Talk:Seenotdienst

Needs more
Needs discussion of tactical organization, total numbers, etc. to be considered complete. Might I suggest a consultation of SEEFLIEGER: Luftwaffe Maritime Aircraft and Units 1935-1945?--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 23:44, 15 December 2009 (UTC)


 * There's probably also some useful snippets in Shot down and in the drink, Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork, The National Archives, 2007, ISBN 9781905615056. THat book focusses on the RAF rescue setup, but naturally makes comparisons between that and the German setup.  I have a copy at home, I'll try to dig it out later.  David Underdown (talk) 15:03, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Bulletin 1254 of 13 July 1940
Was communicated to the Germans, stating that as of 20 July, their air-sea rescue planes would be shot down. This caused outrage among German pilots (at least) and may still be seen as dubious today. On an Unreliable source (http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=24742, with thanks to the contributors there, who I guess have got their facts right) I find that:

1) The planes were found to be systematically used for reconnaissance as well as for rescue. 'Y' intercepts and Enigma decrypts gave the position and strength of coastal convoys that could only have come from aerial observation, and the only German aircraft in the area had been rescue craft. This intelligence remained top secret for many years and Churchill had to refer it, in public and in print, to a more conventional source.

2) Legally and legalistically, because of their use for reconnaissance and also because of their routine use for unwounded rescuees, they were not protected by the then-operative 1929 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field: Art. 18 "Aircraft used as means of medical transport shall enjoy the protection of the Convention during the period in which they are reserved exclusively for the evacuation of wounded and sick and the transport of medical personnel and material." In Churchill's words: "We did not recognize this means of rescuing enemy pilots so they could come and bomb our civil population again. . . all German air ambulances were forced down or shot down by our fighters on definite orders approved by the War Cabinet."

Additionally, to obtain such protection, the planes would have had to obtain British permission to fly: "In the absence of special and express permission, flying over the firing line, and over the zone situated in front of clearing or dressing stations, and generally over all enemy territory or territory occupied by the enemy, is prohibited." Allied ASR planes, developed later in the war, never claimed legal protection nor did they use white planes with red crosses.

It still leaves an unpleasant feeling, but it wasn't a nice war. Can anyone find a reliable source for these points? Richard Keatinge (talk) 10:53, 16 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Very interesting. I will keep my eyes peeled. Binksternet (talk) 13:03, 16 September 2011 (UTC)