It is stupid, indeed, to shoot a pilot in his parachute. However, it's also a violation of the rules of war. A paratrooper descending in a parachute is considered an armed combattant and is fair game to be machinegunned in his chute. However, a pilot who has abandoned his crippled aircraft is considered no longer an armed combattant and cannot be engaged.
See Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, as ammended, 8 June 1977 Part III, Section, article 42, which basically states:
Art. 42 - Occupants of aircraft
No person parachuting from an aircraft in distress shall be made the object of attack during his descent.
Upon reaching the ground in territory controlled by an adverse Party, a person who has parachuted from an aircraft in distress shall be given an opportunity to surrender before being made the object of attack, unless it is apparent that he is engaging in a hostile act.
Airborne troops are not protected by this Article.
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" In walks the village idiot and his face is all aglow; he's been up all night listening to Mohammad's radio" W. Zevon
Except, as Bill pointed out, it's a violation of the Geneva Convention. That said, if they're shot down over their own lines it would seem to me they should still be considered combatants.....
We Brit's and the Americans made great headway out of ignoring Nazi atrocities especially if it meant a benefit to medical science or the race to the moon, and of course we could not show Hitchcock's filmic efforts of the death camps as it was deemed to depressing for the Germans!
Guess he will not understand your Humour. One could argue that there is better evidence for Katyn then for Oradour and Malmedy. I also would like to ask if any of the numerous Allied War Criminals has ever been prosecuted. None? So why are then alleged War-Criminals from German/Axis forces still being prosecuted? Because they lost the War?
Oradour
A courageous frenchman actually challenged those claims and got prosecuted for it.
Oradour: Sentence against Vincent Reynouard
On April 14 2004 Vincent Reynouard, 33, had his appeal heard against a conviction that he had 'apologized for a war crime' because he had distributed a video about the Oradour-sur-Glane 'slaughter' in which he challenges the official version of that 'slaughter'. Officially it is said that SS officers from the Das Reich Division entered the quiet little village on June 10, 1944, put the women and children inside the church, set fire to the church and then killed the men in some barns, for no reason whatsoever.
Vincent Reynouard says that things didn't go that way at all. There are still some points not clear but Vincent could demonstrate that:
1) the village was not at all a quiet and peaceful village but was a center for of members of the Resistance,
2) the SS had put the women and children inside the church for their own sake, not knowing that there were some weapons and explosives hidden inside the church tower, which exploded: the people in the church were blown to pieces and a fire followed. Some photographs show clearly that some children had their arms or legs cut off, while their clothes were intact!
The appeal verdict was handed down on June 9, the 60th anniversary of the hangings in Tulle and the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Oradour-sur-Glane slaughter. Anyone could obviously guess that on such a date the result could not have been a good one.
Vincent Reynouard was sentenced to:
- two years prison, of which six months without remission;
- 1,000 euros of damage to each of the three plaintiffs;
- his valuable files will not be returned to him.
The Court granted Reynouard relief from the damages claim because as a father of 4 boys (5 at the end of the month!), he could not afford this fine. Of course, following the courageous Maître Eric Delcroix's advice (Dr Faurisson's lawyer), V. Reynouard will lodge an appeal against this judgment to the Cour de Cassation.
Great post. In this debate, it is often forgotten that what one does to one's enemy justifies in their minds the same or worse being done to our troops. That is the true purpose of the Convention articles.
Do you have an internet source to obtain the complete Articles of the Geneva Convention? I've always wanted to read the articles in their entirety, being the subject of many war related discussions.
Thanks for the kind words, Kaliste. Try the link below. It's not the site I quoted from which was strictly dealing with prisoners but I think this link has the text of the full 1947 Convention. I'm not sure if it has the 1977 modifications/ammendments though.
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My home page:
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" In walks the village idiot and his face is all aglow; he's been up all night listening to Mohammad's radio" W. Zevon
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