“Strategic bombing and planned starvation of German
civilians” :
Of allied forces and us
Shenali Waduge
The topic is accountability. The question is why has there been zero
accountability of crimes against humanity committed by Allied Forces
which specifically targeted civilian populations with strategic area
bombing and post—war comprehensive starvation campaign that killed two
million German POWs and 5.7 million German civilians – how else can such
a number die after the war has ended?
Why have these crimes escaped the attention of the World Court and
why are present day Germans and Japanese leaders not calling for justice
for the millions of civilians killed by Allied Forces during and after
World War II?
They say there are no permanent friends but permanent interests. The
Soviets were friends of the Allies but now no more. The Germans were
enemies and are now friends – same applies to Japan. Osama bin Laden was
a friend but turned enemy and killed, Saddam was also a friend but he
too became an enemy and he too was hung. Mubarak was a darling of the
West but now languishes in prison – there’s a long list of friends
turned enemies and enemies turned friends. The official transcript of
the meeting between Churchill and Stalin on August 12, 1942 at 7p.m.
reveals how much Germany was hated.
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Winston
Churchill(Right) and Josef Stalin at Yalta in 1945 |
"The Prime Minister said that we hoped to shatter twenty German
cities as we had shattered Cologne, Lubeck, Dusseldorf, and so on. More
and more aeroplanes and bigger and bigger bombs. M. Stalin had heard of
2-ton bombs. We had now begun to use 4-ton bombs, and this would be
continued throughout the winter. If need be, as the war went on, we
hoped to shatter almost every dwelling in almost every German city."
(Official transcript)
US, UK, and most of all Germany and Japan have forgotten the past –
or have they? Can Angela Merkel or any other German politician really
forget how US and British killed their people, targeted their homes,
destroyed their infrastructure and even went on to starve the remaining
Germans to death?
Bombing Germans to death
Use of strategic air power was first propagated by Italian Lt.Col.
Giulio Douhet and made this theory known in his book “The Command of the
Air” in which he proposes use of aerial bombing on civilian populations.
He proposed the use of a combination of bombs to be dropped in waves,
starting with high explosives and followed by incendiary bombs filled
with phosphorus (later napalm) to burn structures to the ground followed
by gas bombs to kill those who survived. This is exactly what the US and
Royal Air Force applied in Hamburg, Dresden and Tokyo which created the
horrific firestorms.
From the strategy of no deliberate attacks on civilians professed by
British Premier Neville Chamberlain claiming it was “against
international law to bomb civilians as such and to make deliberate
attacks on civilian population”, that policy was changed by Winston
Churchill who claimed need for “absolutely devastating exterminating
attacks by very heavy bombers from this country upon the Nazi homeland”.
The US State Department in 1937 condemned the Japanese bombing of
Chinese cities and declared “any general bombing of an extensive area
wherein there resides a large population engaged in peaceful pursuits is
unwarranted and contrary to the principles of law and humanity” and
President Roosevelt went on to say that civilian bombing was “inhuman
barbarism”.
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Allied
troops captured during World War II |
US too changed its policy and went on to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki
using nuclear bombs that were tested on Japanese in August 1945 well
after World War II ended and killed over 140,000 civilians and to this
day the people suffer radiation and other complications. Is it not White
racism for the Americans not to test the bomb on Germany but to test the
bomb on the Japanese?
The objective was to destroy the “morale of the enemy civilian
population” by strategic bombing by US and UK troops. These two very
nations speak of protecting civilians!
Did the British military along with its US counterpart deliberately
set out to commit genocide of the German people? When Churchill used
words like “extermination” and “annihilation” we can think so.
One hundred and fifty German cities was bombed between 1940 and 1945
(reference book by historian Jorg Freidrich) – cities included Kassel,
Paderborn, Aachen, Swinemunde, and of course Dresden. Cities like Cologn
and Essen experienced more than 250 raids each with British bombers
turning ruins into ruins! Hamburg experienced the first firebomb which
killed 45,000 people. Lets not forget that a staggering 87 per cent of
all bombs dropped by American planes “missed” their targets and left
thousands of German civilians dead.
“A 20,00lb cluster bomb no matter where you drop it is a significant
emotional event for anyone within a square mile” (Carl Vinson, US
officer)
"The destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers, and
the disruption of civilized community life throughout Germany (is the
goal).... It should be emphasized that the destruction of houses, public
utilities, transport and lives; the creation of a refugee problem on an
unprecedented scale; and the breakdown of morale both at home and at the
battle fronts by fear of extended and intensified bombing are accepted
and intended aims of our bombing policy.
