Hospital ships and aircraft

[Der Maresal]

I'm curious weather it is a crime to sink and shoot down ships and aircraft wearing the red cross..these so called "Hospital ships".
In 1940, Churchill or the RAF high command gave the order that any german rescue plane, regardless if it is wearing a red cross or not - is to be shot down on the spot.

The reason behind this is that a downed pilot, rescued will be back in action within a matter of hours.
This is a similar case, to what we discussed earlier here about American fighter planes, shooting and strafing Romanian airmen hanging from their parachutes..

Hospital ships carry wounded military men, - Morally it is a crime to sink the ship and kill them, but many of them will be back at the front, while others with more serious wounds might end up working in the war industry.

Arthur Harris, chief of RAF bomber command said this: "If you can't get the Kraut when he's working in the factory by day, you can get him when he's sleeping in his bed at night. That, plus a fanatical heatread of germans was his reason behind bombing cities, and dehousing the german workers.

Finally, some peoples (including a few on this forum), believe that bombing cities and even droping Atomic bombs is/was not a crime at all.

Having this kind of thinking, -- would it be a crime to sink a ship that carries wounded soldiers, or to shoot down a float plane that rescues downed pilots ?

[dragos]

Several instigating posts were deleted.