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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years ago

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"19 Prisoners Escape Fort Henry," Kingston Whig-Standard. August 27, 1943. Page 1 & 13. ---- Capture of three German prisoners at Barriefield Camp, Ordnance Corps training centre five miles east of here, near noon today brought into custody 12 of the 19 men who tunneled their way to freedom under the wide stone walls of Fort Henry here last night.

The men - Franz Karper, 25, Kurt Kroehnert, 26, and Friedrich Schmale, 24 - were hiding in a ditch on the outskirts of camp and were found by patrolling soldiers who encountered no opposition from them.

All prisoners were N.C.O's and men, no officers having participated in the mass break.

Earlier, the recapture of two men at Seeley's Bay, 22 miles north of Kingston on the highway to Ottawa, indicated that some of those remaining at large may have made their way out of the immediate Kingston district.

(Additional stories on the escape of the 19 German prisoners-of-war from Fort Henry last night will be found on Page 2 of of The Whig-Standard.)

Their capture in a ditch by soldiers taken to the spot by a truck driver had brought the number recaptured to nine.

A thousand soldiers and city and provincial police were comb- ing Eastern Ontario for the men still at large.

Authorities at the internment camp, while refusing to give any official statement, pending a court of inquiry, were free to acknowledge that the break-out was a well planned affair and it mystified them completely.

Officially The Whig-Standard was told it was a "tunnel job," and no violence of any kind was used by the men in getting their freedom. It is understood the. men left the internment camp shortly before 10 o'clock last evening, but their disappearance was not noticed for some time later.

The arrest of two of the prisoners of war by Detective Vincent Killen, and Constable A. Playne of the Kingston police department, and Provincial Constable J. H. Hatch, was the first intimation that an escape had taken place at Fort Henry.

Answering a call which had been received from a lady residing in the Dead Man's Bay summer camp area, the police apprehended two of the German prisoners of war who had broken out of the internment camp a few minutes previously. It is understood the police were informed that two men who appeared to be prisoners of war were seen in the vicinity. One of the prisoners was apprehended outside one of the summer cottages, while the second was located inside one of the buildings; neither of the men put up any resistance, and returned to the fort in charge of the police officers.

With the return of these two men to Fort Henry a general alarm was sounded, and the police and military authorities of the en- tire area were dispatched in pursuit of the missing prisoners. A count which was made by the authorities at Fort Henry showed 19 of the inmates were missing. The names and the descriptions of all of the 19 were immediately communicated to the city police, two having been taken in custody, and returned to the Fort.

Shortly before one o'clock two more of the number were arrested as they were walking along Highway No. 2 between Vimy Barracks and the cut near the village of Barriefield. It is understood these two men were proceeding in a westerly direction, and were actually in sight of the internment camp when the police caught up with them. The authorities refused to state who captured these two men.

About 5:30 o'clock this morning two more of the "wanted men" were taken in charge in the Seeleys Bay area and one half hour later a third man was located near the Ordnance Training Centre, asleep in an R.C.A.M.C. crash ambulance, and all three were taken back to the place of internment. The other two men were arrested near Collins Bay.

Scattered The authorities who are engaged in the search believe the men, after getting out of the fort, scattered in different directions and hid in the bushes not far from the internment camp, and in nearly every case they will be taken. in charge before the day is over.

A Whig-Standard reporter who was early on the chase, spent the better part of the night touring the city district in search of information, but he was not fortunate enough to see any of the escaped men. The police and soldiers who manned the entire area refused to allow motorists to get close to Fort Henry, or in fact proceed along the highway.

The highways in and out of the city were heavily guarded by he soldiers who carried live ammunition, and every motorist, and this included many transport drivers, who had occasion to drive he along the highways, were ordered out of their cars, and had to show their identification cards before being allowed to proceed. All the automobiles were searched, as were the trucks.

The authorities are at a loss to know how such a large group of men could get their freedom without being noticed. While officially information is lacking, there is a persistent rumor that the men went down the large most which extends from the fort to Navy Bay, and in fact passes under a bridge where an armed guard is on duty. This report is denied by the military authorities.

If this tunnel was used, and it is possible it could be, the men would have to do some manoeuvreing to get out of the section of the fort where their sleeping quarters are located; they would have to, by some unknown manner, get through or over a stone wall and then over a wire fence, which seems very improbable unless they had been working on the whole scheme for some time, Armed guards are mounted at all times on the walls, and how this large group of men could make a get-away is mystifying to the authorities.

Pte. L. G. Coutlee, whose home is in Brockville, a member of the Canadian Provost Corps at the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Training Centre at Barriefield, captured two on No. 2 Highway east of Kingston.

Coutlee was patrolling the highway when he saw two men outlined in the headlights of an approaching car. The men jumped into the ditch as the car drew near and then resumed their walk. Coutlee grabbed the men and demanded their registration cards and when they failed to produce the documents, he took them to the Barriefield camp. They were sent back to Fort Henry.

Throughout the night soldiers from the Barriefield camp scoured the countryside for the missing men while provincial and city police patrolled the St. Lawrence River in requisitioned boats to prevent any attempted flight to the United States.