They are not by-products of attempts to hit factories." -- "Air
Marshal Arthur Harris to Sir Arthur Street, Under Secretary of State,
Air Ministry, October 25, 1943" quoted in Tami Biddle, Rhetoric and
Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas
about Strategic Bombing.
"It was the origin of the idea of bombing the enemy out of the war. I
should have been proud of it, but it originated with Winston." -- Martin
Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, Vol. VI: Finest Hour.
"We must bomb Germany and Italy to the greatest extent possible." --
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Defence Committee Memo, October 31,
1940 quoted in Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill,
"Everything is being done to create the bombing force on the largest
possible scale, and there is no intention of changing this policy. ...
It is the most potent method of impairing the enemy's morale we can use
at the present time. ... Even if all the towns of Germany were rendered
largely uninhabitable, it does not follow that the military control
would be weakened, or even that war industry could not be carried on.
... The Air Staff would make a mistake to put their claim too high. ...
It may well be that German morale will crack, and that our bombing will
play a very important part in bringing the result about. ... The only
plan is to persevere." -- Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Air Staff
Chief Sir Charles Portal, October 7, 1941.
"We are bombing Germany, city by city, and ever more terribly, in
order to make it impossible for you to go on with the war. That is our
object. We shall pursue it remorselessly. City by city; Lubeck, Rostock,
Cologne, Emden, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Duisburg, Hamburg - and the list
will grow longer and longer. Let the Nazis drag you down to disaster
with them if you will. That is for you to decide. We are coming by day
and by night. No part of the Reich is safe. People who work in
(factories) live close to them. Therefore we hit your houses, and you."
-- Pamphlet dropped in Germany by the RAF, Summer 1942, quoted in A.C.
Grayling, Among the Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WW
II Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan
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Soviet
prisoners under German Guard |
"It is surely obvious that children, invalids and old people who are
economically unproductive but must nevertheless consume food and other
necessaries are a handicap to the German war effort and it would
therefore be sheer waste of effort to attack them. This however does not
imply … that no German civilians are proper objects for bombing. The
German economic system, which I am instructed by my objective to
destroy, includes workers, houses, and public utilities, and it is
therefore meaningless to claim that the wiping out of German cities is
'not an end in itself but the inevitable accompaniment of an all out
attack on the enemy's means and capacity to wage war'." -- Air Marshal
Arthur Harris quoted in Tami Biddle, Rhetoric and Reality in Air
Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas about Strategic
Bombing.
"The destruction of factories, which was nevertheless on an enormous
scale, could be regarded as a bonus. The aiming-points were usually
right in the centre of the town." -- Arthur Harris, Bomber Offensive
Bomb tonnage dropped on Europe
Historian Richard Overy compiled a listing of the tons of bombs
dropped over Europe (inc. Germany and occupied territories) by the RAF
and USAAF during the Second World War. This tonnage was dropped
predominantly on cities in area bombing raids, not in tactical attacks
on infrastructure or war materiel industries. Even as late as 1945, with
Germany reeling and fighting almost completely within her own borders,
the bombing of German cities proceeded apace. Had the war continued
until 1946, the Allies were on track toward dropping a projected total
of roughly 1,432,000 tons of bombs. See table
In all Germany lost 650,000 if not more people. In 1938 over 22
million Germans lived in 58 towns each with over 100,000 inhabitants.
The strategy was to depopulate one-third the German population. German
bombing of UK caused deaths to 60,595 British.
The support of pro-West media whenever accusations pile against
atrocities committed by the West is “the report cannot be independently
verified” or these are “enemy propaganda”.
When others drop bombs they are uncivilized killers. When the West
bombs, they are upholding civilized values. When others kill they are
terrorists when the West kills, they are striking against terror. This
is the logic. But in the case of Germany and Japan that logic changed.
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Saddam
Hussein |
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Osama bin
Laden |
Hosni
Mubarak |
What do the British public say of British accountability? What do
present day British parliamentarians have to say about bombing civilians
by their British troops the very bombers who were knighted for their
achievements and Bomber Harris became SIR Harris and Winston Churchill
became Sir Winston Churchill and buried from Westminster Abbey the
highest tribute paid and termed the “Greatest Englishmen that ever
lived” – but does the Dresden murder of German civilians deserve such a
title?
What a contrast to the manner in which the Sri Lankan Armed Forces
physically compromised 6,000 military lives to save 294,000 Tamil
civilians but Britain calls for “accountability”.
