[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Roddoss72

Salutations All

2200hrs Vice Admiral Gensoul convenes a court martial and charges Admiral Sir James Sommerville with war crimes for its unprovoked attack on the Oran/MSK Fleets, this includes 200 officers from Taskforce H.
2230hrs all are found guilty and are condemned to death.

7th August 1940: With a French film crew filming Admiral Sir James Sommerville and 200 other officers are executed. Later that day in London Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill announces to Parliament of the capture of Gibraltar and the executions of its servicemen. Fuhrer Adolf Hitler is bouyed by the capture of Gibraltar and confirms that Britain will be invaded.

Regards

Roddoss72

That quoted part leaps out at me. The governing Convention is the Hague Convention IX of 1907, found here:

The Avalon Project - Laws of War : Bombardment by Naval Forces in Time of War (Hague IX); October 18, 1907

it states

CHAPTER I
The Bombardment of Undefended Ports, Towns,
Villages, Dwellings, or Buildings

Article 1.
The bombardment by naval forces of undefended ports, towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings is forbidden.

A place cannot be bombarded solely because automatic submarine contact mines are anchored off the harbour.

Art. 2.
Military works, military or naval establishments, depots of arms or war mat riel, workshops or plant which could be utilized for the needs of the hostile fleet or army, and the ships of war in the harbour, are not, however, included in this prohibition. The commander of a naval force may destroy them with artillery, after a summons followed by a reasonable time of waiting, if all other means are impossible, and when the local authorities have not themselves destroyed them within the time fixed.

He incurs no responsibility for any unavoidable damage which may be caused by a bombardment under such circumstances.

If for military reasons immediate action is necessary, and no delay can be allowed the enemy, it is understood that the prohibition to bombard the undefended town holds good, as in the case given in paragraph 1, and that the commander shall take all due measures in order that the town may suffer as little harm as possible.

This is likely to come back to bite you on the a$$, even overlooking a couple of fairly other huge assumptions. Article 2 seems to be a fairly concise description of what the RN did. That makes 1/2 hour show trials a crime of war.