Collapsing of parachutes as sport ?

[Jon]

Just a question out of interest,
I am reading about the air battles over Malta at the moment and have read on several occasions descriptions of fighter pilots collapsing the open parachutes of their downed enemies with the slipstream of their aircraft. It looks to have been done by both RAF and Luftwaffe fighter pilots and although the parachutes opened again it would appear a few aircrew died as a result.
I am not here to point fingers at any Nation and i am aware that all countries had aircrew killed whilst under a parachute by fighters but, this looks to have been a "sport" not intending to kill. I have not read any accounts of this happening over Europe, Pacific etc...

Were these accidents or deliberate?
Did this just happen over Malta?

[TMurray]

Originally Posted by Jon

Just a question out of interest,
I am reading about the air battles over Malta at the moment and have read on several occasions descriptions of fighter pilots collapsing the open parachutes of their downed enemies with the slipstream of their aircraft. It looks to have been done by both RAF and Luftwaffe fighter pilots and although the parachutes opened again it would appear a few aircrew died as a result.
I am not here to point fingers at any Nation and i am aware that all countries had aircrew killed whilst under a parachute by fighters but, this looks to have been a "sport" not intending to kill. I have not read any accounts of this happening over Europe, Pacific etc...

Were these accidents or deliberate?
Did this just happen over Malta?

Hi Jon,
This is exactly how my great uncle was killed flying a Mk Vb Spitfire with 249 Sqn on 10.3.1942 near Dingli (Ta'Kali) Malta. His aircraft (serial number AB343) was hit by Hpt. Karl-Heinz KRAHL of JG 3 (although OKL Fighter Claims report this as a Hurricane, the time of day is not correct, the Hurricane of Sgt Mayall was shot down c.1000 hours by Ufz Hans Schade). PO Kenric MURRAY bailed out of his crippled A/C but his chute was collapsed by the downdraft of another pursuing Bf109F as witnessed by other RAF pilots. Given there were so few Spit pilots available (having only arrived 3 days earlier) it could well have been deliberate.

[e0760256]

Jon,

Killing of pilots in their parachutes happened over Europe. They either happened by guns or slipstream. I know that shooting of pilots hanging in their chutes is a very common practice especially in the Allied pilots. As you read more books written by pilots, you will see them.

[Csaba B. Stenge]

Well, IMHO using the slipstream to collapsing the parachute was much more rare event, than using weapons against the pilot and/or chute.
Maybe this happened few times accidentally as well.
I guess, the real bitter or bloodthirsty pilots used their weapons against the baled out opponent.

[marsyao]

I believe the WWII pilots who most likely to shot enemy pilots hang under parachute were Americans and Japanese, the reason was a bailed-out pilot was only temporaily out of action, he would soon find another aicraft and up fighting again, so why gave him any chance ?

[e0760256]

I guess it was not hard to kill the "enemy" with weapons. Because in that case they would have a physical distance with their victims, as their guns were adjusted to a couple of hundred yards. They would not see the face of their prey. Some time ago, I have ordered some gun camera footage from US archives. The footages were belog to several pilots and they were taken in the same day. I had a direct evidence that at least one of them killed a German pilot hanging in his chute. And, I was hoping to see the images of a chute being hit. All I got was buring or passing Bf109s. They were probably censored. This discussion has a dead end. I recommend everybody to read the book "On Killing" from Dave Grossman. The history is full of bullets and dead bodies, and this book is a must for everybody who "loves" history.

Good day.

[Franek Grabowski]

Originally Posted by e0760256

Jon,

Killing of pilots in their parachutes happened over Europe. They either happened by guns or slipstream. I know that shooting of pilots hanging in their chutes is a very common practice especially in the Allied pilots. As you read more books written by pilots, you will see them.

??? Reading accounts eg. from the Battle of Britain, I would say it was exactly the opposite, at least in the early stage of war.

[Graham Boak]

Although reported examples seem to be few, targetting pilots in parachutes was a concern during the BoB, as Dowding's comments on the subject have been published. In short, he felt that over British soil it was a legitimate tactic for the Luftwaffe but not for the RAF, and over German-held territory the reverse would apply.

There are other recorded stories of some ill-feeling on the subject from Australian sources in the Desert, (including firing at pilots after their aircraft had crash-landed) leading to it being adopted by at least some Australian pilots.

[Hauptmann]

Hello,

I've heard from a Regia Aeronautica veteran who flew several resque mission over the Mediterranean with a CantZ506 that his crew recovered several dead pilots at sea... and that they were shoot after bailing out...
He also claimed that RAF pilots used to shoot at resque planes with the RED CROSS...

I don't think that collapsing chutes was a sport... and I think it would be offensive to the pilot who did it and had to live with it... I can't immagine of a man in uniform killing for fun...

I don't blame the RAF pilots... that's war... and they didn't hide between their coscience...

[marsyao]

About shooting down aircarft with Red Cross was indeed a policy of RAF, it was Churchill who made that
decision, the reason was he suspect Luftwaffe used aicraft with red cross as disguse to report British convoy in the English
Chanel, second he thought it was wrong to allow Germans to rescure their aicrews who got shot down in the sea so that they could return to action again, so that Churchill said "we will shot down any German aircrafts even those with red cross on them, but we also would do our best to rescure those German aircrews shot down by us from the sea"