Hopefully, I will get to listen to the Bud Peterson interview later tonight when I am on a PC with sound. Can't comment on it without sound.

The other video....did you notice the editing? That is creative editing. You see guys shooting, you see people in the water. You never see both images together.

The Japanese guy in the water at the end? He blew himself up with a grenade. Watch it again. Japanese prisoners were sometimes known to pull guns or grenades while surrendering. Sometimes they tried to take out Allies with their last act, sometimes their last act was just suicide to keep from being captured. Often, they swam away from enemy rescue vessels.

Or do you think that a ship or sub would stop in hostile waters to make sport of picking off survivors?

Good try though.

Splitter

EDIT: Just watched the second video again. Same conclusion: creative editing.

Off topic again :P Next we will be arguing about Calley and My Lai ;)



One question though ... I don't understand why the original footage was deleted.

I think because the original poster was irritated that the thread got so off topic. I don't blame him honestly... it's ridiculous. I'll admit i didn't help much but at least i tried getting things back on topic on the first page. I've never seen a forum quite like this, its kinda sad :(

Yes, this forum is sad, in that everyone talks about stricter moderation to prevent topics from going off topic, but nothing ever gets done.

Actually, stricter moderation was called for on the update threads only. For the rest of the thread, a few months ago there was an announcement that as long as things don't devolve into personal attacks the moderation on the rest of the board will be lax to allow for tangential discussions. This was because they tend to bring up some interesting things to light which would otherwise be completely bypassed.

The general reasoning behind it all is pretty sound. When there's specific information to be presented (like an update thread) off topic matters need to be kept to a minimum and it is enforced as such.
When we are just discussing other stuff, it's treated as a forum with a general interest in history and aviation, where people are allowed to stray from the topic as long as it's still about history, aviation and warfare , which is what we recreate on our PCs as a hobby.

Yea that sounds fair enough i suppose. Although it can get somewhat frustrating when there is a specific topic you want to talk about and people interrupt with off topic nonsense. I'm not necessarily talking about this thread, but there have been some i've seen in the past like this. I usually butt-out of most threads though... unless there is something of vast interest to me, where i feel like i need to give my 2 cents. :rolleyes:

Well since the OP removed the footage, there's not much else to talk about than war etiquetteMy personal view on this, is that anyone who can fight, or can return to fight, is a valid target.

If a pilot is parachuting over their own territory, and you don't shoot them, they will get back in a new plane to kill people on your side. So using BoB, you could leave a bailed German bomber crew for them to come and bomb London a few days later

Whether or not someone can defend themselves is quite a funny rule of thumb for a war. If you're a sniper taking out someone in the distance that doesn't know you're there, they can't defend themselves. Being armed with the intention of attacking your side at some point, they are a very valid target, but defending themselves doesn't come into in. When you're in a bomber over an enemy target, they can no longer defend themselves.

But to allow a pilot to RTB so they can kill innocent people on your side is a crime to me. Shoot the chute!

why were the posts deleted?

By that rule of thumb during the BoB ,Allied pilots baling out would be shot but Axis pilots bailing out over the UK would be safe.
How many Allied pilots were proven to be shot in their chutes compared to how many got back to fight again .
It probably happened but not very common,not sure i could live with that on my conscience,but each to their own.

I was watching a great show on youtube last night called "Spitfire Ace" (BBC I think). It seems that chute shooting in Europe was rare from what the resident historian said. Stories were common but confirmed incidents were rare.

The exception seems to have been the Poles flying for the RAF. They were very interested in killing Germans any way possible in retaliation for what happened to their country. The Poles were also apparently some of the most revered pilots for their bravery.

I have heard many stories of chute killing in the Pacific....seems it was almost a different war.

Splitter