The Commando Order was a written war crime

French gendarmes captured Laver and Mills two days after the attack and handed them to the Germans. The 1907 Hague Convention and 1929 Geneva Convention established the legal protections that then applied. Troops who had laid down their arms or lacked the means to defend themselves were protected, and declaring that no quarter would be given was forbidden. Hitler's order nevertheless demanded the annihilation of commandos whether uniformed or not, armed or unarmed, fighting, escaping, or offering surrender. Carrying it out was a war crime because the order stripped protection from people already entitled to prisoner-of-war status.