The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 - Final Installment

Nov. 2, 2015

Carolyn reads Chapter 23 "Shipwrecked Survivors" and Chapter 24 "Hospital Ships."

Though it is more difficult to investigate the deaths of shipwrecked sailors and air crews downed in the ocean than it is deaths on land, the War Crimes Bureau found clear evidence of crimes by the British during the attack on the Erich Giese destroyer at Narvik, Norway; the Osia Paraskevi caique in the Aegean Sea; and on paratroopers traveling by caique to western Crete. The shooting of downed German airmen in the Channel during the 1942 Battle of Dieppe, France, and in the Mediterranean in 1944 were also crimes by some British RAF pilots.

The investigation of the November 1944 attack which sank the German hospital ship Tubingen in the Adriatic Sea is discussed in detail, but  far less attention was given to the frequent British attacks and bombings of the smaller German hospital carriers. The Soviet Union unilaterally refused to recognize any German hospital ships.

This ends the reading of this very important book – the only one of its kind, as far as I know, that gives exposure to the German Military's professional investigations into the war crimes committed by the Allies against German soldiers. 1h14m

Below: The Tubingen hospital ship  going down after being attacked by British RAF pilots on 18 November 1944 while crossing from Bari to Triest in the North Adriatic Sea. The responsible pilots were not prosecuted.