The Battle of Britain Was The First Defeat For The German Luftwaffe.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by arthursmedley

Dowding wanted to order his pilots to shoot 'chutes but Churchill vetoed it.

That's a new one on me.

All accounts I've read say that Dowding's opinion was that German parachuting aircrew were prisoners, no longer combatants and should not be shot at, whereas the Germans would have been within their rights to shoot at British aircrew parachuting over England as they would soon be back in the fight.

Churchill was appalled at this notion but had no 'veto' to make, the Luftwaffe jagdflieger luckily held a different view also.

There are reports of it happening on both sides, although whether by accident or design is purely speculative. The Poles in particular had a 'reputation', but there's no concrete proof as far as I'm aware.