Quote:
Originally Posted by avers
I think this message was sent in 1942 when a u boat (I forgot which one) sank an American ship down by Africa and the ship was carrying German and Italian POWs. After the ship sank, the u boat started towing the life boats to safety. When morning came 2 B-24 liberators flew out and spotted the u boat with the Red Cross flying, the liberators got permission to attack and nearly sank the boat. I think after this incident, Donitz sent that message.
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I have read accounts of incidents such as you describe, going back to the early days of the war. Early on, they were apparently not that uncommon. At his Nuremburg trial , Dönitz cited the frequency of such incidents as the reason behind the order Von Tonner quotes.
But an incident in 1942 could not have been the basis for the order. Blair in Chapter 2 (and endnotes) states that a copy of that order was found in U-13, which was captured by the British in May, 1940.