Wick's fate is shrouded in some mystery...
http://www.acesofww2.com/germany/aces/wick/(23 January 1941) AN EAST CANADIAN PORT — (AP) — A Nazi air ace ranked as one of Germany's most deadly and hundreds of other shot-down airmen and captured seamen were brought here from England for internment yesterday but two escaped within a few hours after they trudged down the gangplank of their camouflaged prison ship.
The escape of the unidentified pair was announced by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police just after the exploits of the ace prisoner were detailed without identifying him by name.
Internment officials said he was a 25-year-old fighter pilot who, starting with the Spanish civil war, had been credited in Germany with shooting down 56 planes.
The age, number of planes credited to him and possession of the rare oak leaves decoration added to the Iron Cross tallied with the description of Maj. Helmut Wick, commander of the famous Richthofen squadron, believed in Berlin to have been killed in dogfighting over the English channel.
By Canadian Press - AN EAST COAST CANADIAN PORT. Jan. 23 (1941) — Canada's internment camps for captured Nazi fliers were awaiting new guests today as hundreds of Nazi airmen who had found lodgment in them headed west from here to take new berths in Canadian camps. As a huge consignment of German officers and men moved away from the seaboard into the interior, officials in charge of their transfers from the Old Country to Canada revealed they represented the bulk of the men of Goring's Air Force who had been brought down over England at the time of sailing.
HUNDREDS OF THEM
Many hundreds of them — that was as close as newsmen were allowed to get to the actual figure — were in the mass movement that arrived here yesterday. For hours, in closely guarded groups, they trudged between ship and train.
Two men escaped. One was recaptured a few hours later. The second was picked up by city police today.
Circumstances of the break by the two men were not disclosed by authorities, nor did they divulge how either was retaken.
Unofficial reports, however, said the first aroused suspicion when he offered a 10-shilling note for a night's lodging at a rooming house and it resulted in his arrest.
MEN OF U-BOATS, TOO
Both men, as were most of their companions, were marked with a circular patch of white cloth sewn to the backs of their overcoats.
According to the broadcast description of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they were wearing civilian clothes, though perhaps having trousers of German Air Force officers.
Besides the airmen, Britain sent to Canada a number of sailors taken off enemy submarines.
Men who traveled on the same ship reported one of these was the Commander of the U-boat that fired the torpedoes sinking the liner Empress of Britain after she had been under air attack off the United Kingdom last fall.
At the same time as the Nazis arrived here, a big detachment of Royal Air Force men reached Canada at this port, most of them fledgling fliers who will be trained in the Dominion.
They came from many countries, including Poland, Holland, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.
Arrival of the German prisoners swelled Canada's internee prisoner of war population by a goodly percentage.
No definite figures have been released on the number now in prison camps, but it was believed between 8000 and 12,000 before yesterday's batch arrived.
FAMOUS "WICK" AMONG THEM
A high-ranking Nazi flier — apparently Major Helmut Wick, whose loss was reported by the Germans on Dec. 4 — was among the prisoners.
Officials did not name the pilot but it was learned he was one of the three credited by the Nazis with the highest scores in Spanish and Allied planes, that he is 25 years old and that he was awarded the Oak Leaves, a high German decoration.
This description fits that of Major Wick, who is credited by the Germans with downing 56 planes in the Spanish civil war and the present conflict.
The Nazis have listed him, Lieut. Adolph Galland, credited with 55 planes, and Lieut.-Col. Werner Molders, credited with 54, as their trio of leading pilots.
RAF LAUGHS LAST
According to recent American reports from Berlin, Wick was one of the most boastful of the Nazi airmen. Several mouths ago he described the quality of British fighter pilots as "laughable" and said, "They merely try to stay out of reach."
Then came his combat on Dec. 4 (28 Nov -jf) over the English Channel when Wick was outfought by a British pilot. Fellow pilots reported seeing him bail out and descend to the water off the Isle of Wight.
GAVE NO TROUBLE
Lt. Col. R. Weddell, commander of the guards who watched over the Nazis, told the press they gave "not the slightest trouble."
At the end of the voyage, they wrote him a letter saying they were "very pleased" with their treatment.
The Germans were posted to quarters in the aft of the vessel and were kept strictly to themselves.
Talented internees entertained the others with three concerts. Their singing, Col. Weddell said, was "marvelous."
Imperial troops guarded them on the trans-ocean trip.
The Canadians took over here.
The prisoners came down the gangplank of the ship in what officials called "carload lots"— about 50 at a time. As they trudged through transit sheds to their trains, they marched by a cordon of Canadian soldiers.
Ominous bayonets atop their rifles, the troops were rigidly ready for anything, but there were no incidents.
Before each group was allowed aboard the trains, every man was thoroughly searched for possible hidden weapons.
'INTELLIGENCE' IN CHARGE
Three British Intelligence Department officers and a band of war veteran guards were already on the trains.
The Britons, able to speak German fluently, have been posted to various internment camps as liaison officers between prisoners and guards. They performed similar jobs on the long trip inland.
Two guards, with bayoneted rifles, stood at each door of the train cars. Others were posted among the prisoners.
At each stop the guards were under orders to "fan out" outside to repel any attempt to break out the windows, or to hold back any crowds which might gather.
TAKING NO CHANCES
The prisoners were warned, through the interpreters, that only one man would be allowed to stand up at a time in each car.
Doors had been removed from the lavatories before they came aboard.
An elaborate electric alarm system was the chief safeguard against a mass escape attempt. A guard in any part of the train could give warning immediately if he spotted any trouble.
Heavy mackinaws, underwear and other clothing was available for the captives in case their own garb was not suitable for the Canadian climate. Their camps are located in a particularly cold region.
SULLEN LOT
They were a sullen lot, particularly the airmen. But aboard the same ship, and in contrast to the Germans for whom the war was over, were several hundred eager young Britons, Australians, New Zealanders and Poles sent here under the Empire air training program to be made into pilots.
The number of prisoners was another military secret but it was permissible to say that there were so many, they were taken from the ship in groups of 50 and marched past solid lines of soldiers with fixed bayonets, to their train.
Each prisoner was given a kit of supplies. A few of them seemed somewhat cheerful and one blond youth said, "I'm glad I'm here; this war is a silly mess anyhow."