Heard Escape Harold Fitman, a member of the Kingston Fire Department who was paddling in the St. Lawrence River close to Fort Henry last evening believes he heard the prisoners making their escape. Mr. Pitman told The Whig-Standard left Cedar Island about 9:30 o'clock after visiting the Boy Scout camp. He said he was fairly close the shore of Fort Henry when heard men walking on the shore rocks.

He further stated he believed the men after getting out of the fort encloser walked or ran down the bank and were in the act of crawling over a small broken down stone wall on the shore when he first heard the noise. He said he thought there was something wrong and paddled over to the Royal Military College grounds where he tried to get in touch with the authorities at Fort Henry. He said he gave the message to a women he met on the grounds but was not sure his order to phone Fort Henry was carried out.

When he arrived at Knapp's boat house near La Salle causeway the police were already on the job stopping all types of vehicles.

The Whig-Standard was unable to get any estimate of the number of soldiers and police officers who were assigned to the task of rounding up the prisoners. It has been suggested that the military detachment was in excess of 300 and they were from Vimy Barracks, Ordnance Training Centre and District Depot No. 3. The provincial police details from Eastern Ontario as far west as Belleville were on the job all night and this morning.

This makes the third successful escape from Fort Henry since the start of the war. Two men made a getaway when they forced their way through a window in the wall, which had been enlarged while the third man slipped past the guard when he concealed himself inside a piano. This man was arrested at the Lindsay Piano Company Store, Princess Street, when located by C. L. Gordon, the manager of the firm.

An extensive search is being made of all islands in the St Lawrence River. Motorboats from Kingston, Gananoque and points along the river are assisting in the task of trying to round up the missing prisoners.

BACKGROUND Fort Henry was used as an Internment Camp during the First Great War, and after that it was used by the military authorities for different purposes, mostly for storing ammunition and equipment. About five years ago, at the suggestion of the Department of Highways of Toronto, who realized the Fort could be made a point of interest for tourists, a considerable sum of money was spent in remodelling it and this work was done with the co-operation of the department of defence who shared in the cost.

The Fort was then used as a museum and the guns which were used in the battle of 1812-14 were among the relics. Thousands of United States and Canadian tourists visited the Fort and showed a keen interest in the relics. With the declaration of war the Department of National Defence took over the entire building and it was immediately turned into an internment camp; since that time hundreds of German prisoners of war, mostly from the armed forces, have been confined there.

Fort Henry was considered to be one of the "safer" internment camps, and many of the German prisoners of war, mostly officers who had served in the air force and the navy, and were considered to be the dangerous type, had been confined there.

From page 1:

Biggest Break Here in 1838 One hundred and five years ago the most sensationaall break in Canadian history took place at Fort Henry from which 19 German prisoners escaped last night,

In 1838 John Montgomery. owner of the Yonge Street Tavern from which the rebel, William Lyon Mackenzie, grand- father of Canada's present prime minister, fled from police, escaped from Fort Henry with 11 other prisoners involved in the rebellion.

Under Montgomery's leadership the party made good their escape after a series of adventures with guards and others who scoured the country searching for them. The men had been condemned to death but their sentences had been changed to exile in Van Die man's Land.

Description Of Prisoners Officials of Military District No. 3 early today released descriptions of the 15 prisoners who were not immediately captured following the escape of 19 from the prison camp at nearby Fort Henry. Of these eight have been recaptured. All were listed as Germans. They are:

*Walter Bartels, 21, 153 pounds, six feet, clean shaven and medium build.

Johann Degraff, 27, five feet, seven inches, 147 pounds. Domnick Heinz, 21, 148 pounds, five feet, seven inches. Clean shaven and speaks English with a foreign accent.

Alfred Gunther, 31, 151 pounds, five feet 9½ inches, speaks English and German. Has 14½ inch scar on forehead and a wart on right cheek.

Wilhelm Joesting, 41, 160 pounds, five feet, ten inches. Clean shaven.

Franz Karper, 25, 183 pounds, five feet, 7½ inches. Dark complexion, one inch scar on forehead. Speaks a few words of English, Gerhard Knoepfel, 22, 143 pounds, five feet, six inches. Fair complexion.

Kurt Kroehnert, 26, 137 pounds, five feet, five inches. Medium-dark complexion. Speaks German and English.

Wilhelm Kruse, 27, 150 pounds, six feet. Fair complexion.

Ernst Muench, 24, 145 pounds, five feet, six inches. Fair complexion. Speaks German, Italian and English. Has scar on left side of face.

Hans August Rhomberg. 21, 152 pounds, six feet. Fresh complexion.

Friedrick Schmale, 24, 165 pounds, five feet, six inches. Speaks German and some English with a low, foreign accent.

Karl Schwarz, 22, 140 pounds, five feet, seven inches. Medium complexion. Speaks Spanish, German and a little English.

Heinz Stoerk, 21, 119 pounds, five feet, five inches; fair complexion; had a quarter-inch scar on right eye; speaks German only.

Heinz Wirtz, 23; 140 pounds, tive feet, seven inches; fair complexion.

*-Recaptured.

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