Bowmanville POW camp

The Bowmanville POW camp was one of the most significant German prisoner-of-war facilities in North America, holding around 880 German soldiers and officers in what is now Clarington, Ontario. In 1943 it became the stage for Operation Kiebitz: U-boat ace Otto Kretschmer and Lieutenant Wolfgang Heyda masterminded an elaborate tunnel escape, coordinated with a German submarine waiting off the Canadian coast to extract them. The plan ultimately failed, but it remains one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2013; today only ruins remain on the grounds.