General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: STARLING ORDER - Reply from Axel Niestle
Posted by:
John Griffiths
()
Date: August 16, 2002 06:42PM
<HTML>All,
I am pretty impressed by the way this thread has developed.
However, I am disturbed to think some posters believe it is a 'defence of the Germans' thread - it is not. It is a look at the characters who fought the Battle of the Atlantic, and Walker was one of the biggest.
The similarities between Bomber Harris and Walker are not fair ones, in my estimation. Harris ordered his crews out over Germany from the Air Ministry - he didn't drop bombs himself. Walker was in command of a warship that pysically took prisoners aboard, prisoners who were then mistreated, in some cases badly.
How on earth did Douglas Bader pop up on here? What did he do?
As for the IJN,. that was a war fought to different rules in a different theatre and the comparison is like but not parallel.
I believe Axel Niestle's account. I categorically believe the account given by the seaman aboard HMS Starling to the BBc. Like Jak Showell - a man who has written books, is regarded as an expert in his fleild - I also believe the BBC would not dare to televise a lie.
Which means one thing to me. Walker was guilty of an act of gross criminal negligence, war or no war. Trouble was, we needed heroes then in the UK and by God, we got one hand delivered to us in the form of 'Johnny' Walker!
That's my slant on things.
John</HTML>
I am pretty impressed by the way this thread has developed.
However, I am disturbed to think some posters believe it is a 'defence of the Germans' thread - it is not. It is a look at the characters who fought the Battle of the Atlantic, and Walker was one of the biggest.
The similarities between Bomber Harris and Walker are not fair ones, in my estimation. Harris ordered his crews out over Germany from the Air Ministry - he didn't drop bombs himself. Walker was in command of a warship that pysically took prisoners aboard, prisoners who were then mistreated, in some cases badly.
How on earth did Douglas Bader pop up on here? What did he do?
As for the IJN,. that was a war fought to different rules in a different theatre and the comparison is like but not parallel.
I believe Axel Niestle's account. I categorically believe the account given by the seaman aboard HMS Starling to the BBc. Like Jak Showell - a man who has written books, is regarded as an expert in his fleild - I also believe the BBC would not dare to televise a lie.
Which means one thing to me. Walker was guilty of an act of gross criminal negligence, war or no war. Trouble was, we needed heroes then in the UK and by God, we got one hand delivered to us in the form of 'Johnny' Walker!
That's my slant on things.
John</HTML>
