[Mark W. Tonner]

As requested by Carman;

Source: Blood and Honor, the History of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth", 1943-1945, by Craig W.H. Luther, pages 184-185.

The Murder of Canadian Prisoners by the 12th SS Panzer Division (June 7-17, 1944)

"The 26th Regiment did not get into action until the morning of June 8th. During the assault on Putot-en-Bassin the 5th and 7th Companies of the regiment's 2nd Battalion took between 25-30 Canadian prisoners, mostly, no doubt, from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. The captives were evacuated by their guards through 2nd Battalion's headquarters at le Mesnil-Patry, where another group of prisoners joined them, making a total of forty all ranks.

That evening the Germans marched their prisoners south, towards the Caen-Fontenay-le-Pesnel road. The guards were the same and were commanded by an SS-Oberscharfuher (NCO). Along the way, they encountered an officer in a camouflaged vehicle. The party then halted while the SS-Oberscharfuher apparently asked for instructions. Annoyed, the officer motioned in a southerly direction, giving some of the prisoners the impression that he had ordered their execution.

They continued to march until within 100 yards of the Caen road. At that point the SS guards directed the prisoners into a field, instructing them to sit close together-with the wounded in the centre-and to face east. After an armored column had passed on the road, a half-track vehicle turned into the field, disgorging a number of soldiers toting Schmeisser machine pistols. Among the newcomers were two officers. There was a consultation with the guards, who then also equipped themselves with Schmeissers. Forming a line, the Germans advanced menacingly towards the prisoners, who were still seated and resting, and opened fire. Thrity-five Canadians died in the ensuing massacre. Five of the prisoners, however, managed to escape. Their suspicions aroused by what they had seen and heard, they had resolved to make a run for it should their estimate of the guards' intentions prove correct. When the shooting started the five men bolted into a wheat field and were eventually recaptured by other German troops, who evacuated the men to prisoner of war camps, where they remained until the end of the war.

Between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m., June 8th, 19 more Canadian POWs were shot to death, this time by members of the 12th SS Reconnaissance Battalion. The shootings took place near battalion headquarters at the Chateau d'Audrieu-two groups of three prisoners each gunned down in an adjacent wood, and a third group (13 men of the 9th Platoon, "A" Company, Royal Winnipeg Rifles) murdered by their escort within 100 yards of the battalion command post. Bremer's driver, SS-Oberscharfuher Leopold Stun, commanded some of the firing squads, which consisted of motorcycle dispatch riders attached to the headquarters."