Aerial incidents in Switzerland in World War II
Aerial incidents in Switzerland in World War II | ||||||
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Part of Zurich, on 4 March 1945 | ||||||
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Belligerents | ||||||
United States United Kingdom | Switzerland | Germany | ||||
Casualties and losses | ||||||
10 aircraft 36 airmen killed |
3 aircraft lost fighting Germany 1 lost fighting the Allies | 11 aircraft |
During World War II the neutral country of Switzerland underwent initially sporadic bombing and aerial combat events that became more frequent during the later stages of the war.[1]
Switzerland was adjacent to and at times almost completely surrounded by
Background
During World War II, Swiss airspace was violated by both sides. During the Battle of France, the Swiss Air Force shot down eleven German planes violating Swiss airspace for the loss of three planes in return. The most significant of these incidents occurred after the Swiss shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 on 4 June 1940. In response to this, Hermann Göring ordered an incursion by 32 Bf 110s. These were intercepted by 14 Swiss Messerschmitt 109s, leading to the loss of four 110s.[2] This resulted in a German threat of sanctions and retaliation, and on 20 June the Swiss government decided to order an end to interceptions of foreign aircraft in Swiss airspace.[3]
With Allied and Axis aircraft freely overflying Switzerland, over 7,000 siren alarms were initiated in Switzerland during the war.[4] Some Allied bombers took advantage of this situation by using Swiss airspace as a safer route than enemy air space on their bombing runs to and from targets in Germany, but more often, bombers in distress preferred to descend to neutral Switzerland for asylum rather than in German territory. As a result, Switzerland ultimately interned 1,700 American airmen.[5]
From 1941 to 1942, Allied bombers very rarely flew over Switzerland, because the Swiss authorities, under German pressure, prescribed black-outs in order to complicate navigation for U.S. and British air crews. As neutral Swiss territory was safe for Allied bombers, Germany also pressured the Swiss into forcing the Allied air crews to land in Switzerland, instead of letting them continue bombing runs.[6]
Axis violations of Swiss airspace
Nazi Germany repeatedly violated Swiss airspace. During the
Allied violations of Swiss airspace
In 1943, the Swiss military began attacking Allied aircraft breaching Swiss airspace. Six Allied aircraft were shot down by Swiss Air Force fighters and four by anti-aircraft cannon, killing 36 Allied airmen. The first Allied aircraft to be shot down were two Royal Air Force bombers flying low over Swiss territory on the night of 12–13 July 1943, which were shot down by Swiss anti-aircraft fire over Valais. The first American bomber shot down over Switzerland was downed near Bad Ragaz on 1 October 1943, and only three of its crew survived.[9]
On 5 September 1944, American P-51 Mustangs escorting a damaged B-17 bomber crossed into Swiss airspace and were confronted by Swiss Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Not realizing they were over Switzerland, the P-51s attacked the Swiss Messerschmitts, shooting down one and killing its pilot, and damaging another one.[10]
Bombing incidents
Schaffhausen
The daylight bombing of
Stein am Rhein
On 22 February 1945, thirteen USAAF air attacks on Switzerland took place with
. Overall, 21 people were killed in these attacks.Zürich and Basel
On 4 March 1945, six USAAF B-24H bombers hit
Other attacks
During 1940, minor attacks on Geneva, Renens, Basel, and Zurich were conducted by the Royal Air Force.[1]
On 1 October 1943, bombs were released by the USAAF over Samedan leading to property damage. 1944 saw attacks that included Koblenz, Cornol, Niederweningen, and Thayngen. Attacks in 1945 included Chiasso twice. Basel was bombed on 4 March 1945. The last air attack occurred in Brusio on 16 April 1945.
On 28 to 29 April 1944 a German
Court-martial proceedings
Regarding the Zurich bombing, a court-martial proceeding took place in England on 1 June 1945. Col. James M. Stewart, the famous actor and wartime B-24 pilot, was the presiding officer of the trial.[17] Accused were the lead pilot Lieutenant William R. Sincock and one of his navigators, Lieutenant Theodore Q. Balides, for violating the 96th Article of War, and Sincock specifically for having "wrongfully and negligently caused bombs to be dropped in friendly territory". Weather conditions and equipment failure were found to be at fault; the defendants were found not guilty of criminal culpability.[17] Prosecutors for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East once discussed this case as further precedent to prosecute Japanese pilots involved in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. However, they quickly dropped the idea after realizing there was no international law that protected neutral areas and nationals specifically from attack by aircraft.[nb 1][18]
Reparations
In addition to the US$4 million paid by October 1944, the United States government agreed to pay 62,176,433.06 Swiss francs (then equivalent to $14.4 million, or $249 million[19] at current prices) to the Swiss government as full and final payment for damage to persons and property during World War II on 21 October 1949.[1]
See also
- Switzerland during the World Wars
- Wauwilermoos internment camp
- Bombing of Dublin in World War II
- Operation Tannenbaum
Literature (selected works)
- Cathryn J. Prince: Shot from the Sky: American POWs in Switzerland. Kindle Edition. Naval Institute Press/Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., 2015, ASIN B00ZSDPIHE.
- Stephen Tanner: Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II. Da Capo Press, illustrated edition, 2001, ISBN 978-1885119704.
- Daniel L. Culler: Black Hole of ISBN 978-1887776011.
- Jürg Hofer: Die Strafanstalt Wauwilermoos LU. Sauerländer 1978, ISBN 978-3794118441.
Notes
- ^ Article 39 of CHAPTER VI of the 1923 Hague Rules of Air Warfare stated:
- Belligerent aircraft are bound to respect the rights of neutral Powers and to abstain within the jurisdiction of a neutral State from the commission of any act which it is the duty of that State to prevent.
References
- ^ a b c d e Helmreich JE. "Diplomacy of Apology". Archived from the original on 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ ISBN 9781781314951.
- ^ a b "Switzerland in World War II: Is it still "neutrality" if you have to fight for it? | All About History". www.historyanswers.co.uk.
- ^ "Zweiter Weltkrieg: Die Rolle der Schweiz". www.geschichte-schweiz.ch.
- ^ Tanner, Stephen. Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II.
- ^ H.R. Kurz: "Die Schweiz im Zweiten Weltkrieg" (1959)
- ^ a b c Fodor, Denis J (1982). The Neutral's. Time Life Books.
- ^ Essential Militaria, Nicholas Hobbes, 2005
- ^ "Der Archivar - Abgeschossen von der neutralen Schweiz". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). September 7, 2015.
- ^ Forsgren, Jan: Messerschmitt Bf 109: The Design and Operational History
- ^ swissinfo.ch, Thomas Stephens (15 January 2014). "Mayday! When bombers crashed in Switzerland". SWI swissinfo.ch.
- ^ Peck, Michael (April 8, 2017). "During World War II, America accidently [sic] Bombed Switzerland". The National Interest.
- ISBN 978-3-85801-257-9
- ^ "[Historical] The Swiss Air Force". warthunder.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
- ^ Donald, David (1998). "Messerschmitt Bf 109: the later variants". Wings of Fame. 11: 86–88.
- ^ Hoch, Georg (2008). Messerschmitt Me 109 in Swiss Air Force Service. Agtlen, PA: Schiffer Military History. p. 171.
- ^ a b Helmreich JE (2000). "The Bombing of Zurich". Aerospace Power Journal. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ISBN 978-1-1070-2884-5.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Gedenkstein für Internierten-Straflager" (in German). Schweiz aktuell. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2015-10-23.