The Law of War

Canicattì
massacre [citation
needed]
War crimes
(Murder of
civilians)
Biscari massacre War crimes
(Murder of
POWs)
Dachau liberation
reprisals
Salina, Utah POW
massacre
War crimes
(Murder of
POWs)
War crimes
(Murder of
POWs)
Rheinwiesenlager War crimes
(Deaths of
POWs from
starvation and
exposure)
American
mutilation
Japanese
dead
of
war
War crimes
(Abuse of
Remains)
no prosecutions
Sergeant Horace T. West:
court-martialed and was found
guilty, stripped of rank and
sentenced to life in prison,
though he was later released
as a private. Captain John T.
Compton was court-martialed
for killing 40 POWs in his
charge. He claimed to be
following orders. The
investigating officer and the
Judge Advocate declared that
Compton's actions were
unlawful, but he was
acquitted.
Investigated by U.S. forces,
found lack of evidence to
charge any individual, and a
lack of evidence of any
practice or policy; however,
did find that SS guards were
separated from Wehrmacht
(regular German Army)
prisoners before their deaths.
Private Clarence V. Bertucci
determined to be insane and
confined to a mental institution
no prosecutions
Though there are no known
prosecutions, the occasional
mutilation of Japanese
remains were recognised to
have been conducted by U.S.
Admiral Chester Nimitz stated
that unrestricted submarine
warfare was carried on in the
Pacific Ocean by the United
States from the first day that
nation entered the war.
During the Allied invasion of
Sicily, eight civilians were killed,
though the exact number of
casualties is uncertain.
Following the capture of Biscari
Airfield in Sicily on July 14,
1943, seventy-six German and
Italian POWs were shot by
American troops of the 180th
Regimental Combat Team, 45th
Division
during
the Allied invasion of Sicily.
These killings occurred in two
separate incidents between July
and August 1943.
Some Death's Head SS guards
of the Dachau concentration
camp allegedly attempted to
escape, and were shot.
Private Clarence V. Bertucci
fired a machine gun from one of
the guard towers into the tents
that were being used to
accommodate the German
prisoners of war. Nine were
killed and 20 were injured.
The Rheinwiesenlager (Rhine
meadow camps) were transit
camps for millions of German
POWs after World War II; there
were at least thousands and
potentially tens of thousands of
deaths from starvation and
exposure. Estimates range from
just over 3,000 to as many as
71,000.
Many dead Japanese were
desecrated and/or mutilated, for
example by taking body
parts (such as skulls) as
souvenirs or trophies. This is in
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