Angler POW escape

In April 1941, inmates at the Angler POW Camp near Neys Provincial Park on the north shore of Lake Superior planned the largest escape from a Canadian POW camp during World War II. Preparations included compasses made from magnetized needles, prisoner uniforms modified to look like civilian clothes, and copied maps. A radio was even hidden inside a model of the German battleship "Bismarck". [Chisholm, B., and Gutsche, A. "Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods", Lynx Images, 1998, p. 161]

A tunnel was dug 45 m (150 ft) long that reached outside the wall, with side tunnels entering some of the barracks. On the night of April 18 1941, 80 prisoners attempted to escape; 28 made it outside the walls.Chisholm, B., and Gutsche, A. "ibid", p. 163] The initial intent was for 100 prisoners to escape, but the escape was interrupted.

Five were found sleeping in a construction site - and were shot. The original report stated that they had rushed the two Canadian soldiers who found them, but later research indicated that four had been shot while still lying down, killing two of them, while the fifth had run into a nearby forest, where he was quickly captured.

Four others boarded a boxcar on a freight train, but were arrested by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers riding on board. Most of the others were quickly apprehended. However, two prisoners, Horst Liebeck and Karl Heinz-Grund, boarded a westbound freight train and made it to Medicine Hat, Alberta before being captured and returned to the Angler camp.

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