Was a medical ship sunk during the evacuation from Dunkirk?
score:9
Part of this question still seems unaddressed; Is an attack on a hospital ship a war crime. Yes, attacking a Hospital ship is a war crime.
Hospital ships were covered under the Hague Convention X of 1907.[11]
But there are restrictions that must be followed:
Article four of the Hague Convention X outlined the restrictions for a hospital ship:
-Ship must be clearly marked and lighted as a hospital ship
- The ship should give medical assistance to wounded personnel of all nationalities
- The ship must not be used for any military purpose
- The ship must not interfere with or hamper enemy combatant vessels
- Belligerents, as designated by the Hague Convention, can search any hospital ship to investigate violations of the above restrictions
- Belligerents will establish the location of a hospital ship
So there are rules that must be followed by a hospital ship to be under protection. To play devil's advocate (and not my personal opinion, so don't yell at me) if the Paris could be considered ,acting at that moment, not in its role as a hospital ship, but as a military troop transport, then it would no longer be under protection...
The first link provided by Mark's answer bears a closer look:
The fact that there is a LIST indicates this happened way to often (and note ships on both sides were sunk).
Back on topic (sorry), the casualties on the sinking of the HMHS Paris appear to be amazingly low (from Naval History.Net):
Hospital ship PARIS (1790grt), on passage to Dunkirk, was badly damaged at 1915 by German bombing near Dunkirk in 51‑11N, 02‑07E. Two crew were killed. PARIS sank on the 3rd.
So, if this is the ship being shown in the trailer for the movie, it appears to be a misrepresentation of the facts, as the movie shows a fully laden ship.
There was another Hospital ship which was also sunk just prior to the Dunkirk evacuation. the Maid of Kent was sunk on may 21, 1940 at Dieppe, and with many more casualties(54), during the events leading up to Dunkirk. Without more info on the movie, it is possible this could be the ship shown sinking as a lead-in part of the story.
Upvote:-1
Having seen the movie, the incident as depicted shows the hospital ship loading not just wounded but soldiers in uniform who were quite fit. Under these fictional conditions, the ship would have forfeited any protection it was due. The Luftwaffe did intentionally attack several hospital ships in the Mediterranean. The US also attacked some Japanese hospital ships, although the circumstances would appear to excuse those attacks.
Upvote:-1
She was not a troop ship she was under the redcross as a humanitarian taking injurd and survivors from a stat of death.the french had surrendered so the British expeditionary forces where retreating and not fighting.this gives the redcross full wavoe to act under humanitarian and germany brok all the laws of engagement of war.let us never forget dunkirk.s my grandfather use to say we gave them back what for...for dunkirk.
Upvote:-1
The HMHS, (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) Paris was sunk by German bombing off Dunkirk 02/06/1940. The HMHS Maid of Kent was also bombed and sunk while leaving Dieppe Harbour on 21/05/1940
Upvote:2
I wish I had more detail on this but I do know that my great Uncle was on HMHS Paris when it was damaged. He survived but unfortunately he was never able to live the life he would have if the world had been a different place and we hadn’t gone to war.
Upvote:3
My mother, Michelle Carey was a QA on board HMHC Worthing, I believe the sister ship to Paris, and she writes to her mother on June 4th :
‘ I expect you have read all about us in the Papers. Actually, The Paris wasn’t hit but being a much older ship than the Worthing, her plates couldn’t stand up to the shock of the concussion from the bombs.’
Later in the same letter she writes:-
‘ I was very upset about The Paris. I have had such a good time on her. Blake, my friend is in hospital, as far as I know she is alright, though Matron was wounded in the arm by shrapnel. Poor things they have lost all their kit and clothes. It must have been pretty grim. I don’t suppose I shall see Colonel Hurst again either. He was such a pet and game. We had a good time.
Upvote:8
Wikipedia answers that the HMS Paris flying the red cross was sunk off Dunkirk.
Hat tip to @user2448131 for a Naval History page that discusses the sinking in more detail; I'm including the link here because comments frequently get deleted.
More post
- 📝 What does it mean: "French was a lingua franca in the Ottoman caliphal court?"
- 📝 Can someone give me an example of stimulus diffusion from history?
