Tokter 0 #26 February 7, 2011 QuoteAllied pilots were held as internees when they landed in Switzerland. Those that were caught while trying to escape were moved to Stalag-like camps, and in some cases were treated worse than the Germans treated POW airmen. Switzerland was a no fly zone for Axis & Allies yet Allied pilots managed to bomb Swiss cities and shoot at swiss planes. Can't have been that bad if they choose to land there over germany. Swiss internee reports: http://swissinternees.tripod.com/hughes.html QuoteHughes and his crew were sent to Adelboden, an old resort town in the Alps, where they stayed about four months. Hotels had been turned into holding places, and while they were free to roam around the town, armed guards were everywhere and checked the hotel each night. Hughes and his tail gunner, Sgt. Tommy Thompson, attempted an escape by simply walking out of the mountains, he said. They made it down undetected but ran into a guard camp they didn't know about. Their large mountain-climbing shoes didn't help with secrecy of sound. "They hollered at us to stop, but we didn't know much Swiss, so we kept walking," he said. "They had guns and little bitty flashlights. Four or five of them finally got out in front of us, and we could hear their hammers being pulled back. We decided we'd stop." The two were kept overnight in a hay barn near the ground camp. They again tried to escape by sawing their way out with a Swiss army knife, Hughes said, and again they were caught. From there, Hughes and Thompson were taken to Wauwilermoos, a detention camp where they spent the next 105 days with many others. Accommodations were significantly less desirable, and their physical condition began to reflect it. Daily meals consisted of a half-inch-thick slice of Swiss cheese and a small loaf of week-old bread, Hughes said. Bread was often stolen and the meager soup that was offered was watery. Hughes said he lost about 25 pounds in three months. Switzerland was not self-sufficient, food was rationed and people had to grow food on every green area that seemed usable, mostly by women and children since the men were called to service. So, lots of swiss would have been happy with a half inch slice of swiss cheese. Cry me a river.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muff528 3 #27 February 7, 2011 QuoteQuoteAllied pilots were held as internees when they landed in Switzerland. Those that were caught while trying to escape were moved to Stalag-like camps, and in some cases were treated worse than the Germans treated POW airmen. Switzerland was a no fly zone for Axis & Allies yet Allied pilots managed to bomb Swiss cities and shoot at swiss planes. Can't have been that bad if they choose to land there over germany. Swiss internee reports: http://swissinternees.tripod.com/hughes.html QuoteHughes and his crew were sent to Adelboden, an old resort town in the Alps, where they stayed about four months. Hotels had been turned into holding places, and while they were free to roam around the town, armed guards were everywhere and checked the hotel each night. Hughes and his tail gunner, Sgt. Tommy Thompson, attempted an escape by simply walking out of the mountains, he said. They made it down undetected but ran into a guard camp they didn't know about. Their large mountain-climbing shoes didn't help with secrecy of sound. "They hollered at us to stop, but we didn't know much Swiss, so we kept walking," he said. "They had guns and little bitty flashlights. Four or five of them finally got out in front of us, and we could hear their hammers being pulled back. We decided we'd stop." The two were kept overnight in a hay barn near the ground camp. They again tried to escape by sawing their way out with a Swiss army knife, Hughes said, and again they were caught. From there, Hughes and Thompson were taken to Wauwilermoos, a detention camp where they spent the next 105 days with many others. Accommodations were significantly less desirable, and their physical condition began to reflect it. Daily meals consisted of a half-inch-thick slice of Swiss cheese and a small loaf of week-old bread, Hughes said. Bread was often stolen and the meager soup that was offered was watery. Hughes said he lost about 25 pounds in three months. Switzerland was not self-sufficient, food was rationed and people had to grow food on every green area that seemed usable, mostly by women and children since the men were called to service. So, lots of swiss would have been happy with a half inch slice of swiss cheese. Cry me a river.... Likewise BeNeLux, GB, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and others. ...but they had to eat their crumbs while dodging the Blitzkrieg. Besides, although it may sound like it, my point was not meant to disparage Switzerland. ...only the self-designated "human-rights" whiners whose real agenda, IMO, has little to do with human rights. If it were they would go after the most vile violations perpetrated by the truly corrupt and ruthless regimes. But they can't! They might get tossed into a labor camp in some cold place or get their heads lopped off for speaking out. By attacking GWB they get to kill 2 birds with one stone. (1) They get to claim some "purpose" for their worthless existence without fear of reprisal, and (b) They get to try to criminalize any opposing thought. I'm certainly not against legitimate efforts against oppressive and murderous regimes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SivaGanesha 2 #28 February 8, 2011 Quote(I've always wondered how Switzerland managed to escape invasion in WW2. I just can't believe it's only because Hitler respected it's "neutrality". There's something Assange can look into,) Yes the senior Nazis were hiding their ill-gotten wealth in Swiss bank accounts. Some of their activities were things they didn't want Hitler to know about (they were selfishly putting aside some wealth for themselves in case Hitler went down). So they successfully talked Hitler out of invading Switzerland--although eventually he would have done so anyways if he'd continued to meet with unchecked military success."It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
