I thought that I would share a story about Volkmar König.

I was doing research on Wolfgang Heyda and obtained Volkmar König's address. I composed a carefully written letter, requesting information about Heyda, which I translated into German. I received some additional help with the translation and sent both the English language version and the translated version off to Volkmar König. From my research I knew that many of the German officers at Bowmanville studied English as prisoners and I was hoping that König was literate in English.

A couple of weeks later I received a two page, single spaced, type written letter answering all my questions. The letter was written in perfect English with no typing mistakes. A comment was attached stating that it was not necessary for me to write in German as he had found my German amusing. I chuckled to myself knowing my letter was quaint at best. At Bowmanville, König along with other Kriegsmarine officers had become certified English language translators. Needless to say I was impressed with such a vigorous eighty year man.

A few months later, König told me that he would be in Boston on 8 September 2001, and I could meet him aboard the USS Salem in Quincy Massachusetts as he was also meeting Paul M. Lawton there that day. I thought that it would be my only chance to get an interview with someone who was in the Bowmanville POW camp when Heyda made his escape, and I wanted a first hand interview. The interview proved to be quit revealing and we had dinner together that night, including Paul Lawton and several of his associates. We had breakfast together the next morning and I left for Connecticut to visit my daughter and then drove back to Detroit that Monday.

König caught a plane out of Boston's Logan Airport the morning of the tenth heading for Vancouver to visit a cousin. On Tuesday 11 September the high-jacking of planes that departed from Logan took place.

I found König to be a gentleman and a charming host. I will always cherish his memory.

Rodney Martin