- 📝 What were the rejected designs for the Euro symbol?
- 📝 Which war games did Napoleon practice with his generals?
- 📝 What were Albert Speer's specialties, and how did he apply them when he led Organisation Todt?
- 📝 Did the Soviets attempt to discredit the Pope because of his outspoken anti-communism?
- 📝 What was the population within the Aurelian Walls of Rome during its peak?
- 📝 Should you be pedantic about the clerical errors you see in a History reference book?
- 📝 Military reforms after the battle of Manzikert?
- 📝 What is the oldest archaeological source which mentions a name of a specific place?
- 📝 What specific jobs did people have on the Manhattan Project?
- 📝 What happened to those ethnic Greeks who converted to Islam during the Ottoman empire?
- 📝 How often did city-destroying floods happen in Mesopotamia?
- 📝 Why have "classical" given names (seemingly) had greater persistence in American black culture?
- 📝 Microsocial behaviour 500 years ago in western societies
- 📝 How did the news of the reality Nazi concentration camps reach the United State's mainstream? What were the waves of awareness and when?
- 📝 Why was Turkey allowed to keep Constantinople after WW1?
- 📝 Did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo intend for Mexicans to live in the USA but under Mexican law?
- 📝 Were there any travel restrictions during the Black Death pandemic?
- 📝 Did Princess Diana ever talk about her alleged Armenian descent?
- 📝 Apart from Australia, has a serving head of government or state disappeared without trace?
- 📝 Did medieval peasants work 150 days a year?
- 📝 Pushkin's daguerreotype and catalogues of early 19th century photographs
- 📝 Can you help me identify the rank and patch on this Royal Italian Army uniform?
- 📝 In WW2, why did Germany sink allied supply convoys instead of capturing them?
- 📝 Were the Assyrians and the Akkadians different people or the same people under a different name?
- 📝 Did De Gaulle really say "I am France" (Je suis la France)?
- 📝 Is it true that Nazi Germany replaced prices ending in .99 by round prices and called this "Aryan pricing"?
- 📝 How did lecturers magnify their voice in the days before amplification?
- 📝 Is there a global foot race among religions on the most beautiful churches and when did this start historically?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Was a medical ship sunk during the evacuation from Dunkirk?
- 📝 How difficult was to escape from a naval battle after engaging into one during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 What class / type of ship was the "Dragon" from Rotterdam c. 1732?
- 📝 When did the allies start evacuating from the Dunkirk mole during the Dunkirk evacuation?
- 📝 Was there a stated reason for the evacuation of Israeli settlers from the Gaza strip?
- 📝 Who on ship was responsible for purchases during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 Why was Poland spared from the Black Death?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What was the typical peasant's diet like in Europe during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 What was the status of Arab Christians during the crusades?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 Why was there a surge in the US incarceration rate during the 1990s?
- 📝 What was the role of the Soviet Navy during WWII?
- 📝 Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
- 📝 Why were the Irish exempt from conscription during WWI?
- 📝 Was Rosie the Riveter sourced from a Michelangelo painting?
- 📝 Was there a priest on the Titanic who stayed on the ship giving confession to as many as he could?
- 📝 What set Checkpoint Charlie apart from the other border checkpoints in Berlin during the Cold War?
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
- 📝 What was the strategy to protect the British Museum during the World Wars?
- 📝 When was the last documented occasion that Arab or Ottoman slave traders abducted people from Europe?
- 📝 Who was the most successful German spy against Great Britain in WWII, from the contemporary German perspective?
- 📝 Why was there lack of food during WW2 in the UK?
- 📝 What was the "Favorable result" that the German admiralty was expecting from the naval attack on the Royal Navy in 1918?
- 📝 How advanced was the satellite technology during the Yom Kippur War?
- 📝 What was the size of surface of a cereal crop needed per man per year during the Dark Ages in Western Europe?
- 📝 How close was the Soviet Union to collapsing during WW2?
- 📝 Was there a Japanese equivalent of the Gestapo during WW2
- 📝 What was the value of the spice trade during the age of exploration?
- 📝 What was the liquor that was based on petrol which was produced in the USSR during the Second World War?