Figure 1.--Here we see a German boy soldier being guarded by an Amerrican GI, somewhere in Germany in the final month of the War. Awounded comrad issitting on the bnch. Soviet Army front-line soldiers generally shot Germans who surrendered individually or in small groups. This was uncommon with American and British soldiers. Many boy soldiers were more than happy to surreder at the end of the War. This boy seems more arrogant, not understanding how Germany could have lost the War. Notice the American Sherman tank in the background.

The most dangerous time for most World War II soldiers was when they were surrendered individually or in small gtoups fromt-line soldiers. The major exception here was the Germans who turned POW camps for Soviet Red Army soldiers into death camps. American soldiers like British soldiers generally behaved correctly following Geneva Convention rules. The situation varied somewhat from country to country. The primary exception was in Pacific with the Japanese. Some observers have suggested that America was as brutal with Japanese POWs as the Japanese were. This is simply not true. American soldiersdid not torture Japanese soldiers. They did not shoot Japabese soldiers trying to surrender. Virtually no Japanese soldiers offered to suuender. This did not change to any extent until Okinawa and even then only small numbers surrendered.There is no doubt, however, that American combat soldiers shot wouunded Japanese soldiers. Here this behavior has to be put in the context of the mangled bodies of American captives the GIs found as they advanced. Another issue was the fact that not only were Japanese wounded booby trapped, but wounded Japanese soldiers still concious often attempted to kill the American medics trying to aid them. American soldiers understandably had difficulty understanding the Japanese refusal to surrender. Racism were also undeniablt a factor. But the major factor is that wounded Japanese soldiers were dangerous. Proximity to the Americans gave wounded Japanese the best opportunity to kill Americans. American fire power meant that Japanese casualties were much higher than American casualties, often 10 to 1. This is not to say the shooting of wounded soldiers on the battlefield was acceptable, but it is also not a war crime for a soldier to defend himself. This is very different from the official policies of the Japanese regarding surrender. And the policies leading to deaths of large numbers of Allied POWs and civilian detainees. Almost all deaths of Japanese POWs occurred on the battlefield. The same occurred to a lesser extent in Europe. There were incidents of American soldiers shooting Germans trying to surrender in Europe. This primarily occurred in Normandy after accounts of SS attrocities surfaced. They also occurred in Belgium after word of the Malmady Massacre spread. American soldiers began shooting all Germans in black uniforms thinking they were SS men. Actually the Waffen-SS did not have black combat uniforms--but Panzer crews did. What did not occur was the murder of POWs in rear areas once taken as POWs. Once in camps the American treatment of POWs was almost invariably correct and survival rates exceptionally high.

Created: 8:09 PM 1/25/2019
Last updated: 8:09 PM 1/25/2019