Coincidentally, I was reading about the Hesse diamond theft this week.
A group of American Army officers were stationed on garrison duty in a German castle immediately after WWII. Some of them found a cache of diamonds and other valuables that had been hidden in the castle. They took them and transported them back to America.
When they got caught, their main defense was that everyone in Germany had been looting stuff and they just happened to get a particularly lucky haul. They were found guilty despite this. (But it’s worth noting, the American government waited several years before returning the diamonds and the castle to their legal owners.)
Battle of Kadesh, ca 1274 BCE. Ramesses II led an Egyptian army north to attack the Hittites, who, led by their king Muwatallis II, were on their way south. Ramesses had been suckered into believing that the Hittites were over a hundred miles away, when they were much closer. Muwatallis attacked, and the Egyptians were forced back, away from their camp. The Hittites, believing that the Egyptians had fled, paused to loot the Egyptian camp – and were caught by the ensuing counterattack. Oops…
LULZ - Sauer und Sohn 38H [first gen] and a 1917 Imperial Issue Luger - I have the paperwork he filled out to bring it back on the Queen Mary. Also have an SS helmet, a de-explosived potato masher grenade [I guess would be better to say grenade body?] um, a mortar round [also no explosives] and I have his WW2 issue footlocker and an enlisted class A uniform [he ended up going officer so he also had officers togs too but the class As died in the house fire], and wore his M43 field jacket for decades … And he bought out his issue M1 carbine … sitting in the corner of the bedroom in the gun safe.
Geeze, the worst thing my dad’s unit did was drink out the wine cellar … and empty the pantry and barns off stored food =)
My dad had a german nanny and spoke enough german - they used to send him out with trade goods and a trailer to trade for fresh stuff [one time he came back with the trailer loaded with weapons and followed by surrendered germans like ducklings and their mommy =)]
Compared to what has been the norm for most of the history of war, it’s pretty restrictive, being specifically limited in the Iraq conflict to: “(1) helmets and head coverings; (2) uniforms and uniform items such as insignia and patches; (3) canteens, compasses, rucksacks, pouches, and load-bearing equipment; (4) flags…; (5) knives or bayonets, other than those defined as weaponry…; (6) military training manuals, books, and pamphlets; (7) posters, placards, and photographs; (8) currency of the former regime; or (9) other similar items that clearly pose no safety or health risk, and are not otherwise prohibited by law or regulation.”
This also precludes valuables, like the diamonds that were illegally looted in WWII (per the earlier post).
Weaponry (including firearms) are specifically prohibited, as are “personal items belonging to enemy combatants or civilians including, but not limited to: letters, family pictures, identification cards, and ‘dog tags.’”