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Originally Posted by Targan
And was itself sunk in the same battle. The wreck of HMAS Sydney was finally found earlier this year deep beneath the India Ocean off the coast the State where I live. It was a big event here in Australia and the Germans' use of disguised raiders is a sore point in this country. The Sydney was lost with all hands but the Kormoran's crew made it to life boats and were captured on the Western Australian coast. Think less of me if you like but I would have shot the entire German crew as spies or pirates. Dressing up a custom built raider (the Kormoran was laid down at the start of the war and was specifically designed to be a disguised warship) is a dirty trick and I wouldn't have shown a shred of mercy to the crew. The Sydney was the pride and joy of the Royal Australian Navy until it was sunk.
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For my part, I won't think bad about you for that especially as the allies would have had the right to do it. privateer war had been banned after WWI and Nazi Germany was not respecting the international regulation on that matter: they were indeed spies or pirates commiting war crimes.
On the other hand, I find wiser to consider that they were obeing orders. The allies assumed a similar position as it is proven by the Nuremberg Trial. Nazi leaders were prosecuted, convicted (death or imprisonment sentences) or relaeased (Hjalmar Schacht). Admiral Raeder (commanding the surface fleet) was among them and sentenced to life imprisonment. Admiral Donitz (commanding the submarines) was condemned to only ten years but submarines warfare remain legal. For info Schacht was a banker who finally opposed hitler and had spent at least a year in concentration camps (Ravensbruck and Dachau). Nothings perfect.
Targan, I understand your position but that would imply to execute every soldier involved in illegal action (that will be a lot if not all). We do (martial courts) but when we know the true responsible people, it's always better to spare lives. Moreover, martial courts often sentence to death soldiers who are not guilty of much. The French strike leaders of 1916 (I believe) were executed and obviously they were right. However, the high ranking officers (Marshall Foch, Petain...) were praised as heroes and still are. I consider them to be war criminals as I can't find any justification in killing your own soldiers needlessly by sending them over and over on pointless assaults. I'm not the one saying that as trench warfare as it was conducted in WWI is widely regarded today as pure insanity. Hopefully, for that matter, time as changed and I even have American friends dreaming of getting after Bush for war crimes (not for invading Irak but for being responsible for 35000 U.S. casualties, plus tortures, Guantanamo..., and why not financing terrorism).