Robert Starling - right to an opinion or not?

Dear friends,

I wish to ask your opinion and comment on an article I read in a newspaper here. I have looked on the internet (or rather Heidi has looked for me) and it seems that you may also have heard about this story as it was on BBC news just earlier this year.

It is an article about a German Luftwaffe pilot who took part in the Bath bombings on 25-27th April 1942. He is called Willi Schludecker and he went to the memorial service earlier this year. As a dying wish he wanted to apologise for his involvement in the bombings. I would like to hear your opinion on this as I think that it was a very brave thing for him to do and I have great admiration for him. However, what worries me is an interview which was held with the organiser of the memorial, Mr Robert Starling. He comments that he only allowed Willi to come over because it was his dying wish. I understand that Mr Starling lost relatives in the bombings but he has to understand that Willi was by no means to blame for his actions. He was under instructions just as the British troops were. He was fighting for his family and country. It was a war, that is the nature of wars. The fact that he has carried this burden for all of his life is enough of a punishment without younger generations who have a biased view and do not have the knowledge of hindsight.

These are only my personal opinions and I would appreciate any feedback or perhaps someone knows more about the story than I do?

Guten Tag