The conduct of our own forces during World War is a really touchy subject. On the one hand we have a duty to respect the memories of people who can no longer speak for themselves. On the other hand we have a duty not to be soft on the issue. Not least because we need to send out the right message to our own troops in combat.
My late Uncle served as a Captain in the Suffolk Regiment and saw action against the Nazis in continental Europe. One day he chanced upon a British Army Sergeant and Corporal who were about to lynch a captured Gestapo Officer. My Uncle intervened and ordered the men to stop. He was told in no uncertain terms that if he tried to stop the atrocity he would shot along with the Nazi. I asked my Uncle what he did next and he replied that he left them to it because he had absolutely no doubt that the men, who he described as very frightened and very angry, fully meant to carry out their threat.
In later life he was still angry about the atrocity - despite having had a simply foul time himself. His final comment to me was that it was the worst act of cowardice he every saw.
I know these are strong comments but I would not want Pprune to be seen as a forum which condones war crimes or other misdeeds.
My father, and all my other relatives who were caught up in the War, were in reality quite subdued about their experiences and generally talked little of them. One tended to hear things second or third hand. This was back in the 1970's when memories were still to raw. The difficult bit was how their friends died. The value of this thread is that, with the passage of time people are more frank about what happened to them and we can learn from that.
I say let the dead bury the dead with as much dignity as possible.