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Great Britain:
"Rubber boats suddenly sank"
Statement of Corporal Walter Segel before Judge Sauermann:
"Together with my troops I went on board a Greek caique on 17 May
1941 and we sailed from Piraeus in order to land on the western shore
of Crete on 20 May to give support to the parachute troops. We sailed
in a convoy of 21 ships that was attacked by British warships near Crete
in the night of 20-21 May from 2210 in the night until 0330 in the early
morning. The British scanned the seas with searchlights, attacked individual
ships with artilliary fire, and after sinking them, switched on smaller
searchlights to look for the shipwrecked, who were holding on to rubber
boats or similar gear, and opened fire on them with machine guns and
small-caliber cannons. I could observe the shooting clearly... individual
men in such rubber boats suddenly sank. The British did not even attempt
to rescue any of them. I saw at least twenty groups of survivors who
were illuminated by the British and then sprayed with bullets. My own
ship that had the number 107 or 103 was only lightly damaged.
(Alfred M. de Zayas, The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945,
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London. 1989. p. 254)
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