Tag Archives: war crime  War Crimes against Airmen  As I’ve
written previously, hundreds of young men from Portsmouth were
killed whilst serving with Bomber Command during the Second
World War. Many of them were shot down over France, Belgium and
Holland, and indeed Germany, particularly during the vast
Strategic Bombing Offensive from 1942 onwards.  Given the huge
numbers of bombers going out almost every night, and the German
defences of flak guns, night fighters and searchlights. Over
time, the odds of survival were rather frightening indeed. And
unsurprisingly, more than a few men found themselves parachuting
out over occupied Europe, or surviving air crashes. Men who
found themselves on the run faced varying treatment – hidden by
patriots in the occupied countries, evading via the escape
lines, captured by the Germans, or, in the worst case, murdered
by German civilians or the authorities.  By rights, RAF crew in
uniform should have been afforded the rights of lawful
combatants under the Geneva Conventio