Under British military escort, two captured Luftwaffe crew members leave the London Underground, 1940

Two captured Luftwaffe bomber pilots walk among Londoners in September 1940

Under British military escort, two German Air Force crewmen—a Unteroffizier (non-commissioned officer or corporal) and an Oberleutnant (the most senior lieutenant)—who had parachuted into the English countryside and been taken prisoner of war during a bombing raid, step out of the London Underground onto the city streets as shocked Londoners look on.

The two prisoners of war’s unusual travel arrangements using public transport probably provided a good opportunity for propaganda photographs, as the image was widely circulated and seen by a nation under constant air raids during the Blitz.

Article 42 of the Geneva Conventions expressly prohibited attacking pilots who had parachuted to the ground, as well as pilots who surrendered on the ground. Downed pilots on both sides were treated relatively well.

The Luftwaffe tended to treat its prisoners of war very well, knowing that many of its men were being held captive by the Allies. Any mention of poor treatment would therefore likely be met with similar measures from the other side.

At the beginning of World War II, a strong sense of chivalry existed among the pilots of the British RAF and the German Luftwaffe. They liked to consider themselves “knights of the skies,” and shooting down defenseless enemy pilots with their parachutes would have been contrary to their professionalism.

The question of whether an enemy pilot parachuting over his own territory should be shot sparked heated debate on both sides. On August 31, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, RAF Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding dined with Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Chequers.

On the German side, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring, asked the Luftwaffe fighter ace, Adolf Galland, what he thought about shooting enemy pilots by their parachutes, even over their own territory.

Galland replied, “I would consider it murder, Herr Reichsmarschall. I would do everything in my power to disobey such an order.” Göring—who had himself been a fighter ace in World War I—said, “That is exactly the answer I expected from you, Galland.”