Luftwaffe pilots shot while parachuted

[GuerraCivil]

When it comes to German Eastern Front, both sides accused each other of being the first to attack parachuted pilots. A classical case of one word vs. another word. Claiming that the enemy was the one who pulled the trigger first and is therefore more to be blamed. Revenge was more or less justified motive to do the very same.

Anyway this raises much controversiality and the attacks against parachuting airmen have been considered repugnant by many veteran pilots in their memoirs and statements. If it would have been totally OK for them, we would read memoirs and combat reports claiming openly "full kills" with both the enemy plane and parachuted pilot eliminated in this style: "I did shoot the Spitfire/Messerschmitt down, but the enemy pilot escaped by bailing out. Fortunately my wingman took care of him". But such memoirs and statements are not to be read by us. If anything is mentioned, it is presented usually as "justified revenge". Very few German, American, British and Commonwealth pilots have openly admitted killing parachuted enemy. Not such talk also in "minor" European pilot memoirs (Italian, Romanian, Finnish etc.) - Also Soviet accounts - as far as I know them - seem to be quiet about it if they shot parachuted enemy pilots, but yes willingly pointing to the Germans as the ones who shot helpless Soviet airmen on parachute. I know only one Soviet combat report in which the killing of parachuting enemy airman is admitted, but that combat report came to the light only after the Soviet archives were opened also to Western European researchers.

Only Japanese seemed to be open about this in their wartime combat reports. Maybe a difference of culture - for many Western pilots it was something quite repugnant and something that needed at least good explanation (revenge or other "justified" motive), for flying samurais it seemed to be totally OK and no further explanations were needed. It was even important to mention in Japanese combat reports that not only the enemy planes, but also the parachuting enemy pilots had been "eliminated" (=killed from further fighting). Japanese themselves flew often without parachute and if they were shot down over enemy territory, they went down with the flaming plane without trying to rescue themselves. Parachute was to be employed only if there was a chance to avoid being taken POW. Of all the "Westerners" the Soviets (Russians are Europeans and have clearly European culture, so Westerners) had the most similar mentality - one who surrendered to be a POW was considered a traitor. And "taran" = ramming attacks were common and highly regarded by both Japanese and Soviets.

However after the lost war killing of parachuting enemy pilots was something that even Japanese understood that it was controversial for many (Western) people and then there was a need to explain/justify it or even better to be totally quiet about it. Did even the most famous Japanese ace celebrities kill parachuted enemies? Looking for general practice of IJA/IJN air forces it seems very likely, but the survived aces did not want to talk about it after the war.