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well I am not for supporting this bogus outfit but I received an email from a good German friend and ex-pilot of the LW. His story covering the Rammkommando Elbe (false name actually) will be aired on Dogfights I believe on the History Channel July 13, 07 in the USA. Sorry not sure when the episode will be covered elsewhere in Europe or ....... ? In any case he has been assured that the History Channel writers are not going to add nor subtract from his story and service record during the war for this part. there may even be some coverage on the Sturmgruppen, happy thought indeed ....
I gave the show a 3 out of 10 with 10 being best
Erich
Hello to all Candelarians,
Sorry Guys, partially it is my mistake, I started on this thread after seeing the damaged P-51 on post 176 by drgondog. I mistakenly thought that the discussion was about this a/c. Still thinking about this picture and reflecting onto kool kitty89's post 239 were he even mentions: "it would be in no shape to keep dogfighting" I forwarded my statement in regards to a "good" pilot.
So IMHO a pilot who would get himself into a dogfight with a P-51 as pictured on post 176 or its condition being as described on post 239, would be a "stupid" pilot
As I said IMHO
Regards
Kruska
Yes, and that could have fatal consequences, esp. seeing that the Allies were bombing the civilian population to smithereens. I've heard of several Allied pilots being lynched by angry mobs before the German military could get to them.
The German military ofcourse tried their absolute best to capture shot down Allied pilots, hoping they could get valuable information out of them, but unfortunately sometimes angry civilians got there first.
Lol Kruska - the pilot for both of those a/c were my father and both instances were airfield flak - the first pretty obviously 20mm from high deflection. The second was at low altitude also while strafing near Munich - a long way from home. Still not sure what the round was but likely 37 or 40 mm. I don't recall mention of any 30mm flak.
He was not looking for an air battle on the second scenario as he also lost hydraulics, left main gear was damaged and tail wheel were gone. This a/c was his fourth and last Belly Landing at Steeple Morden - and yes that airplane was repaired and flew combat again.
Watching the Kamikaze episode of Dogfights.....bl**dy h*llWar is hell, and Kamikaze must be the 10 level of the same....
And German Airborne officers who were given the word of honor by British or Commonwealth officers found their wounded and left behind comrades slaughtered upon returning as victors during Crete. And US soldiers shoot Wehrmacht soldiers who had surrendered. And German soldiers torched civilians barricaded/looked into churches, and the Russians …………….
Where is this thread wandering to???
Regards
Kruska
saw kamikaze today as well
uss laffey what a ship, what a crew
Well Kruska some people just love to pick a fight when'ever the opportunity arises. Just ignore it.
All sides commited war crimes during WW2, that's the reality.
The German military had special POW camps, so did the Americans, British, Soviets Japanese, and I'm sure none of them were anything close to luxury resorts.
No side during the war was "evil" as many like us to believe (Some were unknowningly fighting for the wrong cause, but that's another story), the far majority of soldiers from each side just fought for their families and home, that's it.
Anyway the point is that the German military tried their best to get hold of shot down Allied pilots and vice versa, however sometimes angry mobs got there first (Quite a few captured German pilots were lynched or shot as-well).
All sides had their bad guys, however one must keep in mind that these represented the extreme minority, even in the Waffen SS. This is the very reason behind the forming of special shooting squads, these consisted of the few men cold blooded enough to carry out the cruel orders from men such as Himmler. These men weren't well liked by the rest of the army who litterally saw them as evil individuals.
But again thankfully 99% were just like us normal people; completely unlike those evil executioners who formed the dreaded shooting squads.
German soldiers treating the wounds of a captured Soviet soldier:
Hello davparlr,
Off course every pilot will estimate and judge the damage on his a/c differently and this is where the answer lies, a good pilot will know if he continues or not, a "hero" or hothead will just go for it and get himself probably killed for nothing (besides a medal and his righteous feeling).
Regards
Kruska
There is nothing civilized about warfare. It reduces people to basic emotions. It would be very hard for me to be chivalrous to a shot down pilot knowing he had probably just dropped bombs on my family or shot down a friend. This occured on all fronts. However, some atrocities are just caused by meanness at shown by the Bataan death march. War is hell and to try to make it into a civilized affair is often fool hardy.
Agreed, that's what I was trying to say as-well.
There is nothing civilized about warfare. It reduces people to basic emotions. It would be very hard for me to be chivalrous to a shot down pilot knowing he had probably just dropped bombs on my family or shot down a friend. This occured on all fronts. However, some atrocities are just caused by meanness at shown by the Bataan death march. War is hell and to try to make it into a civilized affair is often fool hardy.