"The 100-Year Secret : Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre" Topic

This book is an excellent read on the final days of the way and the Typhoon attack squadrons.

From the Back Cover

It’s the story no one would tell.
On May 3, 1945, the Royal Air Force attacked a fleet of ships carrying more than seven thousand survivors of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The war was nearly over, and the survivors had endured one of history’s most hellish ordeals, only to die at the hands of their allies.
Benjamin Jacobs, then twenty-five, survived by escaping the hold and clinging to wreckage. The Royal Air Force believed the ships contained escaping SS officers.

ISBN: 1592285325

Amazon - link

Massacre? Sounds more like a hidden blunder unless of course they knew the survivors were on board.

If they thought they were fleeing SS officers, then how does
"massacre" fit into it.

Sounds like a intelligence failure not the intentional destruction of concentration camp survivors.

Not so hidden - there's an episode of "Greatest Military Blunders" that I saw years ago on just this topic...

All too typical these days, a sensational title, designed to make people feel guilty about a period in their history they should be proud of.

Was WW2 100 years ago? They say time goes faster when you get older but this is ridiculous!

You might be forty years too early?

Possibly referring to the official records being classified for 100 years.

I was wondering where they got the 100 years from. I was thinking that there must have been a previous WWII. Glad that is cleared up.

It's a horrible mistake, but don't blame it on the RAF, blame it on Hitler. If it wasn't for him there would be no German ships that needed to be attacked.

Uhtil the war is over, you sink everything that floats. Period. I don't think that the Nazis thoughtfully had a sign painted on the deck which said "Don't Bomb! Concentration Camp Victims Aboard!"

The BBC did a documentary about this a year or so ago. It was called 'The Typhoons Last Storm' or something.

If I recall correctly it was a military blunder but with a lot of suggestion that the Nazi's themselves sent radio transmissions saying the ships were full of SS officers.

Nasty trick, so just list this one up with all the other bad things about WW2.

Jeremey

germy.co.uk

As I remember a US submarine sank a Japanese ship carrying US prisoners. Real wars are a lot more messy than the ones we play out.

They are more messy because the fog of war is much thicker than in a wargame.

Human decisions are based on what is known. If the information provided is itself based on a human error, then the mistake passes right up the line.
Then again, there are also cases where intelligence information was correct, but human decision making decided to ignore it. In a wargame there is often more time to think it out. But I've still seen some players pull some real clangers!

Andrew Paul wrote:

Possibly referring to the official records being classified for 100 years.

No doubt. And it makes for a catchy title; but the effect is spoiled by the fact that pretty much all offical records from WW2 were originally closed for 100 years. Only later where they re-graded, and opened after a shorter period. I am used to looking at war diaries at the PRO that have "Closed until 2044" stanmped on the cover, but which were in fact released in the 1970s.

All the best,

John.

"As I remember a US submarine sank a Japanese ship carrying US prisoners. Real wars are a lot more messy than the ones we play out."

Had the honor of meeting a veteran who survived the Bataan Death March and years of captivity to almost die when the Japanese transport he was on was sunk by the U.S. Navy.
Lost a lot of his friends in the attack. A real tragedy. But he doesn't blame the U.S. Navy for it.