Operation Kiebitz - Prisoner Escape Plan

Prisoner Escape Plan

The plan was developed by the Kriegsmarine in 1942 and was to be executed in September 1943. Horst Elfe; captain of U-93, Hans Ey; captain of U-433, Otto Kretschmer; captain of U-99, and Hans Joachim Knebel-Döberitz; executive officer from U-99, would escape from Camp 30 in Bowmanville and make their way 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) through eastern Canada to northern New Brunswick, where they would rendezvous with a U-boat off Pointe de Maisonnette on Chaleur Bay. Knebel-Döberitz was the former adjutant of Admiral Karl Dönitz and along with Kretschmer, who was a top U-boat ace, were thought to be the primary reason behind this risky operation. Had it been successful, it would have been sensational propaganda material for the German war machine.

Coded messages were sent by mail through the International Committee of the Red Cross to the German prisoners at Camp 30 in Bowmanville, east of Toronto. These messages were intercepted by Canadian military intelligence and Canadian police who were screening all prisoner communications. The Canadian authorities did not tip off the prisoners that their plans were detected as the Royal Canadian Navy was hoping to get a rare chance to seize a German U-boat in Canadian waters; a feat that would have been an intelligence coup for the Allied navies.