webster dictionary....a situation or position of ease & luxury.
per "thefreedictionary.com"...a luxurious situation, an easy life.
therefore, the phrase "a bed of roses (almost)" aptly describes life at WW2 POW camp #30 Bowmanville Ontario.
this is a non-topic for this forum.
Anyone that is not disinterested, read on!!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowmanville_POW_camp
The Bowmanville POW campCamp 30 was a Canadian-run POW camp for German soldiers during World War II located in the community of Bowmanville, Ontario in Clarington, Ontario, Canada
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https://www.camp30.ca/
below are some exerpts from above link....
"Welcome to Camp30.ca. This web site is created in hopes of increasing people's knowledge of Camp 30. Camp 30 was a Prisoner of War Camp located in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada during World War Two."
location 2020 Lambs Rd, Bowmanville, ON, L1C 4V7
Life inside the camp is far from what most people would expect inside a prisoner of war camp. The daily menu was far above what was considered normal in the Bowmanville area at that time. A sample meal plan consisted of potato salad, ham, macaroni, roast beef, potatoes, and roast pork
(it is said they lived better than most families in Bowmanville and in Germany).
The camp having been a boys school previously had many amenities that the other P.O.W. camps were without such as the indoor pool and athletic complex as well as soccer and football fields. The prisoners played many sports including Canadian football and hockey in the winter. The P.O.W.s also took it upon themselves to build a tennis court and a mini zoo
Due to the prisoners working at the Darch Farm their meals were far above the prisoner of war camp standards. Breakfasts consisted of coffee, jam and butter. Lunch could include roast beef, gravy potatoes and carrots. Dinner was made up of macaroni, ham, soup, cheese bacon, and/or tea.
The most common complaint was about the bathroom facilities as they had been built for small boys .
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Ehrenwort is a german meaning Word of Honour. This was a very important phrase within camp 30 for the following reason: if German prisoners gave their word that they would not try to escape they were permitted to leave the camp. They always returned so the prisoners of war were permitted to go swimming down at the lake [Ontario] in the summer or in the winter go cross country skiing.
https://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=Concession+Road+3&city=Bowmanville&state=ON&zipcode=L1C&country=CA&redirect=true
above link....map of Bowmanville
note the pow's route from camp 30 to Lake Ontario:
[1] use compas key to locate junction of Lambs rd & Concession St E.
[2] go west on Concession St to Liberty St
[3] go south on Liberty to Baseline....continue south to Lake Rd
[4] then Port Darlington Rd to East Beach.
[about an hours walk one way]
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on the map, hiway 401 is shown just south of the baseline.
Actually,this area of the hiway did not exist until after ww2.
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During WWII the boys camp was transformed into a Canadian-run POW camp for hundreds of captured German officers, including such notable officers as U-Boat Commanders Otto Kretschmer and Wolfgang Heyda.
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https://www.heritagecanada.org/en/issues-campaigns/top-ten-endangered/explore-past-listings/ontario/pow-camp-30
Otto Kretschmer (1912–1998) was the most successful of the World War II Aces of the Deep. ...was commander of U-35, U-23 and U-99 . He was captured in March 1941 and spent the rest of the war in the Bowmanville POW camp, Canada
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Heyda
After U-boat commander training aboard U-120, Lieutenant Commander Heyda took command of U-434 on 21 June 1941, and began his first war patrol on 11 November 1941. Near Gibraltar Heyda would become embroiled in a great convoy battle, and find himself a victim in the battle of the Atlantic. Commander Frederic John Walker, C.B. D.S.O., commander of the 36th Escort Group sank four U-boats on his first war patrol, including U-434. Heyda was eventually sent to the Bowmanville POW camp in Ontario, near Toronto, Canada
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_M%C3%BCtzelburg
from the above link, an interesting side-note....
KapitänleutnantRolf Mützelburg (23 June 1913 – 11 September 1942) was a GermanU-boat [U-203]commander during World War II .
Mützelburg died on 11 September 1942 in a freak accident. He was swimming in the Atlantic south-west of the Azores, and dove from the conning tower, but struck the deck head-first when the U-boat suddenly lurched in the swell. The supply U-boatU-462 arrived the next day with a doctor on board, but too late, and Mützelburg was buried at sea on 12 Sep 1942
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Just a side-note:
https://www.camp30.ca/
above link includes a section called "history" which includes the following information sections:
....Battle of Bowmanville
....history of bldgs
....word of honour
....escape attempts
....inside camp 30