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Revisionism |
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Revisionism |
NEWS DESK MICHAEL WALSH - NO EMBARGO / 4th JUNE 2000
HALF TRUTHS MAKE GOOD LIES
To coincide with the Dunkirk anniversary commemorations some publicity has centred on remembrance of members of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment killed by their Waffen SS captors. Tens of thousands of British troops were captured by German armed forces during the course of the war and were well treated, even educated to graduate level. So the enquiring mind will ask, why were these men of the Royal Warwickshire made an exception of? After all the German armed forces of the Second World War are regarded by educated unprejudiced minds as being the best disciplined in the world.
AMERICAN TESTIMONY
After all the German armed forces of the Second World War are regarded by educated unprejudiced minds as being the best disciplined in the world.
American Major General Robert W. Grow,Commander 6th Armored Division in Europe wasnt alone when he said: "My service during World War 11 was in command of an armored division throughout the European campaign, from Normandy to Saxony. My division lost quite a number of officers and men captured between July 1944 and April 1945. In no instance did I hear of personnel from our division receiving treatment other than proper under the 'Rules of Land Warfare'. As far as the 6th Armored Division was concerned in its 280 days of front line contact, there was no 'atrocity problem'.... Frankly, I was aghast, as were many of my contemporaries, when we learned of the proposed 'war crimes' trials and the fact that military commanders were among the accused.... I know of no general officer who approved of them."
The story begins early in May 1940 when the phoney war stalemate on the Western Front ended when a relatively small Germany Army with its concentrated Panzer Divisions, achieved a huge encircling movement by smashing through the French, Belgian and British defences, and driving the bulk of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) back towards the channel ports.
BRITISH ATROCITIES
During the British headlong retreat through Belgium and France there were shooting incidents of so-called suspicious civilian characters and fifth columnists by some panic-stricken British units. Anyone unfortunate enough to be Nordic in appearance, i.e. with fair hair and blue eyes, a not uncommon feature in northern districts of France, was promptly gunned down without question. Not even nuns and women, allegedly German parachutists in disguise were spared.
In their defeat the British Army and the British press began to blame the defeatism of their French allies for the debacle. Whereas the truth was that the French soldiers fought valiantly on to give the allies a breathing space while withdrawing. Such undisciplined behaviour by some British soldiers was accompanied by widespread looting at gun point, of private houses, shops and residences, an unpleasant side to the BEF in its treatment of its French allies and which senior British officers have never denied.
FLOUTING THE GENEVA CONVENTION
As the British retreat in some areas turned into a rout, certain units turned to using dum-dum bullets against advancing German troops. They had also been ordered not to take any prisoners except for interrogation. Anyone who disregards Convention does of course put themselves outside its protection. Such was the case with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
As the British retreat in some areas turned into a rout, certain units turned to using dum-dum bullets against advancing German troops. They had also been ordered not to take any prisoners except for interrogation. Such expanding bullets inflict horrific wounds and are strictly banned under the Geneva Convention to which Britain was a signatory. Anyone who disregards Convention does of course put themselves outside its protection. Such was the case with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. This Regiment excelled itself when it came to brutality and disregarded both the 'Rules of Land Warfare' and the Geneva Convention. It was not their policy to take prisoners and Waffen SS units were well aware of the atrocities committed against civilians and German troops by the Royals. Their behaviour so infuriated one SS unit that it retaliated by shooting a number of captured members of the Warwickshire Regiment.
At the end of the war any known SS survivors from this unit were hunted down by the British, tried as war criminals, and promptly executed. But the British had themselves provoked German retaliation by their violation of rules governing the conduct of war. Once again British double standards prevailed. As always only half the truth is told but when the full truth emerges those condemned stand vindicated.
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"Once a soldier has surrendered and been disarmed, he ceases to be a combatant. In any civilised army, the captor is responsible for his captives, and is required to ensure their safety ... the Germans took such respon-sibilities seriously - even where their captives Jews ..." †Chaim Bermant, Jewish Chronicle (London) - Sep.1, 1995, page 21 |
