Point of Interest
Pointe de Maisonette U-Boat POW Extraction
Latitude: 47.8375
Longitude: -65.003611
A plan was developed to rescue German prisoners of war being held in Camp #30 in Bowmanville, Ontario. The idea was for a group of prisoners, mainly U-boat officers, to tunnel out of the camp in autumn of 1943, and then make their way to the Bay of Chaleur, where they would to be picked up by a waiting German U-boat. In late August 1943, U-536 was despatched to Canadian waters, with orders to rendezvous with escaped German POWs at Pointe de Maisonette on 26 September. Canadian Naval Intelligence learned of the rescue plan and attempted to entrap the U-boat. A control post was set up in the Maisonette lighthouse to control the blockading ships from the Royal Canadian Navy, and shore parties patrolled along the coast. Although the mass escape from Bowmanville camp was apprehended, one German prisoner, U-boat ace Wolfgang Heyda, did manage to escape and, incredibly, made the rendezvous as planned. Heyda was recaptured on 28 September 28; however, the U-boat escaped.