Well Sri Lanka’s accountability is the 294,000 civilians saved. Of
course within the terrain the Armed Forces were fighting in whilst
attempting to save these people proved by the fact that 6,000 soldiers
also died we cannot rule out that civilians would have also died. But
what is ruled out is that any civilian deaths were strategic bombing of
civilians; nothing intentional or deliberate and certainly none of the
unverifiable guestimates the world is quoting. We also need to clear
wrong perceptions. It was not Germany that declared war, it was Britain
and France that declared war on Germany.
What is not told us is that Hitler did not plan to invade Britain
instead he was planning to invade Russia.
What is also not told is that even when Hitler had the opportunity to
capture the entire British army on May 24, 1940 at Dunkirk, he chose not
to do so. All Hitler had wanted from Britain was for them to recognize
Germany’s position on the Continent and a desirable return of Germany’s
colonies. (refer David Irving “The Warpath”). If so why were Britain and
the US so brutal to Germany and Germans?
Sri Lanka has not committed crimes against humanity – US and UK has
The contrasts are significant. When US and UK deliberately targeted
civilians in Germany and Japan, the Sri Lankan Forces saved 294,000.
When US and UK dropped leaflets warning of bombing which were dropped
ONLY AFTER the bombing Sri Lanka not only dropped leaflets but used
loudspeakers to advise Tamil civilians to move to safe areas. When
post-war the Allies planned a systematic starvation of German civilians,
the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were well prepared with refugee welcome
centres, Tamil-speaking Armed Forces personnel, women soldiers at every
point and food and medical aid. It was at one of these centres that
LTTErs disguised as a civilian blew herself up killing scores of Tamil
civilians as well as the female soldiers who were looking after these
rescued civilians.
When US and UK designed a systematic programme to starve Germans to
death, the Sri Lankan government not only pardoned 594 child soldiers
but designed an indigenous rehabilitation programme and has
rehabilitated and reintegrated over 10,000 former LTTErs, educated them
and now they are all involved in higher education or pursuing a
livelihood.
Starving Germans to death post war - American food policy in occupied
Germany
The world will be shocked to know the American food policy in the
first two years of the decade long occupation of Germany following World
War II.
The country that champions human rights prohibited food relief
shipments to Germany until December 1945. The War ended in May 1945, but
CARE shipments were prohibited until June 5, 1946. There is nothing
really to be surprised – Iraq, Iran and sanctions on other countries are
good examples of how civilians are made to suffer.
A relief worker described the situation in Germany (June 1946):
".... people in mobs crying for food and falling over in the streets.
The starving... those who are dying never say anything and one rarely
sees them. They first become listless and weak, they react quickly to
cold and chills, they sit staring in their rooms or lie listlessly in
their beds... one day they just die. The doctor usually diagnoses
malnutrition and complications resulting therefrom. Old women and kids
usually die first because they are weak and are unable to get out and
scrounge for the extra food it takes to live. It is pretty hard for an
American who has lacked enough food to become ravenously hungry perhaps
only once or twice in a lifetime to understand what real starvation is."
Captured or surrendered German soldiers were designated as "Disarmed
Enemy Forces" not Prisoners of War as required under Geneva Convention
because the law states that the same quantities of food must be given to
POWs as the US troops. None of Sri Lanka's captured or surrendered
LTTErs had any complaints about their treatment.
Whilst laughing at the refugee camps set up to accommodate 294,000
Tamil civilians the US and UK cramped these German soldiers into
wired-in enclosures that lack even the basic necessities resulting in
tens of thousands prisoners dying from HUNGER and DISEASE whilst UNFIT
and SICK prisoners were forcibly used for labour and even mine clearing
- this is the treatment given by US and UK the champions of Human
Rights! In French camps alone over 16,500 German soldiers died in 1945!
Whilst human rights organizations demanded entry into Sri Lanka's
refugee camps the International Red Cross were not allowed to involve
itself in welfare of captured German soldiers and prohibited from
providing aid, food or visit the camps. Visits were allowed only after
February 1946.
Whilst retribution played a significant role for the US the many
letters written by former LTTE child soldiers reveal their gratitude to
Sri Lanka's Armed Forces in particular those that looked after them in
the rehabilitation centres.
Whilst Sri Lanka begged for loans to take care of the refugees and
kickstart the infrastructure development US and UK did not allow
international aid and relief only went to NON-GERMAN displaced persons.
General Lucius Clay, Deputy to Gen. Eisenhower said "I feel that the
Germans should suffer from hunger and from cold as I believe such
suffering is necessary to make them realize the consequences of war
which they cause".
