The Germans also murdered after torture, @ six of the "Cockelshell"
crews that
wrecked several merchant ships by using Limpet mines. They were all
in uniform
and engaged on legitimate military operations.

British Commandos themseves did not take prisoners and were found with
orders not to do so as this presumably might imperil their mission.
This was the basis of Hitlers commando Order.

So you are excusing Hitler?

Depite being in a
uniform I do not think that men who themselves never take prisoners
and kill those trying to surrender to them have an automatic right to
protection under the convention

I do not know of the Cockshell crews opperated as Commandos but this
may the the basis of the executions. I have been unable to find any
details of the raids on the internet. Only something about a
novell/movie called the Cockellshell heroes.


It took me about ten seconds to find this:

"Marine Bill Sparks, who has died aged 80, was the last of the two surviving
“Cockleshell Heroes” responsible for paddling a canoe 85 miles through
enemy defences to cripple German merchant ships at Bordeaux.

During the night of December 11 1942, 10 Royal Marines set out in five craft;
but eight of them were shot or drowned. Sparks and Major “Blondie” Hasler
found themselves pursued through France and Spain by vengeful Germans for three
months before they reached safety.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/799434/posts


If British commandos did not take prisoners, that would be in accord with their
typical mission. I would not have expected the Cockelshell crews to take
prisoners either. But the Germans who captured these Royal Marines certainly
had the facilities to take prisoners. They were clearly in uniform and carrying
clandestine, but clear military operations.

On the whole the Germans stuck to the conventions and prosecuted those
German officers who broke them. The same can not always be said for
the Americans.

Details?



The commander of 12th SS PzDiv had 20 Canadian prisoners murdered in
cold blood
also.

Then he was a war criminal and would have been court martialed.

Here's some detail on that:

"The atrocities continued. Other Canadians were captured and taken to the
Abbaye d'Ardenne, the headquarters of the German division where Meyer had
watched the battle unfold. In the abbey garden eleven Canadians were
interrogated and then killed on 7 June, each Canadian prisoner shaking hands
with his comrades before being executed. At noon the next day seven more
Canadians were shot at the Abbaye; their murders coincided with the execution
of Canadian POWs on the Caen-Fountenay Road. The following evening Canadian
prisoners were taken to the 12th SS's 2nd Battalion headquarters to meet their
death. On the now tranquil grounds of the Chateau d'Audrieu, Canadian POWs were
interrogated and duly executed, first in threes and later in more efficient
larger numbers. These large-scale incidents represent 120 of 156 murders
committed by the Hitlerjugend during the first ten days of the Normandy
Campaign. Other murders took place on a smaller scale at locations like
Bretteville d'Orgueuise, Norrey and le Mesnil-Patry. News of the murders began
to filter back to the Canadian ranks in Normandy, but there was little
immediate proof of the atrocities.[8] "

http://grad.usask.ca/gateway/archive9.html


I
presume he had expedient reasons such as no facilities such as no
abillity to transport them.

No. You don't seem very qualifed to comment, as these murders of the Canadian
POW's is fairly well known.


I am somewhat cynical of these claims, initialy, as they may be a beat
up like the Malmedy massacre and so many other crimes that turn out
to be mainly either escape attemps, accidents and mistakes.

If you can show that Americans did anything like the above, get back to me.

snip



The Germans did not -strictly- go by the GC, although they
generally did
against the Western Allies.


As I said, the Germans did not -strictly- go by the GC although they generally
did against the Western Allies.

Walt