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Originally Posted by don1reed
I'm old enough to realize that what I'm about to write will be contraversial, before you all become unglued and dripping with praise for the dearly departed; but, it needs to be said, nonetheless:
Being retired military, I salute the honest exploits of Mush Morton and his crew, but, I thoroughly detest his war crimes--shooting survivors
in the water. (see pp.384-385, SILENT VICTORY, Clay Blair
Jr.)
...also;
The Baralong Incident was an unprosecuted war crime of World
War I.
On August 19, 1915, U-27, commanded by Kapitänleutnant
Wegener, was sunk by the Q-Ship HMS Baralong, commanded by
Lieutenant Godfrey Herbert. Herbert ordered that all German
survivors, including Wegener, should be executed on the spot.
Although the British Admiralty tried to keep this atrocity a
secret, news reached Germany and the "Baralong Incident" was
used to justify increased cruelty at sea both during World
War One and after.
April 13, 1940 The British navy sank the German ship the
Erich Giese. The captain Karl Smidt reported that while the
crew of 200 men were in the water, British destroyers opened
fire on them.
May 20,1941 A convoy of 21 German ships was attacked by
British warships off the coast of Crete during the night.
Witnesses said the British ships scanned the sea with
searchlights looking for the survivors, and opened fire on
them. One survivor, Corporal Walter Segel, said: "I saw at
least 20 groups of survivors who were illuminated by the
British and then sprayed with bullets."
...and finally,
Kapitanleutnant Heinz ECK, of the German Navy: Ex-Commander
of U-Boat 852. Tried by a mixed British and Greek war crimes
court at Hamburg 17-20.10.45 for killing survivors of the
crew of the steamship “ Peleus.” Found guilty and sentenced
to death 20.10.45; sentence confirmed. Executed 23.11.45.
I feel certain had, Morton, survived the war, he would have
faced the rocks and shoals of the UCMJ and/or court marshall for
Wahoo's January patrol.
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I have some thoughts of my own on war crimes that will remove
several of my heros
I will not defend Dudley Morton on this charge
Nor would I defend
arthur harris
curtis lemay
or winston churchill
strangely inspite of those blemishes winston and mush
still remain in my good books why I cant say I have a
great and vehemenent anethema for Lemay and Harris.
why is it we can call Osama a devil incarnate for
killing 2700 odd people but we will pin a CMH on lemay
for making a million non combatants homeless and killing
a quarter million of them at a stroke.
dont get me wrong Lemay was a great leader and made the
decisions he made on the info of the time and influence
of the time so did mush.
but what distinguishes mush from harris lemay and churchill
is that the latter had oppotunity to influence many with
their interpretations where mush only had to answer for
his own actions as a skipper. (albeit it was never taken up)
At the time the propaganda machine was manufacturing
hate. And painting the adversaries as totally ruthless
(this is not to say they werent ruthless) but the influence
of the propaganda machine and the seeming inescapability
of the war and how poorly it was going in the beginning
might have influenced you and me in similar circumstances
we have the benefit of retrospect
they made those choices rightly or wrongly
at the pointy end of the stick.
can we any of us say in complete confidence that given
the times and circumstances we might not have acted the same.
I like to think as a man of good conscience I wouldnt have made those
choices given the circumstances but I cant know for sure and would
be foolish to believe that I would know.
MM