Aerial incidents in Switzerland in World War II

During World War II, Swiss airspace was violated by both sides. During the Battle of France, the Swiss Air Force shot down eleven German planes violating Swiss airspace for the loss of three planes in return. The most significant of these incidents occurred after the Swiss shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 on 4 June 1940. In response to this, Hermann Göring ordered an incursion by 32 Bf 110s. These were intercepted by 14 Swiss Messerschmitt 109s, leading to the loss of four 110s. This resulted in a German threat of sanctions and retaliation, and on 20 June the Swiss government decided to order an end to interceptions of foreign aircraft in Swiss airspace. With Allied and Axis aircraft freely overflying Switzerland, over 7,000 siren alarms were initiated in Switzerland during the war. Some Allied bombers took advantage of this situation by using Swiss airspace as a safer route than enemy air space on their bombing runs to and from targets in Germany, but more often, bombers in distress preferred to descend to neutral Switzerland for asylum rather than in German territory. As a result, Switzerland ultimately interned 1,700 American airmen. From 1941 to 1942, Allied bombers very rarely flew over Switzerland, because the Swiss authorities, under German pressure, prescribed black-outs in order to complicate navigation for U.S. and British air crews. As neutral Swiss territory was safe for Allied bombers, Germany also pressured the Swiss into forcing the Allied air crews to land in Switzerland, instead of letting them continue bombing runs. ==Axis violations of Swiss airspace==

Nazi Germany repeatedly violated Swiss airspace. During the Battle of France, German aircraft violated Swiss airspace at least 197 times. The most significant of these incidents occurred after the Swiss shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 on 4 June 1940. In response to this, Hermann Göring ordered an incursion by 32 Bf 110s. These were intercepted by 14 Swiss Messerschmitt 109s, leading to the loss of four 110s. ==Allied violations of Swiss airspace==

In 1943, the Swiss military began attacking Allied aircraft breaching Swiss airspace. Six Allied aircraft were shot down by Swiss Air Force fighters and four by anti-aircraft cannon, killing 36 Allied airmen. The first Allied aircraft to be shot down were two Royal Air Force bombers flying low over Swiss territory on the night of 12–13 July 1943, which were shot down by Swiss anti-aircraft fire over Valais. The first American bomber shot down over Switzerland was downed near Bad Ragaz on 1 October 1943, and only three of its crew survived. On 5 September 1944, American P-51 Mustangs escorting a damaged B-17 bomber crossed into Swiss airspace and were confronted by Swiss Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Not realizing they were over Switzerland, the P-51s attacked the Swiss Messerschmitts, shooting down one and killing its pilot, and damaging another one. ==Bombing incidents==

, which served as the backbone of the Swiss Air Force during World War II. Swiss Bf 109s were regularly used by the Swiss Air Force to intercept Allied bombers flying over Switzerland Allied planes accidentally bombed Switzerland about seventy times during World War II due to navigational errors or weather, killing 84 people. Schaffhausen The daylight bombing of Schaffhausen on 1 April 1944 by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the most serious of all incidents. Approximately 50 B-24 Liberators of a larger force misidentified Schaffhausen as their target Ludwigshafen am Rhein near Mannheim (about north of Schaffhausen), and dropped sixty tons of bombs on the town. Although an air raid alarm sounded in Schaffhausen, air raid sirens had been set off so many times without any attack that complacency had set in and the locals felt safe, and many failed to take cover. A total of 40 people were killed and about 270 injured, and large parts of the town were destroyed, including part of the railway station building (18 casualties), the former natural history museum and a theater. At the insistence of the Swiss government for an explanation, Allied investigations into the incident found that bad weather broke up the American formation over France, and that high winds that nearly doubled the ground speed of the bombers confused the navigators (two other widely scattered cities in Germany and France were also mistakenly bombed during the same mission). As Schaffhausen is situated on the right bank (north side) of the Rhine river, it was apparently assumed to be Ludwigshafen am Rhein. By October 1944, US$4,000,000 had been paid in restitution. Stein am Rhein On 22 February 1945, thirteen USAAF air attacks on Switzerland took place with Stein am Rhein receiving the most damage. Other places included Taegerwilen, Rafz, and Vals. Overall, 21 people were killed in these attacks. Zürich and Basel On 4 March 1945, six USAAF B-24H bombers hit Zürich with 12.5 tons of high explosives and 12 tons of incendiaries, killing five people. The intended target had been Aschaffenburg near Frankfurt am Main ( north). The six bombers had gone off course, and their crews believed they were bombing Freiburg im Breisgau. At virtually the same time, other bombers dropped 12.5 tons of high explosives and five tons of incendiaries on Basel. Other attacks During 1940, minor attacks on Geneva, Renens, Basel, and Zurich were conducted by the Royal Air Force. ==Court-martial proceedings==

Regarding the Zurich bombing, a court-martial proceeding took place in England on 1 June 1945. Col. James M. Stewart, the famous actor and wartime B-24 pilot, was the presiding officer of the trial. Accused were the lead pilot Lieutenant William R. Sincock and one of his navigators, Lieutenant Theodore Q. Balides, for violating the 96th Article of War, and Sincock specifically for having "wrongfully and negligently caused bombs to be dropped in friendly territory". Weather conditions and equipment failure were found to be at fault; the defendants were found not guilty of criminal culpability. ==Reparations==

In addition to the US$4 million paid by October 1944, the United States government agreed to pay 62,176,433.06 Swiss francs (then equivalent to $, or $ at current prices) to the Swiss government as full and final payment for damage to persons and property during World War II on 21 October 1949. ==See also==

• Cathryn J. Prince: Shot from the Sky: American POWs in Switzerland. Kindle Edition. Naval Institute Press/Amazon Media EU S.à r.l., 2015, ASIN B00ZSDPIHE. • Stephen Tanner: Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II. Da Capo Press, illustrated edition, 2001, . • Daniel L. Culler: ''Black Hole of Wauwilermoos: An Airman's Story''. Sky & Sage Books, Green Valley 1995. . • Jürg Hofer: Die Strafanstalt Wauwilermoos LU. Sauerländer 1978, . ==Notes==