War Crimes

To All,

I'd like to know if any people from the Allied countries were prosecuted for war crimes? After all, we know that war crimes were committed by soldiers of all the fighting countries!

Thank You, BobG

Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains the fact of evolution.

After all, we know that war crimes were

BobG, can you provide one name of a _specific_ Allied war criminal that you have in mind? We can then report him, or her, to the appropriate authorities for their

Currently group of Russian WW2 partisans are under murder trial in Latvia, for murdering civilian occupants of one village disguised in German uniforms.

There's been discussion about if Finland should get Russian war criminal partisans for murder trial as well. Don't think it will happen, though. Unfortunately.

In his book 'Band of Brothers,' Stephen Ambrose tells of one US soldier whose officers could never leave alone with German prisoners because the prisoners would somehow always end up dead. The murder of a prisoner is certainly a 'war crime,' in that it is a crime under the rules of war recognized by all countries.

I have also read accounts by soldiers in Highland regiments who told of what happened to German soldiers in Italy who defended a roadblock to their last bullet then tried to surrender just as their strongpoint fell. It wasn't pretty. The deliberate gunning down of an enemy soldier attempting to surrender is a 'war crime,' without a doubt.

But which of these soldiers deserved a Nuremberg-style war crimes trial? Which was carrying out a policy that violated the recognized rules of war, rather than merely acting individually outside the rules? I think we have to recognize a difference between unconscionable policies deliberately adopted and what is merely bad behavior during bad times.

Of course, the Allies had policies which, one may argue, skirted the rules so closely that the other side may have considered them to be war crimes. If the Germans had won, I have little doubt that the commanders of RAF Bomber Command and the Eighth Air Force would have faced war crimes trials for the bombing campaigns against German cities. Maybe the word 'trial' is a little pretty for what would have been their fates. That is

Of course not. I was born near the end of World War II and did not have the opportunity to witness any. I bet there are quite a few WW II vets out there that can give you some names. BobG Evolution is a fact. The theory of evolution explains the fact of evolution.

There was a prosecution of an American Battallion commander who gave an order immediately after VE Day that was ambiguous at best. It was interpreted as an order that all SS soldiers found were to be 'shot trying to escape.' When division headquarters started getting an unusual numbers of reports on incidence of this type from the Battalion (11 SS killed in 3-4 different incidents in two days), they launched an investigation and charges were brought against the Battalion Commander and the command chain down to and including those directly involved in the killings.

The battalion commander was corps-martialed under the '96th Article of War' (can someone tell me what this specific article is?). He was acquitted as there was some question about exactly what he said (it was not a written order, but an impromptu speech at a Battery Commander's Meeting). After he was acquitted, the charges against the others were dropped because it was thought (and testimony seems to support this strongly) that they were clearly operating under the assumption that they were following orders and some of the SS did run, albeit apparantly aware that their choices were nil.

Not a stellar performance, but not genocide either. Some good news is the behaviour was stopped quickly.

How many Germans faced war crimes trials for bombing Warsaw, Rotterdam and Great Britain? By this logic, I assume if the Japanese had won, the USAAF would have been charged as war criminals for nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

As far as I know, none. Certainly nobody was charged for such bombing at the IMT in Nuremburg.

By this logic, I assume if the Japanese had won,

Doubtless, and not just for the nukes. The submarine service would presumably also have been charged. The U.S. and Japan had very different ideas of what was acceptable in war.