Unruly Allies: British Problems with the French Treatment of Axis Prisoners of War, 1943-1945

• Autores: Bob Moore
• Localización: War in history, ISSN-e 1477-0385, ISSN 0968-3445, Vol. 7, Nº. 2, 2000, págs. 180-198
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The treatment of prisoners of war was one of many issues which led to con-flicts in the relationship between the major western allied powers and their French allies during the Second World War. While both the British and Americans found it expedient to hand over captured German and Italian soldiers to the custody of the Free French, first in North Africa and then later in north-west Europe, in order to relieve pressure on their own manpower resources, this policy ultimately created a whole series of problems. From the very beginning, neither the metropolitan nor the colonial Free French soldiers appeared to treat their captives in accordance with the terms of the Geneva Convention. The situation was further complicated by the German and Italian refusal to recognize the French as belligerents and to treat them instead as francs-tireurs, as civilians carrying concealed weapons. Thus when the Axis powers shot captured Free French soldiers in North Africa, and FFI men in metropolitan France after June 1944, the French had no compunction in carrying out reprisals against Germans and Italians in their hands. This created worries in both London and Washington that the ill-treatment or killing of captured Axis soldiers might lead to reprisals against the British and Americans held in Germany - a fear which remained until the final surrender in the spring of 1945.