Re: Gunther Stedtfeld and strafing of civilians
Hi Sergio
I understand pilots who are attacking targets that they do not know is 'out of bounds' Errors are made in a time of war. I fully understand the pilots of 20th FG who attacked trains in Denmark the 27th of August 1944. They had just attacked hundreds of trains in France. They attacked a number of civilian Danish trains and nobody is blaming them. Not even the train driver who's foot they shot off!
I do not understand the pilots of 55th FG who attacked trains in Denmark the 7th of January 1945. They knew that they were over Denmark and falsified the pilot reports when they came home. They attacked trains in an area that was declaired 'out of bounds' and claimed after they came home that they attacked trains in the area of Hamburg (several hundred miles away). They knew where they were. They did not attack military targets during the mission even though that there were plenty. And there was no reason to attack the people trying to seek shelter from the bullits by running over the frozen fields. These pilots had a great time shooting up Danish civilians even though there were several German air fields close by that were packed with air planes.
I do not understand Bob Braham that did quite a few ranger missions to Denmark and who almost every time shot up civilian targets. He knew what he was shooting up - and he did not shoot down the number of planes that he claimed. Quite a few danes think that Braham was a war criminal. By the way, Braham did not attack military targets on the ground in Denmark - he normally attacked traffic out in the country side far from anything that could only smell of German military.
Carsten
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