Not only were US forces given strict orders not to share their food
with the Germans even their wives were also prohibited from doing the
same and told not to even give left overs to the German maids - even if
food was destroyed, the Germans were not to be given. There are no words
to describe how the US could even think of such a directive and what a
terrible crime against humanity this was. While at the Nuremberg
Tribunal the Nazi leadership was accused of crimes and mass starvation
and US were doing absolutely the same! Feeding the German population was
an Allied legal obligation under Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Rules of
Land Warfare!
Can US and UK be proud of themselves for refusing to feed the German
civilians by claiming they were enemy civilians?
Can US and UK be proud that these civilians and even POWs suffered
due to vengeance?
Investigate, Indict and punish UK and US for crimes against humanity
World War was not about vanquishing the enemy. It was more about
wholesale destruction, blanket bombing, planned extermination of people
and the total disregard for human values which has had a domino effect
on all conflicts thereafter.
1. Osaka, Japan (March 13-August 1947) - over10,000 killed using 274
American B-29 heavy bomber airplanes. Napalm and incendiary cluster
bombs aimed at civilian housing by low-flying bombers. The first night
raid left over 4,000 dead.
2. Kassel, Germany (February 1942-March 1945) - over 10,000 killed by
British Royal Air Force using 1,800 tons of bombs including incendiaries
creating lethal firestorms. Kassel had a population of 236,000 and by
April 1945 there were hardly 50,000 German civilians.
3. Darmstadt, Germany (September 1943-February 1944) over 12,000
killed by RAF bombing raids which targeted the wooden houses which
worsened the fire that ensued.
4. Pforzheim, Germany (April 1944-March 1945) - over 21,000 killed by
RAF by 379 British aircraft which within 22 minutes destroyed 83 per
cent of the town depopulating the inner city areas.
5. Swinoujscie, Poland (March 12, 1945) - over 23,000 killed by US
Air Force
6. Berlin, Germany (1940-45) - the German capital, over 50,000 killed
by 363 air raids between 1940 and 1945 by airplanes belonging to
British, American and Soviets with specific orders to strike housing and
civilian centres (strategy of "area bombing")
7. Dresden, Germany (October 1944-April 1945) - Over 35,000 dead
(some opine even 1million deaths). Dresden was Germany's 7th biggest
city. In three days starting from February 13, 1945. 1,300 bombers from
British and US Air Force dropped more than 3,800 tons of high explosives
and firebombs creating hot winds that burnt people to death.
8. Hamburg, Germany (September 1939-April 1945) - over 43,000 killed.
Hamburg was an important port and industrial centre and the city was
almost obliterated because the firestorm raged by 3,000 aircrafts using
9,000 tons of bombs for over a week reducing 8sq.miles of the city to
ashes. More people died in Hamburg that all the people German bombed in
England!
9. Tokyo, Japan (November 1944-August 1945) - over 100,000 plus
killed by American Airforce with 90 per cent of the bombs falling on
Japanese homes by B-29s.
The night raid on March 9-10, 1945 using 1,700 tons of bombs
destroyed close to 300,000 buildings which were made from wood and paper
and killed an estimated 100,000 citizens and over one million injured
and homeless.10. Hiroshima and Nagasaki - August 1945, the bombs three
days apart from each other displayed the lack of humanity by Americans
in using these two cities as targets to test its atomic bomb. It was a
shameful act of racism killing over 140,000 civilians, destroying areas
and property and people continue to suffer impacts of radiation to this
day.Winston Churchill says "We should never allow ourselves to apologize
for what we did to Germany." -- while Clement Atlee, Deputy Prime
Minister says "There is no indiscriminate bombing. ... the bombing is of
those targets which are most effective from the military point of view."
And Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State, in his Statement in the
House of Commons says "The objectives of our bomber offensive in Germany
are to destroy the capacity of Germany to make war and to relieve the
pressure of the German Air Force and armies on our Russian allies. No
instruction has been given to destroy dwelling houses rather than
armament factories, but it is impossible to distinguish in night-bombing
between factories and the dwellings that surround them." on December 1,
1943.
Nevertheless, while we are on the topic of accountability,
Anglo-American crimes against humanity cannot be let off the hook. These
are all serial murders.
The number of German civilian deaths during the war and the millions
of German civilians and soldiers who died by deliberate and planned
starvation perpetrators to be investigated, needs to be indicted and
most of all these crimes against humanity need to be punished. We demand
action. |