Surprising quality gun camera footage from japanese theatre.

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by winny

If there are no planes left then the pilot is irrelevant. This is what is known as Air superiority. There will always be people to put into planes.

WWII went on for 6 years, so no one quickly achieved air superiority, and a shortage of skilled pilots was a serious problem. As Oleg would say (and I'm not suggesting he agrees with any particular view, it's just a quote from him), it's not the plane, it's the pilot. So if Gunther Rall had been shot, the Germans would have had the same success by sticking a new recruit in a plane instead of him - obviously not.

Would you throw a grenade into a barn full of unarmed POW soilders?

Or execute anyone and everyone who surrendered?

Talk all you like about 'kill everyone who could possibly kill you at somepoint in the future' that argument could also be used to justify bombing children. It's a flawed argument.

Well now you're being silly. If a German pilot has bailed over France in BoB, he is going to get back in a plane and try to kill your side. That is not the same as a POW, not even close. And children... well that's silly.

I respect that your opinion is different to ours, but you're suggesting we're mad, irrational or just naive about war - yet as quoted a couple of pages ago, Dowding also thought that those bailing over friendly territory were a reasonable target. Or do you think he was a clueless idiot who knew nothing about war?