 On the other hand, when the defendants could not reasonably claim that they did not know their orders were clearly illegal, the defense was ineffective.For instance, Lieutenants Dithmar and Boldt were ordered to fire on lifeboats, obeyed the order, and were found guilty in the same German Military Trials

On October 8, 1945, Anton Dostler was the first German general to be tried for war crimes by a US military tribunal at the Royal Palace in Caserta.He was accused of ordering the execution of 15 captured US soldiers of Operation Ginny II in Italy in March 1944.