Hermann von Bardeleben, Kapt, was a German serviceman and a prisoner of war in Canada during the Second World War. In 1970 he was disinterred from Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario and buried in the German War Graves Section in Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The servicemen were buried two to a grave according to the names on the headstone. He is buried with Wilhelm Berger.

Kapitän Hermann Bardeleben was a German merchant marine who commanded the SS Borkum. He and his crew had the bad luck of being in South America to fill the hold with grain when World War II broke out. On 9 October 1939 the Borkum left port at Rosario, Argentina to head for Germany. England had already set up a blockade of the waters that Germany relied on for imports arriving by ship. The Borkum accounted for this and took a circuitious route past Greenland, but as it neared the British Isles it was spotted by the HMS California, a British auxiliary cruiser. The captain, C.J. Pope challenged the Borkum. Instead of scuttling the Borkum, Kapt von Bardeleben chose to surrender on 18 November 1939. He and his crew were taken to a POW camp in Canada.

Meanwhile, the Borkum, under control of the British, sailed for Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands to deliver the cargo ship and grain to a friendly port. However, at 14:30 on 23 November 1939, the ship was spotted by U-33, a U-boat commanded by Kapitänleutnant Hans- Wilhelm von Dresky. The British crew disguised the Borkum as a Dutch cargo ship. von Dresky was not fooled. The U-33 fired two warning shots which were ignored. A third shot struck the Borkum's bridge. The Borkum attempted to ram the U-33. The U-33 gave the command for the Borkum to stop, which was ignored. In response, the Borkum raised the British flag and began firing on the U-33. As the U-33 struggled to find a firing position, a fire broke out on the Borkum and had spread to the grain in the cargo hold. The Borkum was circling out of control due to the fire, making it a difficult target.

The Borkum would have sunk if not for the arrival of two British blockade ships, the Kingston Beryl and the Onyx. With the aid of these ships, the Borkum was abandoned and eventually ran aground at Papa Sound.

Declared a wreck, the Borkum was refloated on 18 August 1940 and towed to Rosyth, Scotland, where it was broken up. For his role in the capture of the Borkum and his action against the U-33, Lieutenant-Commander Moloney was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

• History of German POWs in Canada

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